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This was a much-anticipated read, so it's extra disappointing that I ended up not liking it. I actually loved the first 100 pages and thought this would be an easy five-star, but then the narrative shifted in time and perspective, and it all went downhill from there. The only reason I kept reading was because I really wanted to know how the first storyline would continue, but the book never regained its magic for me. I really wish I'd DNF'ed it instead of reading on with ever-increasing frustration.

My issues with the story:

- it was TOO LONG. This book needed an editor with a steady hand, and about 300 pages cut

- connected to point 1: overlong, trivial and repetitive descriptions, and an ungodly amount of detail. I, for one, did not need to know what the characters had to eat for. every. meal. every. day.

- the author makes the absolutely BAFFLING choice in part 1 to include a number of letters which entirely summarize part 2. Part 2 is then just a 200-page detailed narration of a storyline that we already knew all the major plot points of! Maddening.

- there were a few random elements of magical realism that came out of absolutely nowhere for pure plot convenience. There was no magical realism anywhere else in the book. It felt shoe-horned in.

- I guessed every single plot twist literally hundreds of pages in advance, and then just had to wait for the characters to catch up

- I really disliked the ending. It kept dragging on and on, and I hated the conceit it was working with

I really want to support indie presses, though, and this book has tons of great reviews! So I'm sure I'm just overly critical 😅 If a Victorian mystery with a queer twist sounds appealing to you, then by all means give it a go! Maybe you'll end up liking it way more than I did.