Reviews

Hazardous Spirits follows Evelyn Hazard whose husband tells her one day he can see the dead and he starts hosting seances. You follow her emotional turmoil over this shocking announcement through the course of the story. She wonders if her husband is lying? Gone mad? Or could he possibly be telling the truth?

The spiritualism movement is very popular at this period in time and as a reader you don’t know whether to believe Evelyn’s husband or not. The writing is compelling and gives you the point of view of Evelyn so vividly that you live through her worry and curiosity alongside her.

As a plot about seances and ghosts, I expected there to be a lot of darkness and eerieness to it. However, this didn’t, it was more an emotional portrayal of Evelyn’s emotions. I wanted more than that, I wanted the more atmospheric creepy feels.

I think if you go into this book knowing it isn’t unsettling you will appreciate it more. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped as I expected the spookiness and also I thought it was building up to something huge to happen but instead the ending was very abrupt.

I enjoyed it and I found the character development of Evelyn was good and the setting of Edinburgh with the spiritualist movement but I needed a bit more from the plot.

krysmko's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

shannonli1026's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

bluemoons's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dr_aimz's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

thebooktrail88's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was right up my street. You know when a book not only draws you in but keeps you there in suspended animation? This is an example of when a book and its setting merge for maximum effect. The gothic, dark, twisty overtones of Edinburgh just suit this story down to the ground.

It’s about the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century. Is there a world beyond ours? What other realms exist outside of our own reality?

Evelyn’s husband tells her he can speak to the dead. They can’t tell anyone otherwise they would be disowned and shunned from society and they’re already down on their luck as it is. Evelyn supports him however and becomes deeply involved in his world of spirits. When her husband starts communicating with her dead sister however, her world spirals out of control.

This book had the atmosphere, the jeopardy and the chills by the bucketload. There was so much to enjoy and I carried on reading even when I felt a bit nervous that something was going to happen. No chapter breaks for me! This dark, murky world of Edinburgh mixed with the shadowy world of spiritualism was magic on the page. The world building, the scenes, the filmic nature of it all was wonderful.

I loved the way the author wove in commentary and social awareness into the novel. The 1920s were a very different time and spiritualism was almost an obsession. It was the subjects and visions just out of reach that were the real catch for me however. You know when sometimes you turn your head too quick and think you’ve seen something out of the corner of your eye? This book gives you LOTS of those moments and it chilled me and excited me in equal measure.

It’s what you don’t see, what isn’t mentioned, that floats around your vision as you read that is the real star of this already amazing show.

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