Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Square of Sevens

This historical mystery really hooked me and had such good twists.

A fast paced cat-and-mouse, lite courtroom drama, loaded with deception and intrigue! Red is a resourceful and clever main character, driven to unravel her family's history and secrets. From the Cornish countryside to the social court of London, we follow her from childhood to adulthood and experience all her heartbreaks and triumphs as an elaborate mystery unravels to reveal that not everyone is who they say.

The story is peppered with Tarot, as the key plot device is her Pellar father's signature technique, a little bit of star charts and mysticism. We get so many settings that all feel lived in and full- from her adolescent home full of antiquities, to creepy countryside manors, to grungy smelly London streets, and cozy but wretched taverns. The characters are believable, dogged, and loyal to their creeds. The dialogue matches the settings and historical context. There are little peaks into other characters perspectives, but the narration is mostly from Red's point of view, so the reader does build empathy even for the aggressors (sometimes).

The twists at the end had my head reeling! I don't usually get caught off guard, but dang!

I listened to this via Libro.fm, the narrator was excellent! The physical book is also gorgeous with card illustrations at each chapter head, and a few diagrams and a map of 1730's London.

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leahhhtaylor's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My god. A perfect 5 stars, my first of the year. This book has everything I love. A deviously complex layout, every chapter thought about to the bone. Multiple characters and perspectives to keep my interest. wealthier than wealthy families where backstabbings, murders, insults and shade never cease.

AND multiple twists and turns that challenge me. A pure romantic like Jemima, I thought for a moment that Archie was faking his forgiveness of Red, but it soon faded away when he pretended to be in love with her. I was like yesss they’re gonna get married and take all of the money. I’m also normally not one to love a twist that undoes the work of the twists before it. But this one made sense, and was perfect.

A character who may have rough beginnings but is confident and doesn’t spend page after page self deprecating and being unsure of herself. Such perfect description and pacing that was JUST RIGHT! God I loved it. Can’t wait to read it again, need to go buy the physical cover.

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hannahg94's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I find it hard to write a review for this book... because honestly, I don't really have anything negative to say about it. And a review that simply gushes isn't necessarily helpful. But I love this book.

It's a beautifully done, epic adventure with many satisfying-- and logical!--twists, dastardly secrets, delightfully wicked characters, clever plots, and... maybe the work of the fates? I found the book fast-paced and attention-grabbing. I wasn't bored once. The adventure was jumped right into, and every chapter offered something to be excited about. I finished it in four days. It devoured my free time.

The story feels very Dickens-esque (apparently purposefully so) but in a Georgian setting. Though the book is not veiled in historical "modesty," and has the bite of a modern thriller. The plot was clearly planned meticulously before pen met paper. I loved the characters and their relationships-- only one relationship felt weirdly stinted to me, but then a certain reveal in the end proved that that was intentional!

Laura Shepherd-Robinson, you got me. You got me good.

I could have taken a thousand more pages of this stuff, and I'm usually telling authors to write less.

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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hoppma's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I won this in a giveaway and I'm so glad because it was a fun read. This is a multi-layered mystery with many twists and turns. And despite the length of the book nothing is wasted. Every piece and thread will come back and be important at the conclusion, but it didn't feel overwhelming. I have read a lot of mysteries - and a lot of historical fiction - but this felt unique.

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rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The DRAMA this family has, I don’t know what’s worse; the deceit or the greed. It was hard to tear myself away with each chapter revealing something new and leading you to a new conclusion about everyone’s messed up relationships. What a journey!

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daisywilkes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A mysterious page turner that will keep you hanging till the very end! If you think you know where this is going, no you don't. Some parts could be somewhat repetitive but otherwise this might be my favourite crime book

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