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sardinetin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm not sure why I had this on my "to read" pile - I'm guessing I read a review somewhere and thought it sounded interesting. I also don't think I would have picked it up based purely on the cover if it hadn't been on my to read list.
I still don't really know if I enjoyed it or not, but I'm also not sure enjoyment is really the right emotion to be feeling with this one. It's unsettling, mainly.
I still don't really know if I enjoyed it or not, but I'm also not sure enjoyment is really the right emotion to be feeling with this one. It's unsettling, mainly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Murder
talesofaliteraryaddict's review against another edition
3.0
Well that was one of the most erratic books I’ve ever read
gred05's review against another edition
3.0
More like a 3.5. This is typically not a book I would read, but it grabbed my attention at the library. The story of how one becomes a psychopath was very intriguing. I found myself having some sympathy for Anne even after she takes revenge on various individuals. Oh how young love can set people on a course they never thought would be possible. The story was well written and the author provided necessary details without overdoing it.
feelingpeachygreen's review against another edition
Might return to it but feels like a depressing slog at the mo
mh_books's review against another edition
dark
funny
relaxing
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.25
avamaguire's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Very, very good! Janet Ellis shows she has a feel for period, the grime and less savoury aspects of it, the characters who might have inhabited it, in her debut. It's quite a first novel.
Our heroine is Anne Jaccob, daughter of a well-off merchant in London. It's the eighteenth century, and a woman's education is hardly either a priority or a common thing. Yet Anne as a child craved knowledge, and a friend of her father's was happy to help. In more ways than she would have expected. Now almost an adult, she craves more than the little life she sees ahead for herself, especially when a particularly odious business acquaintance of her father's presents himself to her as an 'eligible' suitor.
Anne's mother in confinement after the birth of a sister, she takes over the household duties and meets the butcher's assistant and awakens the usual teenage feelings about an attractive and compelling boy...
The directions the story takes will surprise you. Anne's path as our guide to this crowded, smelly London takes turns that lead down many very dark paths. I couldn't quite believe what was happening at times, but the arc that leads step by step from the Anne at the beginning to the Anne at the close is built carefully.
Lovers of pristine period dramas may find this gets a little much, there are scenes of butchery (Anne visits her paramour at work), talk of 'women's issues', a great deal of underhanded scheming, we do see scenes of sexual congress.
I found it delightful - in a very black comic way. I couldn't quite follow Anne down every road she trod, but I enjoyed watching her make mistakes, grow into an assured and rather ruthless woman from a confused and lonely girl, fall in love and experience the highs and lows commonly associated with it.
Fub isn't as developed as Anne, the better characters are Simeon her 'paramour' and her tutor. These two I could have relished for longer. Very visually present, each gets some marvellous scenes with Anne.
Historical fiction can be gritty, it can be bawdy, it can be educational and show us a time and place long gone. Anne's word certainly feels as though it could have existed, and is a very entertaining, shocking and thrilling journey into the world of a woman who knows what she wants and is determined not to be 'fubbed' off with anything less...
Very, very good! Janet Ellis shows she has a feel for period, the grime and less savoury aspects of it, the characters who might have inhabited it, in her debut. It's quite a first novel.
Our heroine is Anne Jaccob, daughter of a well-off merchant in London. It's the eighteenth century, and a woman's education is hardly either a priority or a common thing. Yet Anne as a child craved knowledge, and a friend of her father's was happy to help. In more ways than she would have expected. Now almost an adult, she craves more than the little life she sees ahead for herself, especially when a particularly odious business acquaintance of her father's presents himself to her as an 'eligible' suitor.
Anne's mother in confinement after the birth of a sister, she takes over the household duties and meets the butcher's assistant and awakens the usual teenage feelings about an attractive and compelling boy...
The directions the story takes will surprise you. Anne's path as our guide to this crowded, smelly London takes turns that lead down many very dark paths. I couldn't quite believe what was happening at times, but the arc that leads step by step from the Anne at the beginning to the Anne at the close is built carefully.
Lovers of pristine period dramas may find this gets a little much, there are scenes of butchery (Anne visits her paramour at work), talk of 'women's issues', a great deal of underhanded scheming, we do see scenes of sexual congress.
I found it delightful - in a very black comic way. I couldn't quite follow Anne down every road she trod, but I enjoyed watching her make mistakes, grow into an assured and rather ruthless woman from a confused and lonely girl, fall in love and experience the highs and lows commonly associated with it.
Fub isn't as developed as Anne, the better characters are Simeon her 'paramour' and her tutor. These two I could have relished for longer. Very visually present, each gets some marvellous scenes with Anne.
Historical fiction can be gritty, it can be bawdy, it can be educational and show us a time and place long gone. Anne's word certainly feels as though it could have existed, and is a very entertaining, shocking and thrilling journey into the world of a woman who knows what she wants and is determined not to be 'fubbed' off with anything less...
saschabookishowl's review against another edition
4.0
The writing of Janet Ellis in this book is beautiful, I wish I could decorate my walls with quotes from this novel. However, the writing style might not be for everyone.
"When my mother lay down to birth that last baby, she was so tired of everything that I thought I could have sold her shoes; surely she'd not get up and need them anymore. I go to her now only because I should. My glass is full to the brim with sorrow and there is no room for another drop, whether sweet or sour."
"He shrinks as he speaks - he will have to leave by a mousehole soon."
I would mainly classify this as historical fiction. Before reading it, I did expect it to be more of a horror novel describing murders in Georgian London (sort of a 'following Jack the Ripper' type of story). It was not as creepy as I expected, but it is definitely an eerie setting and the thoughts of the main character get darker and darker.
The story follows 19 year-old Anne, whose parents are struck with grief over losing many babies/children. The atmosphere in the household is quite depressing. At the start of the novel, there is finally a healthy baby girl born. However, Anne does not really care for her little sister. On top of that her father wants to marry her off to a pretty shady character. Then one day Anne meets the butcher's boy/apprentice and something changes. Anne suddenly has purpose and decides to get to know him better. During the rest of the novel we follow Anne around the house and around the muddy streets of London and we see her getting more and more obsessed. Her thoughts get darker and weirder. At the start of the novel, there are also some flashbacks to Anne's childhood, showing that she did not have a perfect childhood and that she already fell easily into obsession at that time:
"I could not eat at dinner. When I went to bed, I could not sleep. My thoughts were all of Keziah, her sharp eyes and soft lips, her teasing and her questions. Everything in my room seemed at once better and the worse for her having been there. How coarse my bedcover felt, yet how special my books seemed now she had held them". "I was a pixie to her Amazon, I felt protective of her. My Aunt Elizabeth had a small dead bird, preserved as in life, its feathers shining, with only its glass eyes giving the game away. I would keep Keziah under such a glass dome if I could."
The downside with obsession is that Anne easily get's tired of people when they don't fit her vision of them anymore: "I thought how odd it was that she had so recently entered my room gilded, but would leave tarnished and dull."
I really enjoyed this book. The first two chapters I had to get used to the writing style, but after that I was hooked (get it? hooked? Hahaha. Ok I'll stop). The novel is just so atmospheric and there is a lot of tension. However, it just didn't get to that 5 star level for me, I needed more. I needed more creepiness, more development of the side-characters, and the ending was pretty quick.
It took quite some time for Anne to go over the edge and commit murder, and after that it was just one murder after another. The pacing seemed a bit off. Honestly I was a bit disappointed that she didn't kill Onions as well,
I'm cruel I guess.
"When my mother lay down to birth that last baby, she was so tired of everything that I thought I could have sold her shoes; surely she'd not get up and need them anymore. I go to her now only because I should. My glass is full to the brim with sorrow and there is no room for another drop, whether sweet or sour."
"He shrinks as he speaks - he will have to leave by a mousehole soon."
I would mainly classify this as historical fiction. Before reading it, I did expect it to be more of a horror novel describing murders in Georgian London (sort of a 'following Jack the Ripper' type of story). It was not as creepy as I expected, but it is definitely an eerie setting and the thoughts of the main character get darker and darker.
The story follows 19 year-old Anne, whose parents are struck with grief over losing many babies/children. The atmosphere in the household is quite depressing. At the start of the novel, there is finally a healthy baby girl born. However, Anne does not really care for her little sister. On top of that her father wants to marry her off to a pretty shady character. Then one day Anne meets the butcher's boy/apprentice and something changes. Anne suddenly has purpose and decides to get to know him better. During the rest of the novel we follow Anne around the house and around the muddy streets of London and we see her getting more and more obsessed. Her thoughts get darker and weirder. At the start of the novel, there are also some flashbacks to Anne's childhood, showing that she did not have a perfect childhood and that she already fell easily into obsession at that time:
"I could not eat at dinner. When I went to bed, I could not sleep. My thoughts were all of Keziah, her sharp eyes and soft lips, her teasing and her questions. Everything in my room seemed at once better and the worse for her having been there. How coarse my bedcover felt, yet how special my books seemed now she had held them". "I was a pixie to her Amazon, I felt protective of her. My Aunt Elizabeth had a small dead bird, preserved as in life, its feathers shining, with only its glass eyes giving the game away. I would keep Keziah under such a glass dome if I could."
The downside with obsession is that Anne easily get's tired of people when they don't fit her vision of them anymore: "I thought how odd it was that she had so recently entered my room gilded, but would leave tarnished and dull."
I really enjoyed this book. The first two chapters I had to get used to the writing style, but after that I was hooked (get it? hooked? Hahaha. Ok I'll stop). The novel is just so atmospheric and there is a lot of tension. However, it just didn't get to that 5 star level for me, I needed more. I needed more creepiness, more development of the side-characters, and the ending was pretty quick.
Spoiler
It took quite some time for Anne to go over the edge and commit murder, and after that it was just one murder after another. The pacing seemed a bit off. Honestly I was a bit disappointed that she didn't kill Onions as well,
I'm cruel I guess.
sigridjacobs's review against another edition
3.0
Although I have to conclude that dark, twisty novels aren't really my thing, I still liked it. Well written, atmospheric, interesting characters.