Reviews

This has been my least favorite in the series, and I was able to determine that fairly quickly into starting the book. Audrey Rose annoyed and frustrated me so much throughout this whole story. The choices that she made and struggled with, focused mainly on her romantic relationships, felt completely different from the Audrey Rose I had come to understand in the first two books. There was some dumb love triangle drama that didn’t need to be included in any plot but felt like it took up much of the book.
One of things I was hesitant about the series was that each one featured a historical character that was so different from the others and I wasn’t sure how they would smoothly tie in together while following the same main character. It really felt like the fascination Audrey Rose found in magic, which was a pretty big plot point through the story, really only manifested in this book, that focused on a magician. Maybe I would have understood some of her internal strife more if she had mentioned some of the things she loved about the magic in previous books, but it felt very much like this problem just came out of nowhere.
Also, because I was wholly uninterested in the way things were playing out in this book, it felt like it dragged on for far too long. Some more descriptive or revelatory scenes felt a little too drawn out.
There weren’t even great feminist tones like I had read in the last few books, which was super disappointing.
The only reason this is getting two stars instead of one is for one reason alone and that is Thomas Cresswell. He felt like the most mature one and after the way he handled everything that went on in the book, I firmly believe he deserves so much better.
Basically, this felt like the characters were forced into certain roles in order to fit the theme of the book, and it was not enjoyable to read at all. I’m continuing with the series, because I’ve made it this far and I’d like to see how things end but honestly, this was a super disappointing read for me.

solfie's review

Go to review page

4.0

okay I finally ended this
really liked the theme of the carnaval and murders in the middle of the sea
I was convinced to put 3 Stars but the epilogue and the words of the author explaining the behavior of audrey rose told me to not
so really liked it!