My Five Word TL:DR Review : I Wanted to Love It

Well, I had mixed feelings about requesting this book because it is YA and to be fair YA rarely works well for me as I have too many questions along the way.  But, I do so love this author and I thought if anyone can write a winning YA it could be Purcell so I couldn’t resist.  So, pinch of salt time, I’m not the target audience for this book and it could very well work wonders for younger readers.  I would also say that this is packed with glorious writing and the author’s trademark gothic atmosphere.

This story is told in two timelines by Camille.  Camille has been sent away for a cooling period following a scandal that has impacted on the family in a negative way.  She’s been sent to live with her godmother Rowena and her daughter Lucy.  Lucy suffers from a mystery illness that the whole household revolves around.  When I say the ‘household’ this is quite different from what Camille is used to, no servants here.  This is a working farm and Camille is expected to muck in.  The only other person is Bridget who is something of an apothecarist herself and a dab hand at knocking up concoctions for Lucy’s ailments.

Rowena has ran away from a violent marriage and is effectively in hiding.  She lives almost like a recluse and Bridget is their connection to the local village.  Of course there is much gossip about the family, particularly as Bridget visits the local apothecary on a frequent basis, often purchasing items that are highly toxic.

The timelines jump between Camille’s time on the farm and then takes us forward to Camille, once again reunited with her family but suffering herself from a terrible illness.

My feelings about this book.

I loved that the story is set in the Regency period, it really plays into the plot, particularly Camille’s obsession with gothic novels which were all the rage during the period.

The setting of the farm was really well done.  Rowena’s family had an old hunting lodge which is nestled in the forest.  A foreboding stone structure with creeping ivy and crenellations poking out through the tree tops.

The writing is lovely, which is exactly as I expected.  Purcell creates fantastic atmosphere and a wonderful sense of foreboding.

What didn’t work so well for me.

Well, firstly, there’s the whole issue of keeping Camille in the dark about Lucy’s condition.  It was so obvious as a reader what was going on and yet Camille, with her fantastic imagination, was unable to piece things together and in fact went off on totally the wrong tangent. Personally, given the danger of the situation it surely would have been more sensible for Rowena to share with Camille what was really going on.  As it was, the secrecy and veiled conversations simply led her to keep digging and causing much more of a nuisance than was necessary.

Camille was a little bit shallow.  She questions things all the time and yet things that are really as plain as the nose on your face she fails to pick up on.  It was a bit frustrating, like she was willfully ignorant.  And some of her actions were infuriating.

There are two potential love interests here but for me both lacked any sort of chemistry.

The ending felt rushed and a little bit incredulous.

I realise that this comes across as very negative and it pains me to write such a review for a favourite author but even with the wonderful setting and gorgeous writing this one just didn’t work for me.

Again though, I’m not the target audience, I had misgivings in the first place and I think I should have stuck with my gut feelings.  YA rarely works for me, it simply fails to answer my need for information.  And, to be honest, I felt like Purcell’s wonderful storytelling ability was shackled by the restraints that writing in this bracket placed upon her.

Anyway, I will still avidly await Purcell’s next work.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating

2.5 of 5 stars