Overall Take:
This is an interesting story, even though the pacing is slow, I recommend you borrow a copy.
Star Rating:
4 stars
Genre:
Historical Paranormal, mystery
Synopsis:
Gloria is a medium and is helping connect others during the Great War. Then she was murdered during one of her own seances where she left a message requesting the help of her rival Ellie Winter.
Ellie has left the medium field and is focusing on finding lost items, but she can’t refuse the final request of Gloria. Now she delves into Gloria’s secrets and plunges back into the world she thought she left.
Thoughts:
I’ve read a lot of Simone St. James books, and this is one of my least favorites sadly. I love her for her paranormal writing, and this one was not exactly what I envision when I think paranormal. This one dealt with psychics and mediums. I felt that it was more of a historical mystery not a paranormal gothic tale. The pacing was also very slow and felt even slower to me since I was struggling with enjoying the topic. I did enjoy the setting of the book. I originally started reading this one on my kindle but opted to switch to the audio version.
I really enjoyed the narrator, and they did a fantastic job. I did feel like they brought the story to life in a way that I wasn’t getting to read the words with my eyes. I did enjoy reading some historical things from the book that were based in fact. This is my favorite part about reding historical fiction, the little kernels of truth. In this case it was the rise of psychics/mediums after the first world war due to people wanting to get in touch with lost loved ones.
The book had some really spooky/creepy moments that were a lot of fun as well along with a great atmosphere.
While Ellie was a fantastic lead character, there were some solid secondary characters as well. They really added to the story and helped bring it to life.
While this book wasn’t my favorite by Simone St James, it was still a good read, and I would recommend it. I am glad I listened to this one and I am truly thankful for different formats.
Thanks for my copy to:
Penguin Random House Audio @PRHAudio
Publication Date:
November 14, 2023
Page Length:
319 Pages
10hrs 25 minutes
Publisher
Berkley
Penguin Random House Audio
Availability
Affiliate link
https://amzn.to/3tb4FXE
Fun Personal Tidbit
I recently had a reading by a psychic. I’m a skeptic but he knew things about me that I haven’t told anyone, even my husband. It was pretty shocking. While I wouldn’t say I’m a convert, it was interesting.
