Artistic License

author: Elle Pierson

I grabbed this with fast grabby hands when Mandy at Smexxybooks mentioned that Elle Pierson was also Lucy Parker and, well, y’all know how I feel about her book Act Like It.

Sophy is at an gallery opening with her art school class when an attempted theft marked by a smoke bomb sets off Sophy’s severe asthma. Mick, one of the security consultants guarding the collection, rescues her, and then finds out she can provide detailed sketches of the people who orchestrated it. He already knows that she’s got a sketch of him in her notebook – he saw her drawing it during the exhibit.

Mick’s issue is that he’s really not attractive. He knows it, and he’s sort of accepted that fact about himself. Sophy finds his face, his demeanor, and pretty much everything about him completely fascinating – but not in a gawking, unkind way. She thinks he’s compelling, both personally and artistically. After they’re thrown together by art, smoke, and sketches, she asks him to model for her to prepare for a massive sculpture project she’s undertaking for a competition. Mick isn’t very trustful of anyone, but he agrees.

This is an earlier book, and it sort of shows. I could see some of strengths I found in Act Like It – emotional resonance, creatively talented characters living deeply artistic lives, solid world building, and terrific, realistic dialogue. Whenever characters were talking, my brain was 2500% there for all of it.

I could also see where the plot could have been more consistently developed. It moved in little steps then BIG HUGE LEAPS, and the evolving conflict between Mick and Sophy didn’t always support those massive leaps in their relationship. There’s also an uneven suspense plot that was mild but also somewhat unnecessary. As the romance moved forward, though, the mysteries seemed less vital.

The attraction between the characters was evident in every interaction, though. The internal conflicts – Sophy’s shyness and deep introversion, Mick’s distrust of people and justifiable caution with women – kept me up late reading, and their careful romance gave me deep-seated chest tingles. The impact was not as great as with Act Like It, but I got hit in the feels.

– SB Sarah

Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Romance

The Oxford Inheritance

author: Ann McDonald

When I first saw the blurb for The Oxford Inheritance by Ann A. McDonald, I thought this was 1000% my thing. A dark, gothic mystery set in a prestigious university? Hints of secret societies and conspiracies? Yes, please. While I liked the book, and I found it wonderfully readable (I read most of it in a single sitting), I thought that the twist at the end didn’t mesh well with the rest of the narrative and that some of the darker themes wouldn’t be every reader’s cup of tea.

American Cassie Blackwell moves to Oxford after accepting a prestigious scholarship to their (fictional) Raleigh College. Cassie isn’t what she seems though–rather than a serious academic, she’s managed an elaborate con to get into the university so she can solve a decades old mystery about her mother. Cassie’s mother suffered from mental illness (bi-polar disorder possibly) and committed suicide when Cassie was young. Only after her mother’s death does Cassie learn about her time in Oxford and her possible affiliation with a secret society called The School of Night.

This book is a wonderfully atmospheric mystery–Cassie spends lots of time in dusty libraries, creepy vaults filled with old books, and old bookstores. Her quest to figure out what her mother was involved in is sometimes interrupted by Cassie making new friends and struggling with her schoolwork (if she doesn’t pass, she gets kicked out), but I didn’t mind because I loved the collegiate setting.

This book was a straight up A for me until the very end. The final reveal feels a little sudden and not totally in line with the rest of the narrative.

The Oxford Inheritance also contains some dark themes–mental illness, suicide, childhood abuse and neglect, and there is an attempted rape. While I found these themes in line with the gothic nature of the novel (and they aren’t extraneous, they provide context to the mystery), I know they won’t be something everyone wants to read about.

 

– Elyse

Gothic, Mystery/Thriller

The Widow

author: Fiona Barton

People are going nuts for The Widow and for good reason. It’s a psychological thriller in the same vein as Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Pretty Baby, and it lives up to its much-lauded peers.

Barton writes her mystery by using negative space. Remember in art class when you had to draw a thing by shading in the all areas around it, not actually by drawing the thing itself? That’s what Barton is doing here. The crux of the mystery is the abduction of a child named Bella Elliot, but we as the readers never see the abduction like we often do in traditional mysteries. Instead we get glimpse of the story through the eyes of several key characters – namely the widow of the accused, Jean Taylor, and the detective investigating the case, Bob Sparkes. The book jumps back and forth between 2006, when Bella disappeared, and 2010, immediately after Jean’s husband dies.

Through Jean’s and Bob’s eyes we see the mystery unraveling–did Jean’s husband really take Bella or was he framed? Did she know? Was she involved somehow? Both characters are unreliable narrators because of their respective biases. There were enough twists and turns that by the time I was a third of the way into the book, I barely put it down long enough to eat and shower. And I had to know where is Bella?

I don’t want to say much more about this book because it will ruin it–that’s why I opted for a lightning review even though I could talk about the The Widow for hours. I want every reader to experience the delicious twists and turns this thriller offers.

A few notes though: the book takes place in London so expect terms like Detective Inspector and loo. It’s a bloodless thriller, but does discuss things like child pornography and pedophilia, so it won’t be for everyone. And finally, yes, we do get closure at the end. You won’t be kept wondering what really happened, but you will be eagerly awaiting Barton’s next book–The Widow is that good.

 

– Elyse

Mystery/Thriller