The Square of Sevens | 
pickI loved this sweeping tale set in Georgian England. Red is a great character, resourceful & engaging, with skills in fortune-telling. She is involved with a wealthy family but realises they‘re lying to her & her life is in danger. Dickens vibes in the immersive historical world, pacy story-telling & dastardly deeds with an orphan hero. Beautifully written, a book to be swept away in.
pickJust WOW . 5☆ This was an excellent read. I had to keep putting it down because I knew the protagonist was in trouble again! You ever read books like that? Red is an orphan who reads fortunes through the square of Sevens layout. After her father dies when she is 7, she is fostered by a kind man who raises her. She finds out she is the heir to the DeLacy fortune and vows to claim it , though the family doesn't realize she exists. ⬇️
#12booksof2023
@Andrew65
Atmospheric, historical fiction, mystery, fortune telling. I‘m still thinking about this one!
And it‘s a wrap! Looking forward to some more great reading in 2024
#12Booksof2023 @Andrew65
August - the book that is my book of 2023 - and I keep recommending it until everyone has read it. 😁
This year I joined these two gorgeous bookclubs from Goldsboro books in London. GSFF stands for Goldsboro science fiction and fantasy. I believe they've changed the name of Prem1er, but both are continuing into 2024.
Highly recommend both 💕
@Branwen introduced me to #gsff so they do international delivery!
pickThis was a long book that seemed to drag a bit in the middle. I started to think more editing was needed. As I read further I realized I was wrong. Everything was important, lol. So many twists and turns to the plot that my head was spinning—in a good way! Excellent historical mystery set in Georgian England. The setting and atmosphere of the book were spot on and the fortune telling aspect was unique. Don‘t skip the historical note at the end!
pickI loved this! If Dickens and Sarah Waters had a child… it would be this book! It had Bleak House/Fingersmith vibes with a twisty, turning plot and fiendish characters galore! I would recommend binge reading tho as there‘s lots to keep track of. (I‘ve had a busy week so I‘ve only been reading a little bit each night and it was hardwork to remember everyone and their connections etc) Defo one of my top reads of the year. 👍
pickThis was INCREDIBLE and you should all go out and read it immediately! 🥰
Expect:
Georgian vibes
Fortune telling
Mystery galore
Twists and turns
Courtroom drama
Lots of intrigue
Heroes and villains (mainly villains!)
Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a master of storytelling and this was a blast from start to finish.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickIf this book was shorter and more intricately woven, this could easily be a 5 star for me! The beginning was very strong and immediately captured my attention, the middle kinda lost me, and the ending picked back up with a nice little twist I did enjoy. 4/5 stars I hope this UK author brings some of her other books over to the States!
I‘ve been catching up on my shows and still getting over this nasty infection, so I haven‘t gotten to read much this week, but I picked this arc up recently and wow!! I understand why this author is so popular in the UK! She has gotten me hooked from chapter 1! Really excited to finish this one. #NetGalleyArc
pickThis was going to be a so-so as I found most of it quite confusing and a little boring; too many characters who were all related and a complicated legal case. Oh, and not a single character had any redeeming features; they were all awful.
The last few chapters completely changed it though - fabulous! My advice; concentrate from the start and don‘t skim read it like I did!
Henry liked it but prefers his new 🦖 toy!
pickWow! This is a cleverly plotted story with wonderful twists and turns, featuring a young female hero known as Red. She has been trained in the fortune telling art that uses “The Square of Sevens“ and that adds a magical feel to this 18th century English historical fiction story. The tale is atmospheric and deals with family, greed, and social disparities. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the digital ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this one! 5./5 stars.
My current audio book started off really good! Unfortunately now that I‘m halfway through it is starting to draaaag… I‘m really not invested in the story, I hope it will be a bit more gripping soon…
I think September is the month I tackle the long books on the old TBR. Listening to the tagged title along with the 3rd re-read in audio of The Eye of the World.
😅🎧📚
pickAn absolutely wonderful and magical work of historical fiction, totally engrossing from start to finish
5 ⭐️
pickI'm going to quote from the historical note:
"[...] mythical and magical, a sweeping Dickensian story with a twist. [...] a large family and a disputed inheritance, plus fortune telling in the age of Enlightenment."
5/5 Stars
Thank you, @Oryx for meeting at House of Books and Friends in Manchester otherwise I might have missed this gem.
#RushAThon @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @Andrew65
This is definitely going better than the other books I'm trying to read.
#RushAThon @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @Andrew65
Not having a lot of luck with my reads today.
ARC #1 - murder mystery that's a bit bland
ARC #2 - Romance set in Victorian times and my inner history-Monk is having a fit at the anachronistic dialogues/mannerisms, and the places/houses that are clearly not north England but much more North Carolina
🎧 #3 - Sci-fi that is a teensy bit dense, have to find a written copy to make sense of it
So, I'm hoping the tagged/pictured book is the one
pickOnce again my # Goldsboro book is a winner. I loved the gothic/Dicken's vibe this story had. Truly grabs you from the start. The characters and storyline are unique. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bk22 of my recent #BookMail is this beautiful signed edition from the author of Blood & Sugar. Set in Georgian Bath, Red is the daughter of a Cornish fortune teller, traveling with her father predicting fortunes using the ancient method of the square of sevens. When her father dies, she becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar. Now raised as a lady, she starts a journey to find who her mother was, how she died & who her father was afraid of.
