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iariaT. Kingfisher is very hit and miss with me. It's always disappointing when a book is a miss because for some reason I feel like I should love everything she writes. Luckily, this book was a hit. I enjoyed it.
+ I found all the characters likable and lovely. They are really what makes this book work. Cordelia, Hester, Imogene, and Penelope were wonderful. Alice, Willard, Evermore and even the Squire were great. Evangeline and Falada were really good bad guys. Just a really well done cast of characters all around. I loved Hester and her no-nonsence approach to her dread and the situation she found herself in. I loved Imogene's gleeful ruthlessness. I loved how genuinely pleasant and lovely Penelope was. I feel like in another version of this story they would make an excellent witch coven.
+ There was focus on the possibility that Cordelia could be a sorceress too but I find myself wondering about Hester and her potential with magic.
+ I liked the end with Richard adopting Cordelia, and Hester moving in with them to ostensibly look after her.
+ I liked the romance between Hester and Richard. Kingfisher's romances often don't entirely work for me but this one was great. I found them very believable. I loved the pining, the unshakable love and loyalty between them.
+ It seemed so obvious to me that Penelope would be the wine locus. There were definitely a couple things here and there that should have bothered me - them 'killing' Falada and burying him while knowing he wasn't a horse and that the ritual worked (but they wanted to keep it underwraps with the servants), or Cordelia choosing to leave by herself to stop Falada, for example - but they didn't really. I found everyone and their actions fairly believable. Considering they knew nothing and had to fight deeply ingrained disbelief they did pretty well.
+ I was surprised that we didn't get an answer about who Cordelia's father was because I was expecting a revelation there.
+ Poor Mr. Parker. Because Evangeline's death was covered up and none of her deeds came out he's going to be hung and die still trapped in his body, known only as a horrible murderer. I like to think that Cordelia convinces Ellen and her sister the truth about what happened to their dad and they visit him and get to forgive him before his execution. Perhaps he could find some peace in that and in knowing the girls would be taken care of. Maybe the book Richard and Tom are writing on sorcery will exonerate him.
+ I found all the characters likable and lovely. They are really what makes this book work. Cordelia, Hester, Imogene, and Penelope were wonderful. Alice, Willard, Evermore and even the Squire were great. Evangeline and Falada were really good bad guys. Just a really well done cast of characters all around. I loved Hester and her no-nonsence approach to her dread and the situation she found herself in. I loved Imogene's gleeful ruthlessness. I loved how genuinely pleasant and lovely Penelope was. I feel like in another version of this story they would make an excellent witch coven.
+ There was focus on the possibility that Cordelia could be a sorceress too but I find myself wondering about Hester and her potential with magic.
+ I liked the end with Richard adopting Cordelia, and Hester moving in with them to ostensibly look after her.
+ I liked the romance between Hester and Richard. Kingfisher's romances often don't entirely work for me but this one was great. I found them very believable. I loved the pining, the unshakable love and loyalty between them.
+ It seemed so obvious to me that Penelope would be the wine locus. There were definitely a couple things here and there that should have bothered me - them 'killing' Falada and burying him while knowing he wasn't a horse and that the ritual worked (but they wanted to keep it underwraps with the servants), or Cordelia choosing to leave by herself to stop Falada, for example - but they didn't really. I found everyone and their actions fairly believable. Considering they knew nothing and had to fight deeply ingrained disbelief they did pretty well.
+ I was surprised that we didn't get an answer about who Cordelia's father was because I was expecting a revelation there.
+ Poor Mr. Parker. Because Evangeline's death was covered up and none of her deeds came out he's going to be hung and die still trapped in his body, known only as a horrible murderer. I like to think that Cordelia convinces Ellen and her sister the truth about what happened to their dad and they visit him and get to forgive him before his execution. Perhaps he could find some peace in that and in knowing the girls would be taken care of. Maybe the book Richard and Tom are writing on sorcery will exonerate him.
