General information

This is a story about Fleetwood, a 17-year-old wife of a noble person living in England, in the year 1692. Fleetwood is going through her new pregnancy, having miscarried several times before. She’s worried that this baby won’t survive too, and that her life is also in danger. She meets Alice who gives her some hope. Unfortunately, Alice might be one of those uncomfortable women who are not tolerated by people in power. This is a story about women who are trying to save and to be saved.

How was it?

I expected to be infuriated by the story, and I was. It could not be different with a book about women that are treated like cattle. It raised lots of questions. Was it truly that bad? How did it come to this?

Have things really changed much since then?

Good things about the book

The story

The story is very gripping, it’s hard to put the book down. There’s lots of action going on.

The ending

I liked it because it felt realistic and natural.

Things that I liked less

The editing

The passage of time feels very abrupt sometimes. The book feels raw and unpolished at places.

Those nasty bad men, those great good women

As I told in one of my reviews before, I’m tired of this concept. I understand that in a book about a witch hunt such element is inescapable, but I still believe that characters have to be more diverse in order to be plausible and interesting.

The husband issue

I find the eventual situation with the husband implausible and obscene, especially taking into account all the things we’ve read about him.

Questions that I still have

I wish I could learn more about Alice, but I’m also wondering about those historical times in general. If it was that bad could such brave, rebellious Fleetwoods really exist? Did they? Or was the mere thought of going against the current impossible for women then? Well, unless they were witches…

Would I recommend the book?

I’d definitely recommend it to those who are looking for an adventure story with strong female characters. The Familiars will be out in two weeks, on 19.02.19.

Many thanks to the publishers for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

After the deep but complicated book, reading something entertaining is even more exciting than it usually is. I’m now happy and quick like a puppy in an autumn forest.

Here are my entertaining books.

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Umut praised The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in her review, and once again it was a good decision to follow her recommendation.

The book is absolutely amazing! It’s such an interesting, attractive read. I keep thinking about it and I can’t wait to go back to reading it. (An update: You can now read my review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo)

2. The Searcher by Simon Toyne

I’m enjoying how fast-paced The Searcher is, although it’s a bit confusing to be following so many characters especially when the protagonist is confused himself having lost all his memory. The reason I’ve started reading The Searcher is the following book.

3. The Boy Who Saw by Simon Toyne

My husband recently visited a country where books are sold even in pharmacies! Can you imagine that?! I can’t. He sent me a quick message with a photo of a book stall and told me I had five minutes to choose. After hasty googling I chose The Boy Who Saw.

It’s the second book in Solomon Creed series, so I started reading The Searcher first.

I hope I’ll wrap them all up before my treasures start arriving 

Have you read any of them? What did you think (spoiler-free speaking)?