Published By: Black & White Publishing
Pages: 400
Released On: 23/05/2024
In an alternate London, the city’s Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production – the Show – has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls.
Juliet’s mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It’s only when her father passes away that Juliet – now nineteen – learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother’s death and her father’s years of silence – and claim her birthright.
But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . .
*****
Thanks to Black & White Publishing for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Ooooh this draws you in from the very first sentence. I opened it and knew I would be hooked, unable to part with it until I’d finished it.
Juliet was an intriguing characters; mysterious, a bit put out, but she comes into her own once she enters the District, she begins to shine. There are many, many other characters, family, friends, strangers, real, historical, fiction – I won’t go into all of them in this review. But you’ve got goodies and baddies and those who straddle both. People who lie and hide, the selfish and selfless, the hidden, the ones in the spotlight .They all work together and whilst some have smaller roles than others, and some bigger, I don’t think any were surplus to the story, they all worked marvellously with Juliet.
It’s well paced, slow enough to give time to the story, settings, and characters, but quick enough to thrill. Some bits were faster than others, some slightly slower. But overall it balances out nicely. It does go a bit slower in the middle. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a time for explanations, a time for scene setting, and character introduction, history telling etc. So it’s not always really action heavy, it’s not that kind of book. There’s almost a horror element in that sense of quiet, of something creeping up, of tension, which I wasn’t expecting but was pleasantly surprised about.
There’s enough of real London for it to be recognisable to the reader, but with an added spark which reminds us that all is not what it appears.
It’s not all red herrings and whatnot like a thriller has, but there are certainly some twists and surprises that I didn’t see coming.
This is the book you red when you want to believe in magic, when you want to remember that feeling magic gave you as a child. It reminded me of Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series about it, which I also loved.
It’s intriguing, entertaining, interesting, uncomfortable, frightening, wary, confusing, topsy-turvy, magical, dark, mysterious, immersive, atmospheric – there’s not enough adjectives. It really looks at the idea of belonging to a person or a place, and how not belonging can impact your overall life and character.
I believe this is Anne’s second book, and so it isn’t her debut, but even for a second book it is very expertly crafted and I think she’ll do well with it, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her future works.
The only, I don’t way to say negative because it isn’t a negative as such, but for me, I felt the ending was slightly rushed. It was a good ending and it worked and I liked it, but the rest of the story is so drawn and enticing, then it suddenly all wraps up and ends, so personally I’d have liked maybe an extra 20 pages or so just do draw the ending out a little bit more.
Is there potential for a sequel? Possibly. It’s all wrapped up nicely and if this is a standalone book then fine, you won’t feel short changed. But if she wanted to develop it further, I could see ways that would be possible.
I don’t usually do star ratings as they annoy me, but for me, this is a 4.5 star book, maybe even a 4.75. If the ending was stretched out just a smidgen more it would have been a perfect 5 star read. But I will still recommend this to friends, family, and readers. It is a really fabulous book with some great writing and I really enjoyed it.
Books By Your Bedside 