Retro Review: Fingersmith

When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.

4 stars. I called Sarah Waters' book The Paying Guests "a thriller of the heart, or something." I also noted that "it's quite simply about people - good people, decent people, admirable people - who do something wrong." I also didn't see the validity of a comparison with Dickens as, in my opinion, it went "deep instead of wide."

Fingersmith, though, is so Dickensian it hurts. There are twists and turns and many, many fleshed out characters and the implausible nature of the plot is forgiven because the moments feel so real. Waters' characteristic melodrama oozes from the pages, and I truly don't know how she manages to thicken it without ruining the flavor. She is truly a queen.

It's also exhausting to read. I have to admit I did NOT predict the first twist (I know!) and had to take a break to digest a bit. And then our main characters ended up trapped in horrible situations for most of the rest of the book. I enjoyed the clearly-researched details and the depth, but it was perhaps slightly too long. The writing is also a little quirky - full of blushes and "Oh!" 's.

Sarah Waters though, my god. I bow down. Another "thriller of the heart," for sure. She's incredible and I can't wait to read The Little Strangers, next on my list.

Fingersmith on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

4 stars. Aww, how cute! Simply adorable! For some reason this was much more lighthearted than I expected, and much more ... adventurous. The stakes are never that high and the angst is a bit, well, angsty, but I really enjoyed this humorous little book.

I loved getting to know Monty, who begins about as far away from a fearless hero as you'll find in literature, his brave sister and his quietly noble travel companion / best friend / love interest. There are so many shenanigans I could hardly keep up - thievery, drunken debauchery, piracy, alchemy, numerous delicious illegal acts and just a hint of magic. They all add zest to this extremely heartwarming 18th century coming-of-age story.

I know it's shouted from the rooftops these days, but yes, representation matters. We have a bisexual protagonist in love with an epileptic biracial man - more stories like this, please. And take note - the representation here is done well. This isn't diversity for the sake of diversity, this book's message is folded with extreme care into its extremely well-written pages. The incredibly painful subjects of child abuse and chronic illness are handled with so much delicacy its almost breathtaking.

I docked a star because I suffer from really horrible secondhand embarrassment and couldn't stand Monty's many missteps in the first half of this book. I also find True Love tiresome. But seriously - read this book. I really, really enjoyed it, and I will read it again and again. After all, "what's the use of temptations if we don't yield to them?"

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue on: Amazon | Goodreads