Gray Chamber

Spoilers may follow....

Honestly, this one was a real struggle to get through. The author did an excellent job studying the conditions in the madhouse and expressing that (~30% of the book) and did some good work on fencing lingo. Beyond that, though, the research seems to have been left behind for modern tropes and misconceptions. Velocipede/bike: first, this isn't interchangeable and these are two different contraptions, not synonyms. Second, it wasn't all that scandalous for a lady to use one. Corset: it's like a modern woman going without a bra to be without one in public. This is such a common thing for a modern author to show a woman being independent that it's becoming a huge stereotype and it's a pet peeve. Next, if her cousin had a larger bosom and a smaller waist than her, there's no way they would share a corset. Corsets are 100% custom items and took several weeks to be ordered to suit. Not to mention the necessary “training” period a woman went through with loose lacing. And the powder puff fake bosom which explodes? Ugh. It couldn't work for me.

As far as the fencing angle, I'd have liked that just fine. She wasn't all that scandalous to do that either. However, when she grabs a rapier at a party and forces a duel on a guy she dislikes...she'd have been arrested instantly for attempted murder and illegal duelling. If it was going to be a joke, and something she'd done before, it would have been done with foils (unsharpened or protected blades), not rapiers (sharp). This was a criminal act and then to hear that wasn't her first quarrel??

The instalove didn't work for me either. The guy goes from suddenly noticing her as a woman when she fixes up (eye roll) to being ready to die for her within the week. We were told he loved her but were never shown why. After all, she spends the first third of the book defiant, the second third helpless, and the final third haunted and weak.

She found out the meaning of the three hands but we never got told what.

Basically it's high drama and romance and that really isn't my genre. Throwing in over 50% of the book with glaring historical inaccuracy was a deal breaker for me. I'd be glad to try this author again with a contemporary setting.

Thanks to the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.