A mystery book with a less than thrilling mystery, but still enjoyable.
This is one of those rare books where I have a long list of things I didn't enjoy. And yet, overall, I liked this book. It certainly had flaws in my opinion, but it was still enjoyable. The thing is, though... I can't exactly pinpoint what it was, that made it enjoyable 🤷♀️
👍 What I Liked 👍
A Christmas Carol: I absolutely adore A Christmas Carol and I really liked seeing all of the references to that story, disguised here as 'inspiration' for Dickens. I liked that the story was sort of constructed in a way that implied that this story was actually what inspired Dickens to write A Christmas Carol.
👎 What I Disliked 👎
Secrets: One of my big reading pet peeves is secrets that blow up in the characters face. Whenever I encounter a character, who decides to keep a secret, however well meaning, from someone they love, I know how it's going to end. It will be exposed, there will be a fall out, and then they will get back together again in the end. It just doesn't work for me. I see through it every time. It's so tired.
Mystery: I'll admit that the mystery did not do it for me either. It was just not thrilling or exciting. Mostly, it was Dickens going back and forth between the same people over and over again. There weren't really any leads, evidence or anything to go on, it was just a string of slightly boring conversations.
Pace: The pace was really slow and it almost felt like the story never really god started. Probably because a lot of the story was just dialogue between the characters. I needed something more. Some more action.
No Kate: What I really liked about the previous installment was Dickens' fiance, Kate. Sadly, she was missing for most of this book and the story really suffered from her absence.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review