Madam

I'm don't think the writing itself was bad but I think this story would've been better if someone else wrote it. Also rose is the wooooorst!

3.5*

2.5/3 out of 5 stars. This book sounded like something I would really enjoy. However there were a few things that niggled me. The plot felt very all over the place. It would go at a snails pace for ages and then suddenly try to thrush the plot forward making for a reading experience similar to whiplash. I found the schools values and the threatening, coercive hold over Rose at the boarding school unbelievable and unrealistic for Scotland in the 1990s. I agree with a lot of reviews that say this book feels like it's set in the 1890s not the 1990s. Most characters were so wet and weedy they were infuriating and the dystopian elements felt stilted and artificial. I wasn't buying this book as a whole.

But I can't deny I loved the boarding school setting and the descriptions of rugged Scotland. I found the Greek history and myth sections really intriguing but the plot was too slow and cumbersome to get higher than a three star rating. Wynne is a very impressive writer and the author has strong potential. I certainly will be checking out anything else this author writes.

Thanks to the author Phoebe Wynne, Quercus books and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.