This is certainly an interesting read with a strong focus on what it was like to be a woman in Georgian England. I just wish there was a bit more female rage in it.

The story is told in two perspectives. Alys leads the story in modern times. She's an antique dealer, trying to get her hands on the remaining Anatomical Venus. She has a mysterious connection to these models that have been crafted in the eighteenth century to make medical students more interested in anatomy but that are rumoured to come alive to murder those same students.

The second perspective is shown to us through the eyes of Eleanor, one of three sex workers in the eighteenth century London on whom the Anatomical Venus were modeled.

This story takes us through many twists and turns, and while the mystery isn't exactly unpredictable it's still enjoyable to discover little secrets along the way. I think the book certainly focuses on the historical aspects more than I expected and while it was completely fascinating, it felt like it was delaying the main plot. Like the author was so enamoured with being able to portray Georgian London that they forgot their story in it all.

It's hard to talk about this book while trying to avoid major spoilers. I'll say that I was kind of disappointed with the way the Anatomical Venus was created. It felt like another way to take agency away from these women, and I just wished they would have a little more fun with getting revenge on the men who wronged them.

Still it's certainly a unique story, with a fascinating insight into the historical lives of sex workers.

Thanks to A. Rushby and VERVE books for the advance copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Verve for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my opinion.

Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this book, this was partly due to the TW at the beginning of the book and partly due to the content of the story. I didn't feel that the book was as advertised, it's more historical fiction/fantasy than a full on horror/female rage.

I adored this book! Adored it!

It’s described as gothic feminist body horror, and this describes it perfectly. It’s the first time I’ve read body horror and there is a trigger warning at the start which made me quite worried, but it’s ok, it’s not like I was expecting.

You can read the description of this book yourself, I don’t need to repeat it, but what you do need to do is read it! The writing is excellent, the story just builds and builds, getting more and more tense and worrying, the ending shocked me (in the best way). This is a book I will not stop recommending - it’s going up there with my all time favourite books.

Brilliant.

My thanks to Netgalley and Verve Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Slashed Beauties by A Rushby is a delicious slice of Georgian Gothic that seamlessly blends fantasy into the mix - the result is a macabre and sometimes upsetting novel that is well worth reading, especially at the moment as Autumn turns to Winter. the 'slashed beauties' of the title are the so-called Anatomical Venuses, a Georgian era curiosity - women, carved to perfection out of wax, with removable inner organs. Created for medical students to learn from, the Venuses are a deeply unsettling combination of medical device and erotic figure; it is a fantastic concept to hang a novel off.
The dual POV novel features Alys, who lives in the present day. She has a strange connection with the Beauties and wants to destroy them once and for all - the reasons for which are unclear but deeply intriguing. Then, in 1769, we have naive, sweet Eleanor, who runs away to London with the man she hopes to marry - who, of course, vanishes on her right away. She then meets the beguiling Elizabeth, who promises her a better life - at what cost, though?
You may be thinking "isn't this a book about supernatural murder?" And the answer is yes, kind of! This small element of the novel is a funny thing to concentrate on in the marketing - there is supernatural murder, yes, but to explain it further would mean heavy spoilers of the book. But if you go into this one expecting a "good for her" type narrative, as I did, there is a real risk you'll be disappointed, as it is definitely not that vibe at all. I absolutely loved it, once I got over the initial sense of being misled by marketing.
The novel reminded me a lot of Heather Parry's debut, Orpheus Builds A Girl, in that it uses a real-life ~curiosity~ - aka a deeply creepy and misogynist concept, in both cases - to unpack big questions around bodily autonomy and patriarchy. If your liked that book, or like your historical fiction with a side of body horror, I cannot recommend this one enough. A strange little gem.

Slashed Beauties is historical horror with a feminist bite. A. Rushby resurrects the Anatomical Venuses 18th-century wax women rumoured to kill abusive men and spins a tale of sisterhood, betrayal, and reclamation across centuries.

A. Rushby's Slashed Beauties is a hauntingly atmospheric and highly suspenseful novel that interweaves folklore, gothic history, and modern-day suspense. Focused on the sinister legend of three Anatomical Venuses; three wax models believed to come to life and take revenge on cruel men, the novel glides effortlessly between 18th-century London and Seoul in the present day.

In the contemporary, antiques dealer Alys is pulled into a perilous deal when she is asked to ferry and finally destroy one of the Venuses. Her quest is filled with fear and awe, as the line separating artifact and myth gets obscured. In the past, Eleanor's fateful encounter with the seductive Elizabeth and Emily at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens sets off a chilling investigation of control, desire, and manipulation. Combining, these timelines form a rich tapestry of sisterhood, betrayal, and recovery of power against repressive forces.

The author's writing is both vivid and unnerving, evoking the grotesque loveliness of the wax figures while exploring the darker aspects of human ambition and desire. The passages on female fury, strength, and solidarity ring so potently, particularly as they ring across the centuries. Although sometimes the ferocity feels necessary to the novel's uncompromising reclaiming of women's lives.

Slashed Beauties is a bold, gothic masterpiece; fascinating, ghastly, and completely unforgettable.

I liked the dual perspective storyline that was happening and the way that they connected so easily. I thought both Alys and Eleanor were really interesting characters to follow. I liked how the world building was done for both of the time periods. This was an interesting premise but there were a couple of points that i feel like the idea for that scene could have been pushed further but it wasn't bad, just lacking a tiny bit. This definitely filled my historic horror mystery urge i've been having recently and i would read more by A. Rushby again.

I didn’t connect with this book quickly but once I did, I found myself really enjoying it. The mystery is very well threaded through the story and I was hooked to find out what was happening. The anatomical venuses and allusions to Jack the Ripper was so interesting and I loved the historical chapters set in the brothel. Unfortunately the wheels fell off in the final third. Where I wanted the author to continue weaving us through the story, slowly revealing the truth of the events, it was instead handed to me on a silver platter of word vomit. Tell, tell, tell. It was a let down after a really solid middle that kept me engaged and interested and I ended up feeling little payoff for the story as it ended.

What a subject matter! I have long been an admirer of the Anatomical Venus, so when I saw there was a Historical Horror featuring three anatomical venuses I knew I had to read it immediately. I am also not usually one for a dual timeline book, but the way the dual timeline was written in this book really hooked me, I was excited to see what happened next in each timeline and it kept me turning the pages.

The earlier timeline in particular was my favourite, and I really appreciated the detailed look at the lives of the women as historical sex workers, even including a reference to the book Fanny Hill. I also greatly enjoyed the setting and the gothic vibe throughout, especially the dark draw of the anatomical Venus.

Something I did struggle with in this book was a lack of depth, I found the way the witches, coven and magic were described and involved to be rather lacking. The connection of the coven and venuses was left quite minimal and that left the book feeling as though this element was added in as an afterthought, I would be interested to see any other ways the book could have culminated without the use of the coven. Or to be given more depth into the magic and witches history and journey from past to present to fully appreciate their involvement. Similar with the Anatomist and Briar, I felt that they were quite two-dimensional and I would have really enjoyed some more depth and description into their lives, and motives. I also think the ending deserved a lot more love than it got, and was quite convenient and rushed.


Also, as a lover of Gothic Horror, I would say this is not gothic. Other than Elizabeth’s Venus having a dark pull which caused men to act dangerously and obsessively, there was little that was gothic about this book, especially from the beginning. Some may say that the anatomical Venus is gothic in itself, and I don’t disagree, but for a book to be classed as a gothic horror there has to be a slow building gothic dread throughout, and although the lives of the Venuses were tragic and fraught with misfortune, I don’t necessarily think that warrants the description of ‘Gothic’.

I did enjoy this book, I loved the subject matter, but I feel that it could have been pushed much further and had further depth. The description of the Anatomical Venus was gorgeous, and I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of historical obscura being brought to life in a novel.

Pick this up if you like Historical Horrors, Oddities & Obscura, Anatomical Venuses, stories about Sex Workers, Revenge, Cloaked Female Murderers, Cursed Objects,

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this. I had no idea that Anatomical Venuses existed. Obviously anatomically correct complete with organs and entrails would be useful for teaching purposes but when you look at the pictures of the Venuses, they are really rather disturbing and offer an unwelcome insight to the male attitude so prevalent at that time that women are objects in both life and death. There were wax anatomical models of men too but from what I can see, they are not presented in a much more matter of fact way.

Anyhoo, I found Eleanor and Emily to be likeable and sympathetic and I also had some sympathy with Elizabeth and all she had endured. It was interesting and of course, as always, depressing to read about the lives of many women in those days and the indignities and cruelities they were subjected to by men and society and in this particular book, Elizabeth is guilty of cruelty too. I would have preferred not to have had Polly's story - entirely unnecessary and gratuitously cruel.

For me, the book dipped a bit from the point when the ladies went to Briar and the anatomist. I could understand the anatomist's motives but what was in it for Briar?

I felt that the modern day story did not work quite as well as the historical story. Alys and Ro seem sympathetic too but they are not as richly drawn and believable as the 18th century women and Alys' quest is quite slow paced. I was surprised when we finally find out how Alys is connected to the ladies. and I did like the ending..

I went into this book with high expectations, having read the synopsis: historical fiction, feminine rage as a byproduct of patriarchy, culminating in delicious revenge. However, I ended up quite underwhelmed by the story the author chose to tell.

The narrative is split between Alys in the present and Eleanor in the past, one of the "Venuses." I found Eleanor’s point of view far more compelling, as we were immersed in that period and the harsh realities faced by fallen women. On the other hand, Alys’ chapters, aside from the first few, left much to be desired, lacking any real sense of jeopardy. This made me question the relevance of her storyline. We know she has plotted to become the custodian of the Venuses and that they drive men mad, but beyond that, we learn very little about her role. It isn’t until around the 70-75% mark that we finally get any answers. When the revelation does come, it feels drawn out and anticlimactic, with what should have been a crescendo instead feeling like an underwhelming conclusion.

The plot centred around the idea of Elizabeth needing to be defeated to free Emily and Eleanor fell flat for me.
Elizabeth’s failure to make herself anew, she reverts to the naked cruelty to which she has been treated to since the age of 13. Although she serves as the clear antagonist, I didn’t find her to be a true villain. After all, it wasn’t Elizabeth who tricked Emily into a sham marriage, leaving her with an incurable disease as a parting gift. Nor was it Elizabeth who convinced Eleanor to run away, leaving her pregnant, alone, and destitute in London. Rather, Elizabeth plays the only hand she believes she has in a game she cannot win, aligning herself with life’s male victors.

This brings me to Briar, the anatomist. Society is what prevents her from practising as her true self, which leads her to take advantage of women in order to get her revenge. Why not mind-control her male student to do her bidding? The siren/femme fatale angle, which initially seemed promising, could have been more engaging if the women had willingly chosen to participate in their revenge. Their agency didn’t need to be taken from them.
The magical element felt like an afterthought. Briar and the coven lack a fully fleshed-out backstory, and their supposed importance is lost on the reader. The revelation at the end, which should have felt momentous, lacked the feeling of real consequence as a result.
I’m still not sure what this book was about—defeating Elizabeth, or stopping her from warping the minds of men? It gave off the vibe of a conversation where women discuss the ways they are marginalised, only for another woman to undermine them by saying, "Men have it hard too."
All in all, I enjoyed the chapters set in the past, especially the world-building. The historical context could have carried the entire book. I felt the jeopardy of their situation and their plight, including Elizabeth’s. Unfortunately, the present-day storyline and the magical elements left me feeling disconnected from the overall narrative.

2.75

I loved the premise of this - it sounds so camp and gothic, and I'm especially interested in 17th and 18th century London sex workers, so it felt like the perfect book for me. Unfortunately, it was such a letdown. The first half, especially the social politics and history flashbacks, were really engaging. But the ending was completely bizarre. There's mystery magic that's expositionally explained but makes very little sense, most of the interesting action happens onscreen, and we're told that something 'must have happened' in the past with an incredibly convenient spell to make the ending stick. Why end it this way? Why not fully develop a magic system or give the protagonist more to do? It was so frustrating and disappointing.

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. The story didn’t keep my attention well and I DNF’ed around the 43% mark.

"I am the mistress of my own fate."

A. Rushby's novel is about the three Anatomical Venuses. Modelled from wax after three real life sex workers, these were created during eighteenth century London as a way to entice medical male students. Legend has it that they came to life at night to murder the men that have done them wrong. Alys is a arts dealer who has managed to retrieve Elizabeth, one of the three Venuses, her mission now is to severe her ties with all three of the bewitched murder dolls once and for all.

I did not know what to expect with this book. I went in knowing as little as possible and honestly I am glad I did. This book surprised me in a good way.

The story does overlap through two timelines of the three sex workers first encountering each other and with the present where Alys has connections to them that are kept hidden until the big reveal. As the story continues, many questions begin to be answered behind the bewitching history of the Venuses.

At times this did feel like a thriller but the horror comes in form of the backstories of these three women and the terror/temptation that lead them to be well known.

A little different to what I expected going into it but not a bad book at all. I definitely think this will be a popular read among fans of gothic horror lit & historical fictions.

I personally don't think the blurb for this wholly matched up with the actual book; I took this as more a commentary on toxic feminity & toxic female friendships which isn't a bad thing, just different to what I'd anticipated. That being said, I still enjoyed the darkness of the story & I thought Elizabeth was a really strong villain, the kind you just love to hate. The tension building was brilliantly done, more so in the final chapter when everything came to a head which was also my favourite part of the book.

The main thing that kept my rating for this at 3 stars was the pacing— I felt there were parts that seemed too much like filler where there was little action which made the whole thing quite slow paced & sometimes drawn out too much for me, I don't think the chapters needed to be as long as they were but I understand this will be a subjective thing.

I really enjoyed the writing style, especially in Eleanor's chapters where the dialect matched up well with the era they were set in, it made it all feel so immersive & had me believing these characters could have been real. About halfway I was a little unsure on Alys' character, I just couldn't take to her, but by the end she totally redeemed herself for reasons I can't say without spoiling the story. There were times when the fantasy elements were quite strong but this was predicted & didn't bother me at all, I would just say to make sure you suspend disbelief before getting into this.

Overall, this was a decent feminist gothic horror & one I'd still recommend to fans of this genre, providing you can deal with a bit of body horror & some of the worst (but also greatest) female villains in fiction. It's also given me a newfound interest into the real anatomical venuses so that's something.

Thank you Verve & Netgalley for my free eARC!

Historical feminist horror ticks all my boxes so I was looking forward to this novel. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment.

The modern day segments of the story were dull, repetitive, filled with plot holes and the “twist” was blatantly obvious. They were so badly written I almost stopped reading. However, the historical element of the story was much more enjoyable. Whilst still being repetitive, I enjoyed the relationships between the three characters and found the settings to be well described.

Overall, a fascinating premise badly let down by generic writing and huge plot holes.

Thanks to NetGalley and VERVE Books for the ARC.

Thank you VERVE Books and Netgalley for the eARC.


This book could not have come my way at a better time; I had just finished binge watching the TV series Harlots, about sex workers in Georgian England, which was inspired by the The Covent Garden Ladies by Hallie Rubenhold. These story enthrall me, the olden times. the plights and triumphs of women in a sexist, classist, and occasionally racist world.
The other side of why I was interested in this story is that I am a history of surgery enthusiast; anything about the surgical renaissance of the mid to late 19th centure, especially in Edinburgh, the anatomists, the resurrectionists, Burke & Hare etc. I could not believe that I did not about the Anatominal Venus until earlier this year, reading The Butcher's Daughter.

Then I saw Mother Horror on instagram recommend it and I added it to the TBR. A few weeks later I made the brave decision of requesting the ARC on netgalley and low and behold, and Verve publishing was kind enough to approve my request.

I follow the author on instagram and she is brilliant; not only she shared the inspiration behine the book, but was kind enogh to indulge me prattling about Harlots and Hallie Rubenhold in her DMs.
I also enjoyed, as I do with most historical fiction books I read, reading about real historical places and events mentioned. I am a big fan of Covent Garden and visit it whenever I get a chance, but also the park at Vauxhall, where the historical Pleasure Gardens once existed until their closure in 1859. Most historical romance readers would have a recollection of Covent Garden & Vauxhall, especially the Maiden Lane series lol.


The above mentioned factors do not influence my opinion of the book though. To give an unbiased opinion; I love the book as it is.
I am not the biggest fan of dual timelines, but some authors just make this format work, and this was one of those instances.
I like Alys, and while I hoped her "background' and relationship with the Anatomical Venuses was revealed sooner, I did enjoy reading her chapters, her thoughts. her relationships, the coven etc.

My favorite part though was the journey back to the 18th century, how Elizabeth, Emily and Eleanor came together, how the Venuses came to existence, and the surviving the exploitation women had to endure to survive. There is a popular meme online, that if society is lucky that feminists demand justice, not revenge. Books (and other media) that highlight feminine rage and feminist revenge can explore this concept without anyone IRL going to jail lol.
The dynamics between the 3 women were interesting; nothing is quite as it seems, and a girl in this enviornment needs to be vigilant, even among people who are considered friends.

Anyway; very enjoyable, intriguining, thrilling and thought provoking book. It hit all the spots for me and I highly recommend it. I loved it so much I preordered my own copy, and can't wait to listen to the audiobook after release day.

This is going to be the longest review because there is so much to say about this book. 99% of it positive but I had a major issue right at the end, which I’ll explain in a spoiler free way.

“Slashed Beauties” took over my life for the three days it took me to read it. In the best way possible. I wanted to read this book because the premise sounded like something I could love. Then I read the little author’s note that came before the beginning of the book and I was already hooked. How fascinating it is to know where ideas for a novel come from! Especially in a case like this one where the story is actually so nuanced. It’s fiction but there is historical accuracy too. Very fascinating to me and I wish more authors did the same.

I’ll start by mentioning the setting of this book. We have London in 1769 and a few places in England (which include London as well) and Seoul in the present time. As someone who knows London so well this was a treat. I find it so mind blowing going through places in a city and finding out what those areas used to be like. Hearing how Covent Garden was described in the 1769 timeline was so crazy because it couldn’t be more different now. What do you mean this cute area where you can shop at luxury boutiques used to be one of the worst places in London? Finding out about those details makes me see every place mentioned in a different light. So much time spent in Covent Garden finding it to be one of the nicest areas in London and then I read this. So fun!
Also, the other places in England that were mentioned were done so in a way that really made me want to go there. Because it all felt so real. And sure, the places are real. But I mean this reality where the myth about the Venuses was a thing. Of course, we all know about it! It was so easy to imagine myself in this reality where that was part of our folklore. I wanted it to be true. I wanted to go back to 1769 and see those places described in the book. I felt so immersed in the story.

Having two timelines can be tricky because what if one is more interesting than the other? What if the reader just wants to stay in one timeline and puts the book down when we go back to the other? I had a favourite but the good thing was that both timelines kept me intrigued. In 1769, we get answers to what really happened. In the present day, we wait to see what Alys does and whether any potential bad things that could happen do happen. 1769 was my favourite timeline because of Emily. More about her later. But Alys and all the little side characters she interacted with were also really interesting to follow.
But the three Es…those were the stars of the show. We see the past timeline through the POV of Eleanor, which is intentional. And I love her, even if she frustrates me at times. All three women (Elizabeth, Emily and Eleanor) are survivors. That’s why they end up together but each story is different. And I feel like while Emily could understand other people’s choices and see why they saw things a certain way, the other two struggled. Eleanor never fully bothered to understand why Elizabeth was the way she was and she admits that herself. Limiting it to just Sir William is such a disservice to a very complicated character like Elizabeth. She’s not good but she just wants to be wanted. All three women want that. They want to finally be wanted, desired, loved, accepted, …it’s really sad to read about, honestly. But it’s such a relatable human experience too.

The end of the book includes questions for a book club and I always adore when those are included. I had been taking notes while reading like I was going to do a uni assignment or something. I loved school so that’s a good thing. So with most of those questions, I already had answers for. But I’ll use them as a guideline of sorts too.
So what about Alys as a narrator? I didn’t really see her as unreliable but I felt the story of the Venuses had gone through centuries of “telephone”. Even when the myth first started, people didn’t believe what was said by the man who survived the attack. So the tale is already not accurate from the beginning since each person describes it differently. So certain comments Alys made felt like a result of that information being altered by the pass of time. And finding out the truth about her just made things make sense. Little hints the author added, which I could have explained in other ways but now we had the ultimate explanation. I liked that.

Another question is related to how the Venuses felt when murdering those awful men. And I felt that was very human too. Because the Venuses could be made to be a killing machine but there’s still a human inside. A human with feelings and morals. Maybe even religious beliefs given the time period. And, except for psychopaths, no one finds killing easy. Even if you’re avenging the person who really hurt you more than anyone else did…it’s not easy. And it was portrayed very well in very few lines. I think the whole book shows humanity in a very honest way and this part isn’t an exception. I recently saw an interview with a man who killed the man who abused him, and many other kids, explaining how complex those feelings are. It was the same for the Venuses and it makes sense.

The moment I read the author’s note and learned about the existence of these Anatomical Venuses, I wanted to see one. I googled them and some were terrifying but it’s still a tool that was useful. I see these types of things as fascinating as well. Learning about how people did things in the past is so cool. They didn’t have textbooks, so they found another way. Especially when it comes to science, many awful things were done in the name of it. But it’s still incredible to see how it was done now that we just pick up our phone and can learn about anything we want. We think we know everything and that we’ve discovered everything but…no. Architecture and science from centuries ago are the two disciplines that truly blow my mind when I learn more about them.
I would see them differently now because of reading the book. I would think of the women of this story but, ultimately, I’d still see them as a useful tool from the past. And as something slightly creepy.

As I said, I find Elizabeth to be a misunderstood character. Probably because we see her from the point of view of Eleanor, who is so different to her. I do believe Elizabeth would have loved to be able to help others in the way she was never helped but was it a possibility? I don’t think so. It isn’t really nowadays so what could she have done? I think Emily understood this and how the game had to be played a lot better than Eleanor. So it’d be interesting to see her point of view more.
And speaking of Emily…my Emily! I adored this character. It’s often people talk about the Bridgertons of the world and complain about adding POC characters to period stories. As if they didn’t exist back then. Well, some depictions are more realistic than others and I find Emily to be one of the best. Her background story makes sense and it shapes who she is fully. She had to survive from day 1 and so that’s why she was the strongest. She had no other option but to be strong and try to outsmart everyone else. Her existence was a reminder of something that shouldn’t have been done and she wasn’t allowed to forget it. Out of all of them, she was the one who desired being wanted the most. But she was the most realistic too. I feel it’s hard to find such a well written character nowadays. So reading about Emily was such a treat and so heartbreaking and I just love her so much.
But she’s no hero. I don’t believe there’s a hero in this story. There are flawed human beings trying to survive and protect those they love. But it’s not a hero story.

Another question makes us think about using beauty to achieve something. And obviously this book is another example of what a double edged sword that is. Because beauty, as society understands it, doesn’t last long. So we can’t depend on it. And using it to get something means it can backfire very easily. Elizabeth is the biggest example of that. So she tried to be stronger and smarter than everyone else but she could see her beauty wasn’t enough. And yet she wanted to be beautiful forever because deep down, people made her think that was the only thing she had to offer.
Because yes, society still treats women as if they are just objects in 2025. Despite all the progress, it’s not enough. Alys is a good example of how even if time passes, she still has some of the same issues Eleanor had centuries before. She tries to hide her beauty because of its “danger”.
And being reduced to just an object obviously means being deprived of agency to do as we please. So being able to return that agency to the characters is the best gift possible. Even if we think they should have done something else, they deserved being able to choose how their story ends. I found that so well done.

There is one question left I didn’t answer and I purposefully left it for last. The romance. The author asks us how we feel about it not being developed more and I think it was the right choice. This isn’t a romance book and yet the romance plot is so vital. Because these women want to be loved. They want to find their person. And those little moments we got were so perfect that just thinking about it makes me tear up. It was such a raw way of feeling love but so beautiful and powerful too. I feel so happy that, even if it was complicated and didn't last long, those characters found that pure love and could feel that way. As much as I would read 700 pages of them running away and living happily ever after, the way the romance was handled literally brings me to tears. Everytime I read the words “my person”...tears everywhere! I loved those two so much. I might write a whole essay about them one day when the book is out. I'm not joking.

And I also wanted to mention what I didn't like. It really is something I can't separate from the book now and which made it not become part of my top 5 of books ever read. I understand we see things from one point of view but the way the story chooses a “real villain”...I was not a fan of. I don't agree with it, personally. And I found it a very odd choice for this kind of book. In the same way I don't think there is one hero, I don't think there is just one villain either. It's much more complicated than that. So that bothered me. Trying to say that if a person was born now they'd be this way or that way is tricky. Because we don't know. Their childhood and their upbringing wouldn't be the same. It could be better or worse and that'd influence their adult life.

As for the trigger warnings, I don't want them to scare people away. Yes, those are things that happen in the book but it's not done in a super detailed way that it becomes hard to read. As I always say, trigger warnings are different for each person but I find this case is one where it'll be ok for most.

I think that's all. I could spend hours writing about this book. It's not going to ever leave my mind now. I'll definitely re-read it in the future and it'll make me want to talk and write about it more. That's what I want when I read a book.

Unfortunately I felt a bit disappointed by this book, or maybe to be fair, by the blurb and marketing which made me expect more of a feminist revenge horror than a plot involving curses and witches. I preferred the Georgian London sections of the novel to the present day and the story regarding Alys seemed fairly obvious early on.
Hopefully Ms Rushby finds her audience and does well
Thank you to netgalley and VERVE for an advance copy of this book

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Historical fiction mixed with feminist horror should have been my ideal book. However I have DNF'd at 45%. I therefore won't link any reviews here.

I believe it's been mis-marketed and reading other reviews here I am not the only one. The synopsis and cover gave the idea that this was going to be a female revenge horror. Instead, we have a modern story that is potentially more thriller style than horror, with a lot of dallying and indecision that made it an annoying interlude into a good historical fiction. The scenes in Seoul were good and creepy, but it started to fall flat once we were just stuck listening to Alys's musings over her not understanding why she was delaying the destruction. And bringing witches in felt like a last minute decision to the plot.
The historical storyline was good, and I think with some work on getting rid of the repetition (this isn't a US audience) it would work really well. I was very interested in the Georgian London we were seeing and the three women were engaging characters. The book lost me when I realised this wasn't going to be a good for her revenge horror of three sex workers controlling and hunting men, but of two of them being controlled by the third. Such a shame because the premise is 5 stars.