Rounding up to three ✨


I liked lily, I liked that she was not always telling the truth. I liked her ability to get up and get on with things no matter what the circumstances.
The dual timeline worked well too, giving up present day, and life in an asylum, and looking back on what brought us there.
My main issue was how slow some parts could be. I'm afraid some felt a little dull (to me. Could just be me)
But there was always something happening to pick up the story and keep me interested

I was excited to read this debut novel by Heather Mottershead. On the face of it, it seemed like a straightforward story of a woman in the late Victorian period who is recounting her incarceration in a mental asylum. But as the story progresses, the reader realizes there is much more to this tale. The main character, Lily, is a very unreliable narrator. Imprisoned for murder, she is later sectioned in an asylum, and it is here that she is given the new 'talking' therapy by a strange therapist. Lily tells her life story to this therapist, hoping that it will free her. But her account is twisted, and the reader gradually understands that much darker forces are at play. The novel highlights many of the struggles women in this period faced - the injustices, the dangers, the misogyny. The novel tackles important themes, such as women's lack of rights, lack of bodily autonomy, lack of freedom. I think Mottershead has done a great job in bringing history to life, and I look forward to reading whatever she writes next.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this e-ARC via NetGalley! That has not influenced this review and all opinions are my own

The blurb for this book sounded so incredibly interesting and it drew me in straight away!

This is a book about revenge, adult relationships, hardships, and one woman’s journey through life which ultimately ends with her in an ‘asylum’.

We have an unreliable narrator which I really loved and found interesting. There are time jumps which seem to fit in perfectly with the current timeline, and a lot of important context was given. I just love how incredibly intelligent the FMC was, and how manipulative and shady she was. And to be fair, every decision she made was very much justified!
The Victorian gothic setting was incredible - there’s a lot of language reminiscent of the time, and you can tell the author did a lot of background reading to provide that atmosphere. There are some triggering topics, but I feel they’re managed in a very respectful way, and they are there to provide specific purposes (which is hard to explain in a spoiler free review).
The pacing of this book was great and I was drawn to it, hence why I finished it pretty quickly. There are no ‘mundane’ parts, and there is no part of the book which is just ‘fillers’ for scenes. Every single scene is carefully chosen with the plot in mind.

If you’re looking for a gothic tale of a Victorian woman in rebellion, this is the one for you!

Rating: 5/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)