A book of two halves for me ⭐️⭐️⭐
Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible. When Hester is thrust into the world of the aristocratic Brock family, she leaps at the chance to improve her station in life under the tutelage of the fiercely intelligent and mysterious Rebekah Brock. But whispers from her past slowly begin to poison her new life and both she and Rebekah are lured into the most sinister of investigations.
Hester and Rebekah find themselves crossing every boundary they've ever known in pursuit of truth, redemption and passion. But their trust in each other will be tested as a web of deceit begins to unspool, dragging them into the blackest heart of a city where something more depraved than either of them could ever imagine is lurking . . .
As an initial aside - this book has such a beautiful cover - I bet when this hits the shelves people wont be able to stop themselves from picking it up. (I really have a thing for pretty books!)
This was a book of two halves for me. Let's start with the setting. Ooooh but Carlin is a descriptive force to be reckoned with. She imagines the grit and dirt of impoverished Victorian London so well , you swear you can actually smell the grime through the pages. Bravo. Carlin really puts you right there, living and breathing alongside the characters. And not one, but TWO strong female protagonists - what an utter delight.
As the blurb alludes to, following an accident, Hester is taken in by the aristocratic Brock family, ostensibly to be tutored by Rebekah. I loved the Pygmalion/My Fair Lady references here, the "let's take a London street urchin and see if we can turn her into a lady" condescension. I really enjoyed this part of the story and watching their friendship blossom.
However, then Hester and Rebekah turn 'crime fighting, detective duo', and I just found this not quite so well executed. I guess it was just a bit far fetched for me and the mystery element was too convoluted to really grab me. The section where we really find out what is going on was surprisingly gruesome and I actually appreciated this twist towards the darker side. It's something that I've seen as a plot in Victorian themed TV - drama so I wasn't surprised by the reveal, but thought it was gritty, nonetheless.
A strong 3.5 stars for this debut from Laura Carlin and I will be looking out for what comes next from her.
Big thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Wicked Cometh is published on 1st Feb 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton
I'm just warning you the next paragraph has a teeny spoiler...
It was so nice to read a book containing a relationship between two women that doesn't have to scream, "LOOK THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A GAY COUPLE! SEE US TICK THE LGBT BOX" I thought it was a subtly written romance (with some great sexual tension) between two women in a time and place where attitudes could have affected this. But Carlin decides not to focus on how Rebekah and Hester might have been perceived in that time and it was all the better for not going there.