A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, 2)
"A breathtaking romp of a plot, prose as sparkling and luxuriant as a diamond sautoir, and at the heart of it all a sense of wondrous possibility."--The New York Times
Now an International Bestseller, a New York Times Editors' Choice Pick, an Indie Next pick, a Bookpage Best Book of the Year, and a LibraryReads pick--with three starred reviews! A Restless Truth is the second entry in Freya Marske's beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light. Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago. What she didn't expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who's also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can't help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they've both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for--without ending up dead in the water themselves. The Last Binding Trilogy:A Marvellous Light
A Restless Truth
A Power Unbound
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Community Reviews
Read this a few months ago. This book was not as captivating as [b:A Marvellous Light|53217284|A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)|Freya Marske|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634067514l/53217284._SY75_.jpg|80535939], the first novel in the series, but it was still enjoyable! The main characters were all entertaining. Maud was adorably curious, Violet was strongminded, Alan was charming, and Jack was enticingly recluse. I loved all of their interactions and how they became a small rag tag team aboard the ship, and following along with their adventures was fun. I felt that Maud and Violet's relationship developed gradually and realistically, or as gradually as a relationship can develop aboard a cruise. Maud's need to prove herself against her innocence vs. Violet's strength and world experience made them perfectly matched to strengthen each other's weaknesses.
Despite this, however, the story did drag a bit and though I understand the setting was a ship, there still could have been more settings to the story (ships are huge!). The characters kept going between the same spaces which made the story seem repetitive. I also did feel like when the characters weren't actively trying to pull a con, the story stalled a bit and was boring. This made the book feel too long at times. Overall, I enjoyed this book and absolutely love The Last Binding series but do feel that this book suffers from middle child syndrome just a bit.
Despite this, however, the story did drag a bit and though I understand the setting was a ship, there still could have been more settings to the story (ships are huge!). The characters kept going between the same spaces which made the story seem repetitive. I also did feel like when the characters weren't actively trying to pull a con, the story stalled a bit and was boring. This made the book feel too long at times. Overall, I enjoyed this book and absolutely love The Last Binding series but do feel that this book suffers from middle child syndrome just a bit.
I absolutely loved A Marvelous Light, so I was excited to read the next entry in this series. I was intrigued by the premise of a locked room murder mystery on board a Titanic style ship. It felt like more of the book was focused on the romance rather than the rest of the plot, and my experience suffered for it because I didn't like the romance aspect. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of either of the two leads or their relationship to each other. In the case of Violet, she was too much of a closed book to connect with. In the case of Maud, she said and did things that I found frustrating. The sex scenes felt more emotionally uncomfortable than steamy. I will still read the third book, but I hope it's more like the first book with a better balance of plot and romance and a romance that feels more natural and healthy. I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator did a good job, but I did listen to it at 1.3 speed.
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