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A review by daredeviling
The Last Drop of Hemlock by Katharine Schellman
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed the first book in this series enough to pick up the second one, and I found it to be a good, solid read as well. I really like all the characters and their relationships with each other, and I'm so glad that the author took the time to flesh out Vivian and Florence's relationship more especially, since familial relationships are my favs. The fact that Florence is going into Vivian's world a bit and bonding with her sister is super sweet, and I'm excited to see how that will play into the plot of the third book (even though I HATE the whole "main character is accused of murder" plotline, it's so overdone and also personally stressful). I also really liked Danny and Florence's blossoming relationship. It wasn't a ship that I had thought about before, but when it became a thing, I realized how cute it was.
Something that the author did really well in the first book and continues to do well here is how she evokes the atmosphere of the 1920s. As a reader, you really do feel like you have been transported back to that era. Everything about the descriptions, the word choices, and the way that people are described and how they talk bring up images of the era in question, and that can be hard when writing historical fiction. It's also definitely not an era that I read about a lot (not that I read a ton of historical fiction), nor is it an era I'm usually interested in since mob/organized crime is one of the few types of crime I have no interest in, so kudos to the author for pulling me in despite that.
The plot itself was fine, nothing to really write home about. It was interesting and engaging and it kept me reading until I got to the end of the book. As previously mentioned, I especially liked that Danny got more billing in this novel and that we got to see Chinatown and learn more about what it was like to be Chinese living in NYC in the 20s. I'm always a fan of more Chinese representation in any media that I consume, and it was definitely not expected when I first picked up this series. I appreciated the historical note the author put at the end of the novel about the history of Chinese immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s too.
I haven't decided if I will read the next book because like I said, I hate that specific plotline even though literally everyone does it, but tbh, I probably will because at least this author keeps things fresh and original.
Something that the author did really well in the first book and continues to do well here is how she evokes the atmosphere of the 1920s. As a reader, you really do feel like you have been transported back to that era. Everything about the descriptions, the word choices, and the way that people are described and how they talk bring up images of the era in question, and that can be hard when writing historical fiction. It's also definitely not an era that I read about a lot (not that I read a ton of historical fiction), nor is it an era I'm usually interested in since mob/organized crime is one of the few types of crime I have no interest in, so kudos to the author for pulling me in despite that.
The plot itself was fine, nothing to really write home about. It was interesting and engaging and it kept me reading until I got to the end of the book. As previously mentioned, I especially liked that Danny got more billing in this novel and that we got to see Chinatown and learn more about what it was like to be Chinese living in NYC in the 20s. I'm always a fan of more Chinese representation in any media that I consume, and it was definitely not expected when I first picked up this series. I appreciated the historical note the author put at the end of the novel about the history of Chinese immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s too.
I haven't decided if I will read the next book because like I said, I hate that specific plotline even though literally everyone does it, but tbh, I probably will because at least this author keeps things fresh and original.