I will say, I did love this book, I enjoyed reading it, the pacing was great, and the writing was so eloquent. You really get that atmosphere of what it was like in that time period, and the fantastic mystery 'mood-making,' of the environment, that was really something.

I also agree with some of the before comments, that what really gripped me was trying to figure out who was going to do what.

Cat was supposed to be the main character, but honestly, I kept finding myself disagreeing with her more and more. She acted like she was held prisoner or something, and it was disrespectful how she'd secretly admonish the Cannings because they just happened to be a higher class? They were still nice to her, their rules were fair (it's their house), and they helped her by giving her a job when she desperately needed one. I know it was supposed to come off as feisty, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

Albert, I can maybe understand some hostility there; but as a pastor, he was dealing with some hard personal struggles that were later hinted at.

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Like being gay.

And I can't help but understand how upset he'd be, if he specifically asked you not to do one thing and you go and do it. Especially just to 'rebel.' You don't need that kind of trouble from an employee. And what, we were supposed to hate him for how angry he was to find her

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breaking the law??

I'd be furious too!

Hester was the one I sympathized with the most. She constantly lost confidence in herself because of the marriage, and it's not even her fault. She's just trying to live as a typical wife wants to, and when she's getting these lovely messages from her sister, she's starting to wonder if something's wrong with her. She admired Cat because of her bravery, and empathized with her the most, even up to

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giving her the key to her freedom when she saw how much it pained her to be locked away.

She was the one who convinced Albert to take her in and give her a job even though they really didn't have the money for it, and were uncomfortable with her criminal past.

Hell, even Cat's disrespect to Sophie was unwarranted, because it was her JOB to oversee the staff and make sure things are in order. She was still human, especially when it counted.

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Like when it surprised Hester how broken up she was over Cat's death.

Even Robin was a marvellously complex person. He came off like this intrusive, mysterious villain, but when it was found out

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(I say found out, but I mean Cat spied on his personal things)

about his family issues, everyone can understand wanting so badly to prove yourself to your parent. He'd do anything to get the recognition, even

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choosing to be jailed for a murder he didn't commit in order to refuse telling the truth of why he was really there; faking those pictures.

I love how deep and honest these characters were written, it's the best kind when they're not perfect, it makes them relatable. Even Cat, though I disagree with her opinions most of the time, my heart broke when the ending happened. It was completely unpredictable, and it would have been nice to see her happy.

Also, someone needs to look into that jail, because that treatment was ridiculous. Even for the time period. It was something else I hated, that there was this big mystery around Cat had gotten her nickname, 'black cat,' and why she had been to jail. People whisper about it like it's 'scandalous,' only to find that

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she only went to jail for like three days for suffrage.

Nothing really big, like murder or anything. And during that time, her actions were still foolish. She claims it's because of what they did in response to her that she has this trigger trauma of not being able to be locked in anywhere, but legit, if she had only just

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eaten her food instead of withering herself away for some stupid rebellion

it wouldn't have happened. I don't care if it was for some principal or whatever, it was stupid. How are you gonna provoke the guards like that, and then want us to feel bad when they respond??

The only thing that threw me off (aside from Cat), was how the time skip jumped back and forth. I enjoyed the past part so much, that I hated when it cut back to the present. I really didn't care about Leah, or Ryan, or Mark, I just wanted to get back to the story.