Okay, we are back at it again. I had more historical fiction in my collection – enough to make another post and share the experience again.

Radio Hour by Victoria Purman

3.5 stars
Quite liked it but there sure was a ton of sexism thrown in – to the point that it actually annoyed me and pulled me out of the story.
The general plot was quite good, and it felt really casual – like I was reading about real people and not fictional ones.
Content warnings: sexual assault and sexual harassment

The Scarlet Pen by Jenifer Uhlarik

3 stars

I didn’t have high hopes going into this story as I’m not usually a historical fiction girl especially 1800s but this one was really engaging.
I thought the story flowed really well, the character development was amazing (especially certain characters that got more intense as we went along), and I liked that we had historical context without being beaten over the head with it. Sometimes when these period pieces are written, you can tell the writer loves the time and did a lot of research, which is amazing, but it can also come across heavy handed for that reason. This one gave you enough to get the atmosphere but not so much that it was the only focus of the whole book.
The story was the focus and the historical time period was a secondary moment which was perfect for me.

All That Is Secret by Patricia Raybon

3 stars

I surprised myself by enjoying this historical fiction. Mention to Sherlock which I love.
This was, however, a difficult to read story filled with racism, sexism and lots of pretty serious themes.
The mystery was well plotted and characters interesting. Not for the faint of heart though, it’s pretty intense.

The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar

4 stars

A really enjoyable story taking place when Daniel was in place in Babylon and some up coming leaders are just finding their footing.
I enjoyed following the characters and the plot was nicely weaved. The Biblical references and people were fascinating, giving a lovely look into potential ways that lives could have been lived and experienced given our context and information.
Exciting adventure and unexpected turns, this was a really well done story! I can’t wait to read more of this authors work.

The Witnesses by Robert Whitlow

3.5 stars

Interesting swapping between war time and current day – though I was way more interesting In the current day lawyer storyline.
It was clearly some kind of “origin story” but I honestly just wanted to see more about how they could use the gift in the current day lawyer space.
Tons of focus into the old man and war time scenarios, but a nice amount too on current character relationships more so than cases. Some more heavy focus on that in the middle portion, then a random short detour towards the end that I would have loved to have seen explored more.
Pretty bland modern day characters for such an interesting hook, though Frank was the most interesting and fleshed out one. He was also the one I was least interested in hearing from as I wanted the lawyer storyline, not war deserter fisherman one.

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Well, once again it’s surprised me. I actually enjoyed a bunch of these so it’s looking up for some of the historical fiction books out there.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace