Eva Ibbotson

A Countess Below Stairs

Tylar M

Hope Brockway

This book is basically Downton Abbey with a dash of Anastasia. But also add in some strange (and slightly creepy) happenings (view spoiler)[ like Anna bathing in the lake and Rupert spying on her like a creep, the creepy uncle constantly grabbing the maids' behinds and becoming a shell of himself when he wasn't allowed to grab people's bums anymore, and that footman constantly obsessing over his muscle deposition (yeah, that actually happened)  (hide spoiler)] and you've got this book. 

The Countess Below Stairs is a strange mix of all of these things and I wasn't a huge fan. 

Not a whole lot actually happened, but this book kept my interest. Mostly. There were some parts that were too dense and if I weren't spending hours in a car with nothing else to do, I probably wouldn't have finished this book. Which is disappointing because the premise of this book was so interesting! Why can't we have more books about displaced Russians after the Bolshevik Revolution?? (If you have any recommendations, however, please tell me lol)

The characters were a bit dull. Anna was a bit too perfect and I wanted a bit more from her (like maybe trauma from the previously mentioned Bolshevik Revolution?) but she was a bit funny to read about with her outdated housekeeping guide and all. Rupert was my favorite character but I found myself yelling at him for certain things (like a lot). And, towards the end, he grated on my nerves. The Honorable Olive was another of my favorite characters. She's just so cute and amazing and I actually loved her. And Muriel--that hideous beast--was loathsome. Which I guess is the point since she is the villain . . . but I hated her. And reading about her. Which was troublesome because a lot of the dense chapters focused on her so that was pleasant. (Can you hear my sarcasm?) 

I would warn potential readers against some of the uncomfortable happenings in this book. There is some nudity, low-key sexual abuse (reference spoiler section above for more details), and just some parts that weren't really inappropriate but were just weird and made me uncomfortable (again, reference the spoiler section at the beginning of this review for more details). 

All in all, I just didn't like this book. It was a bit too long and longwinded and a little dull. Sorry lol, but I wasn't a fan.

A Countess Below Stairs

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