Jeannette Ng

Victorian missionaries travel into the heart of the newly discovered lands of the Fae, in a stunningly different fantasy that mixes Crimson Peak with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Catherine Helstone's brother, Laon, has disappeared in Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon - but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels. File Under: Fantasy

Under the Pendulum Sun

Janice Hopper

Well, here's another book that really didn't work for me. It started out in a very promising way, in the country of the Fae, where a missionary is trying to convert the fae to Christianity, with pretty limited success.

The parts in the fairyland were the right kind of weird that I like for situations like that. The pastiche of Victorian prose was pretty good, I thought. (I like Victorian prose or Victorian-like prose.) But I found the plot a bit opaque, and, as others have said here, there's a plot twist that REALLY DIDN'T WORK for me. I kept putting the book down, and then picking it up, and putting it down again. O.o

I'm disappointed that I didn't like this more, but I liked the writing. I'll definitely look for my by Jeanette Ng in the future.

Yasmine Abdou

I didn’t want this book to end! It took me on such a magical twisted journey, serving every last bit of my weird taste in books. The storyline unravelled beautifully, sometimes shockingly, making every chapter extremely interesting. There were a lot of Christian references, as in any gothic novel, which gave the events a different value. 
A book like this is hard to come across and I’m so glad I got to read it and let my wild imagination roam. It certainly left a mark in my soul.

Maria

видно, что автор провела большой, сложный ресеч, но господи, что ж так скучно-то, а? страница за страницей ничего не происходит, зато полно фантасмагории и драматических страданий. отдельно не впечатлила "разгадка" - ну то есть, всё это нагнетание было для того, чтобы выяснить, что (view spoiler)[Маб - это Лилит? huh? (hide spoiler)]

но это конечно потянуло бы на 2 звезды, если бы не кринжовый твист посреди книги. я что-то не была к нему готова, и если б знала, не стала бы читать. особенно потрясли в этом месте рассуждения героев и готовность поверить любой херне без доказательств:

(view spoiler)[
герои: омг, мы брат и сестра, но хотим трахаться
умирающий второстепенный персонаж: а ты не сестра ему, ты подменыш
герои: а, да? ну круто (трахаются)
другой второстепенный персонаж: а не, стоп, ты не подменыш, вы всё-таки брат и сестра
герои: не, ну что уж теперь-то...  (hide spoiler)]

тот самый момент, когда апокрифы изучить хватило сил, а логику продумать не особо

Ben Nathan

Very strong start and very weak ending. I thought the world was interesting, but it just didn't seem to come to a strong enough conclusion to be a good/great book. Lots of promise though, so I'll happily read her future books.

Paige Morgan

3.5, I think? It’s very atmospheric, and well done in that regard — there’s a scene about midway through involving a whale that just blew me away.

I like the concept very much, but it didn’t quite go anywhere for me, so the relationship between the two central human characters didn’t hold my attention. 

That said, I’d be willing to look at future books in the series, especially if I got the sense that there was a larger plot arc planned.

Under the Pendulum Sun

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