Author: C.J. Archer
Series: The Ministry of Curiosities #2
Genre: SteamPunk/Urban Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: August 24th, 2015
Edition: Kindle Edition, 203 pages
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM
This is one of those books I like to read to break up reading the more heavy SF-F that I enjoy. While I very much enjoy this series/book and the characters. It suffers when it comes to the plot at times.
Charlie (Charlotte), is a character who both acts older than her age and younger depending on the situation. I understand that the character lived on the streets from the time she was 14 to when she was18, but balance with her maturity level isn't all that consistent. Though she is a believable character. I like that she is strong-willed, and still a very caring person. She is strong, but still has a lot of empathy for others. I like to see that more with characters. She had a lot of growth in this book, now being much more comfortable with her power, and with her light combat training, she has more confidence.
Lincoln, is still mostly a mystery, but as the story is told through Charlie's eyes, we can only know what she knows. The romance is still weird to me, He's 30, she's 18. And I just don't know how to feel about that. I know that the book is set in Victorian times, but I still feel like I would be less bothered by it if he was just 5-years younger. It has been a while since I read the first book, but I remember enough to notice that he is a little more open in this book. Not much, but he is no longer gruff, but I see it more as awkwardness and unsureness with social interactions. We also get to learn more about his past and why he does things the way he does.
The failing, a little, for this book is that it focuses a little more on the romance aspect than the investigating mystical happenings aspect. The age gap aside, I do like the romance in this series, but I would like a little more focus to be on the mystical happenings. The mystical happenings were solved fairly quickly, and the other half of being part-romance part-digging into Fitzroy's background just wasn't quite as interesting as I would have liked it to be. There was some blackmail involved that didn't have the kind of consequence that it should have, the consequence fell on the one, not at fault. In this book, maybe in later books, they will face some kind of repercussions.
There are a number of side characters that I like; Gus, Seth, and Cook. Who are all residents and employees of the manor. They treat Charlie with kindness and treat her like family. Then there are the side-characters I do not like who are the other members of The Ministry of Curiosities; General Eastbrooke, Lord Gillingham, and Lady Harcourt. Neither Gillingham nor the General like Charlie all that much, but Gillingham doesn't bother hiding it at all. And Lady Harcourt, it's unclear what she thinks of Charlie. She clearly doesn't like her living with Lincoln, though the reason isn't exactly clear. It would be easy to assume that it's out of possessive jealousy, but she also tries to set him up in marriages with other women. Her motives are unclear at this time, though I do feel like she is hiding something.
I have all the books now, there was a delightful sale to get the whole series as eBooks, so I grabbed them up while the sale was on. It's a long series, and my library doesn't have all the books. The last time I checked they were missing books; 4, 6, and 7. I look forward to reading the rest of this series. They're pretty quick reads, and I feel like something nice to continue after I finish the Buring God.
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