The premise of this story was so intriguing, but the execution completely failed. I was very disappointed to find the writing flat, the characters boring, the supposed romance absolutely unnecessary and quite a turnoff. For these reasons I did not bother finishing reading.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to leave my honest opinion.

This was a fun read! I struggled connecting with some of the characters, and some of the romantic relationships, but overall it was fun.

I love Sarah Penner’s writing. The Lost Apothecary was one of my favorite reads last year. So when I saw The London Seance Society I jumped. This one was slower to get into, the premise of the book is intriguing. However, it was much slower than I was hoping, which led to the 3 stars. Still a good story over all.

Although I enjoyed Sarah's last novel, this one did not hold up for me. I struggled to care about the characters and why they were taking these actions. DNF at 30%.

Thank You to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this free e-digital.

The time period is Victorian era 1873, Paris and London. Seances, mediums, spiritualists, speaking to the dead, occult, and paranormal were common. A little bit creepy, but very interesting. Two women, Lenna Wickes and Vaudeline D’Allaire pair together to solve Lenna's sister's murder. Lenna is fact driven and is not an occult believer and Vaudeline is a highly sought after medium who can conjure murder victims and find answers to their death. They team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, but very soon suspect that there is more going on then they originally thought.

This is my first time reading Sarah Penner. The storytelling was easy to follow and I liked that the point of view switched between 2 characters. The characters were interesting and I liked Lenna and Vaudeline. It was a quick read, with a few twists and turns.

This story gives an excellent view of the world of seances in historical Paris and London. The way the two women solved the murder was well written. I liked the Lost Apothecary more as this was a much slower pace. 3.5 stars

I throughly enjoy the historical writings of Sarah Penner. This would be a great read in the fall months and people want to read more spooky reads. This historical mystery bounces between two characters and the different points of view of the occurrences of their meetings and Penner does it seamlessly. The beginning was a bit hard to get into but once I got past a certain point I couldn’t put it down. It was very good. I look forward to more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for this digital ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised with The London Seance Society! What an interesting premise, unlike anything I had read before.

This is a PERFECT Halloween/fall read. This story takes place in 1873 Paris which is the best atmosphere for spooky gothic vibes. And did I mention trying to talk to ghosts? This is a dual pov novel that follows Lenna who is looking for answers about her sister's death and Mr Morley, the vice president of the London's society department of spiritualism. This book delivered on the creepiness of murder and ghosts while also keeping me intrigued about the characters. The ending was also pretty great! The only thing I would change about this book is more time for the actual séances.

Having already read Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary I knew I was in for another delectable story to dive into. Sarah Penner has a great talent for creating a vivid world that you immediately feel immersed in right from the first page. The London Séance Society, though set 150 years in the past, is painted into as a world that is rather dark and yet there is a feeling of hope that runs through the story too. I eagerly await anything and everything that Sarah Penner will be writing in the future!

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

As much as I loved the cover of The Lost Apothecary, I think The London Seance Society might have the prettier cover. Maybe? Too hard to decide!

What I liked:

Well the cover!

The setting. The men’s only club house is housing many secrets and I loved discovering each one.

Lenna. Her desire to find out what happened to her sister really propelled this story forward at times.



Bottom line: I smell another winner for Sarah Penner. Grab a copy and a coffee and find a quiet place to enjoy this book.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

Loved the concept and setting! Though it took a little while for me to get fully invested, once I did I was swept up! Always love Sarah Penner and her stories are the perfect balance of thriller and suspense and a bit of romance/relationships

Very slow burn. It dragged for most of the middle of the book and at times it was very repetitive. The last part of the book is better, hence the 3 stars..

Definitely a page-turner that has all the makings of a novel I’d love.

The story took some majorly unexpected twists and turns, and while not unwelcome, I felt some of them majorly diverted from the main plot. A lot of the writing was telling us action rather than showing it, until the middle onward. But even then, the book had a tendency to anti-climatically share its reveals then go over them AGAIN from another character’s perspective which didn’t add much new info but only confirmed everything the other character already told us. When we know more than the character revealing the action does with nothing new added, it’s less fun of a read.

I loved the setting, the characters were interesting, but I wanted to go deeper into everything. It also got way more sexual/a teeny bit more graphic than I anticipated and it felt unnecessary..

While some of it was predictable, I have to admit I didn’t quite see the ending coming, and I did enjoy it.

I did not like this. The characters and plot felt underdeveloped and I didn’t like any one. There were some twists, but nothing unpredictable. The seance aspect was ok and well researched, but I expected it to play a bigger part in the story. I didn’t like Mr. Morley or his perspective. He felt just like the rest of the male characters in the book, stiff and misogynistic. Despite all of it’s faults, I did appreciate the relationships between Lenna and Vaudeline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row, and Sarah Penner for an e-arc of The London Seance Society in exchange for an honest review.

After reading The Lost Apothecary, and loving it, I was so excited to read this book! Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. the beginning of this book really draws you in, but then it just becomes really slow and repetitive. I did enjoy the mystery in the story and the characters, but it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be. If you’re a fan of slow burn mysteries, and secret societies, I recommend checking this out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lenna Wickes travels to Paris to train with renowned spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire who is able to conjure the spirits of murder victims to find their killers. Lena’s sister was recently murdered and had herself trained with Vaudeline. Lenna must combat her lack of faith in the occult in order to train and to find answers. When Vaudeline is called back to London to conduct a seance to help solve the murder of the head of the London Seance Society, a personal friend, Lenna accompanies her as her assistant. In the course of their interactions with Mr. Morley, vice president of the Society, they learn that Lena’s sister Evie was somehow involved with the male-only establishment. Can they find the killers of both victims and determine the corruption occurring in the Society itself?

When beginning this book I was not sure I was going to continue it as it wasn’t quite what I had been expecting or as enthralling as Sarah Penner’s first book The Lost Apothecary, which I loved. I persevered, however, and the book did then capture my interest. It became an exciting story of twists and turns, unique relationships, suspense, mystery and some female empowerment. Overall it was a great story with a satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book.

This book spent a fair amount of time building the background of the story. It was an enjoyable read, but I was unable to complete the book in the time allotted because of events at my library. Hopefully when we order it I'll be able to finish.

Unfortunately the tone of this book is just not working for me - I can't get invested, I've been trying for over a month and I couldn't tell you what is happening!

Sarah Penner did not hold back in her sophomore novel, THE LONDON SEANCE SOCIETY; you get the feeling that every plot and character choice is deliberate and often unpredictable. The characters are easy to love (and despise!) and I adore how she explores relationships between strong women: sisters, friends, mentors, lovers. Another page turner from Penner, whose star is on the rise!