This one did not live to its potential. I felt it was very boggy and slow. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it, but it just failed to grab me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

I was excited to see that this author came out with another book after reading The Lost Apothecary by this author! This was another book unlike anything I’ve read before so I had a fun time reading it! The pacing of this book was well done and the characters were well thought out. I really felt like I was watching a movie reading this!

I previously read The Lost Apothecary, and something was missing from that, also for me i'm not the biggest fan of the "American discovering the UK" vibes. This novel I LOVED. I'm fascinated with the idea of Seances, the 19th century is my favourite timer period to read historical fiction of and this was done really well, the ritual building was fantastic. I guessed the villain kinda early but not some of the twists which made me feel like Sarah knew she'd got me the whole time! The characters were all built up really well, and I loved Lenna, she was fantastically written. I have absolutely zero complaints!

I believe that this book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. It ended up being more of a mystery novel, and the parts that focused on the séance were quite disappointing. Overall, it was a challenging read to get through, and I had to push myself to finish it.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC and Libro FM and the publisher for an ALC.

I really loved the first book by this author, but this one fell a little flat for me. I think the cover was gorgeous, but the writing lacked execution. Period. I will continue to read more by this author I think she was very talented and he’s great at writing a good setting.

I’m honestly in two minds about this one. It’s easy to read, there are twists and turns, historical background and some otherworldliness… but essentially, it’s a whodunnit kind of story. And while it’s decently crafted, I’m not a huge fan of those.
It’s a traditional kind of plot in a way of picking the good guys and the bad guys, in seemingly a bit of women against men kind world for the most part.
It’s not particularly original but a quick and rather entertaining read for an evening or a few (depending on your reading speed). That being said I wouldn’t keep this book in my library for revisiting.

Pretty cover but I found the book to be a little lacking. I honestly can't remember that much about it, less than a week later. I didn't like Mr. Morley so I didn't really pay that much attention to his POV chapters. Lenna was fine and I'm all for a historical sapphic romance but the mystery and end result was a bit lackluster and disappointing.

Paris 1873, Vaudeline D’Allaire is a medium, renowned for her abilities to expose perpetrators of violent crimes during Seances. She is joined by an understudy, Lenna Wickes, who, as a student of geology has severe doubts about the veracity of Spiritualism and Vaudeline’s claims. But she is accompanying the Medium because her younger sister Evie, previously studied under Vaudeline. And Evie has been murdered.

The second narrative comes from Mr Morley, the Vice President of the London Seance Society. Mr Morley has asked Ms D’Allaire to return to London to hold a seance to discover who murdered the Society’s President, Mr Volkman, who had been found dead at one of Morley’s soirées, held at his home on All Hallows’ Eve - the same night that Evie Wickes was murdered.

Rumours of fraudulence and wrongdoing surround the Society and it appears that Volkman may have been murdered because he had uncovered the fraud undertaken by some of the Society’s members.

Will Vaudeline be able to uncover the mystery with help from the spirit world or will answers come from more earthbound sources?

I really enjoyed reading about the tricks and illusions that the fraudulent Mediums used to con grieving families for money, prestige and even sexual gratification.
There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading till the end.
But I did reduce my rating as I found the pacing a bit patchy. There were times I picked the book up and read several chapters at a time but at other times, I felt my attention wandering and had to put the book aside for a bit.

This is the second book I’ve read by Sarah Penner, and despite the minor issues I had with the pacing, I would definitely read more of her work.

Did not finished the whole book, was not enjoying the plot and the way it's written.
I get that not everyone was raised on Murder She Wrote, but the main characters lack of self preservation in this book is exhausting.I really liked Sarah Penner's debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, and was excited to pick up a copy of her follow-up, a historical novel that focused on a woman training as a medium in order to solve the murder of her beloved sister. There was so much potential here! But this was just...well, it was bad.

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sarah Penner's sophomore novel brings her readers back into a side of London that is not always seen. This story follows Lenna as she apprentices a famous medium as she tries to find the answers she has wanted about her sister's murder. The premise of this book intrigued me, and though it was interesting this story ultimately fell flat for me. I found some plot points to be a bit predictable, and I missed some of the twists and turns that Penner took with her debut novel, The Lost Apothecary. I think this could be a fun read for fall, but it is not anything groundbreaking.

I really enjoyed this book and so many aspects of the novel. The Victoriana, the Spiritualism, the sexuality, the exploration of patriarchy and gender. Really well written, throughly engaging and exciting, and great characterisation. Loved it.

I loved The Lost Apothecary and was thrilled to read this book. I was gripped by the plot of this story and enjoyed it. While there was a slow start, there were many twists to keep the reader engaged. Recommend!

I felt that the author had developed a lot since her first novel and the mystery plot was definitely better thought out and paced compared to the mystery of The Lost Apothecary.

I also felt that Lenna was infinitely more likeable as a character than Caroline from Lost Apothecary.

Overall really enjoyed it and will be reading whatever the author comes out with next.

I was really gripped by the plot of this story. It took a little while to get into it, but once I was hooked, I could not put this down.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. It was well written, but unfortunately, I found it quite slow, and I didn't connect with it

A different amd intriguing read, felt it could of been better. I might re-read at a later date. Definitely worth the read.

The London Séance Society follows the story of multiple characters Lena, Vaudeline and Mr Morley mainly. Vaudeline is a renowned medium specializing in finding murder victims killers who had been chased out of London. Lena is a sceptic who has joined Vaudeline in Paris to learn the craft in the hope to call on her dead sister. Mr Morley is the Vice President of the London séance society and enlists there help when the president is killed. As the story unfolded it appears that these deaths could be linked and there are many secrets to uncover.
The story was interesting and had many twists to keep you intrigued. Each chapter focuses on one of the characters views of the events. It was well written and easy to read. I did find it a little repetitive though. As the characters explain there involvement they go over the same events and to be honest they were the same story repeated, nothing knew was revealed so I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. It was an enjoyable read but it was slow going based because of this. I would have preferred a little more variety in the characters versions of the story.

This was a super quick and fun read to delve in to. It has fantastic character development, has a little bit of everything included for everyone, and is just a really good and easy read to enjoy

Thankyou to Netgalley for gifting me this arc copy of the London Seance Society.
I started reading this on my kindle and then the publisher kindly sent it to me in physical form too.
Lovers of historical fiction will really enjoy this and I did too. The mystery and suspense was present throughout but fell kind of flat towards the end. A good cast of characters making it a 3 star read.