Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of The London Seance Society in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I was not a huge fan of Lost Apothecary, so I did not know how I would feel about future Sarah Penner novels, but as soon as I saw the cover and title for The London Seance Society, I KNEW I needed to read it.

I am not a fan of historical fiction, but I LOVED this Victorian Gothic story. It was very atmospheric and just draws you in. There is enough paranormal and ghost aspects to keep you intrigued, plus murder!

You will stay up late at night continuing to turn pages to find out what happens at the end of this one. I highly recommend giving it a read!

A fun and fast paced historical mystery. A flew through it and didn't really figure out the truth until the end.

Thank you netgally and the publisher for the copy of the book

this book was such a blast! at first i wasn't sure how all of this will go, but the summary sounded promising, so i dived right into it. i don't think i've ever read a book related to spirituality (or at least it wasn't the main subject), which made it more interesting and made me want to know more. this is the thing with historical fiction - they include some real events, places and people, which makes it so compelling and might even make you curious enough to look into it further and deepen your knowledge about a certain subject. I wouldn't say that this book was completely unpredictable and if you paid close attention, you may be able to figure out how the story is going to unfold, but i don't think it is a bad thing. i liked the characters too, especially Vaudeline, a medium who resides in Paris and whose opinions doesn't always coincide with others, but she is still willing to express them despite the consequences. well, it probably comes as no surprise that the men in the book are not very happy about that... nevertheless she persisted! personally, i think she makes The London Seance Society so charming and encourages to read further. of course, the story itself is interesting as well, although at times i found it too slow and other times a bit rushed and lacking proper transitions. despite this, i'm glad i had a chance to pick up this book!

thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity of reading The London Seance Society in advance. I rated it 5/5 stars. Loved the historical period and the setting of the novel, but i will give a special mention to Lenna and Evie, I miss them already a lot.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61109069-the-london-s-ance-society?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=kduqWkhqI6&rank=1

A Victorian murder mystery with ghosts and spirits - this book had it all! Penner is so good at crafting sequences of suspense and spookiness, blending it together perfectly along with Gothic elements. Lenna's determination to find justice for her sister is at the heat of the story, and Penner never loses sight of that.

I had heard great things about her first book, and with the stunning cover, I started reading straight away.
The novel has two narrators,
- Lenna - apprentice of a famous spiritualist, early 20s, from a well-to-do background, very naive
- Mr. M. Morley of London, vice-president of the Society's Department of Spiritualism, has a blotch on his face and very sore about it.

The book has short, snappy chapters that alternate. Both characters are underwhelming and frankly annoying.
The book started off well, but it was SO predictable. I'm sad I didn't like it as there was a lot of potential.

The London Séance Society focuses on the spiritualist movement that was extremely popular in Victorian Era England. Our first narrator isLenna Wickes is a young woman studying under Vaudeline D’Allaire, in the hopes of being able to complete a séance to commune with her sister who was tragically murdered on All Hallows Eve. Vaudeline is living in exile in Paris due to circumstances outside of her control, however in the opening of the book, she is invited to return to London to assist with a séance to commune with the recently murdered President of the London Séance Society, Mr. Wolckman. She is invited by our second narrator, the Vice President of the Society, Mr. Morley. Coincidentally, Mr. Wolckman was murdered on the same evening as Lenna's sister. The coincidences and overlapping lives don't stop there.

For me, this book started off fairly slow, but it did pick up fairly quickly. The setting and characters all lend themselves towards building up a very tense, Gothic vibe in the novel. All is certainly not as it seems with the Society, and Mr. Morley works with Lenna and Vaudeline to investigate. There is also the additional of a sapphic romance, however for me it felt like a reach. Out of nowhere after working together there is sudden attraction and tension.

All that said, the twists and turns of the plot, and how the characters all intersected by the conclusion of the novel were all very smart, and well done. Overall, I certainly enjoyed this sophomore novel by Sarah Penner.

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Penner once again has crafted a women-led historical novel full of intrigue. With fantastic twists, this addition to her work continues to entrance the reader quite literally as they learn more about Lenna and her sister Evie. The London Seance Society is also prominent and seeks to deter anyone from discovering the truth about itself while blacklisting women like Vaudeline who are able to commune with the spirit world. Overall, I enjoyed this book but did find it a little slow from the middle to the end.

I don't think it's fair to say this is a bad book, because it's not, but I did struggle with it.
My issue was the twists were all written in the stars a mile away, yet when each twist was revealed, it was in such a way that made it look like a surprise, which it wasn't.
I see what this book was going for, women are doing seances for the good of others, men pretending to do seances and capitalizing greatly off it. But it personally wasn't for me.

I sometimes anticipate what debut authors do following the success of their first book. One hit wonder, or can they back it up with a second book? Super happy to report that I was impressed with Sarah Penner’s second book, The London Seance Society. (That means I probs need to read her first book, The Lost Apothecary.)

The London Seance Society is a suspenseful historical fiction with a touch of spice set circa 1873 in Victorian England that explores the mysterious world of seances, the paranormal, and secret societies.

As two main characters/two POVs (Lenna and Mr. Morley) attempt to unravel the circumstances of two murders, we get drawn into a world of deceit and danger, troubled ghosts (soz), and figure out who to really trust along the way.

I found the subject matter of seances, the supernatural, relationships, and the search for truth pretty interesting. It’s loosely based on real societies of the past and present. Decent atmosphere building, but perhaps a few improvements can be made in pacing and character development. In saying that, I was surprised by the story's direction and couldn’t predict anything in advance, unusual for me. Appreciated this! A historical fiction page-turner -- I recommend it for people who don’t mind a few twists and creepy vibes mixed along with their historical fiction.

PS. Love the cover!

Thank you NetGalley, Legend Press, and Sarah Penner for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The London Seance Society takes place in 1870s Paris and London. In it, we follow an ethereal, highly esteemed medium and spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire and her more skeptical, science minded apprentice Lenna. Lenna is seeking answers that Vaudeline may have about the murder of Lenna's sister Evie, as Evie was Vaudeline's previous apprentice. Vaudeline, who had previously fled London under mysterious circumstances, is unexpectedly summoned back to perform a seance for her dear friend Mr. Volkman, leader of the London Seance Society, who was murdered the same night as Evie--All Hallows Eve. His colleague, Mr. Morley, tells Vaudeline that he is convinced that a seance, and communication with Mr. Volckman, would uncover details that would lead them directly to the killer. To do this, Vaudeline and Lenna must spirit themselves from Paris to London, and lie in secret in the belly of the London Seance Society, a paranormal gentlemen's club where women are expressly forbidden.

I really appreciated how this book was dual POV: Lenna's and Mr. Morley's. It gives appropriate backstory and an insider's view into the inner workings of the London Seance Society, as well as views from an outsider hiding inside its walls. They also have drastically different personalities, which was fascinating to jump back and forth between--especially in the later chapters as more information is brought to light. 

I already knew that I loved Sarah Penner's writing style from The Lost Apothecary, and The London Seance Society was no exception. This book was truly a roller coaster of emotions. It was more of a murder mystery than I expected, but I really enjoyed having my suspicions early on, then learning whether I was right or totally off base. (Non-spoiler spoiler alert: I was right!) 

As someone married to a paranormal investigator in the 2020s, my favorite part of this book was read about techniques and methods that the Victorians used to communicate with the dead, many of which Penner explains in an Afterword are historically accurate. The Victorians, apparently, had somewhat of fascination with Death and the dead, and seances were a quite regular occurrence. Reading this book even prompted me to add a few less traditional, less technologically advanced, more "old school" paranormal gear under the tree for my husband this year.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner is out March 31, 2023, and I seriously cannot wait for more people to read it. It has Sarah Penner's trademark poignancy that will leave you all in your feels, while also having you longing to take a trip to 1870s London, if only for a moment.

Sarah Penner lives in St. Petersburg so we are highly likely to purchase considering she is a local author.

I loved the Lost Apothecary, but this one didn’t land for me. The pace felt too slow and the opening felt too tell-not-show for me to get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed The Lost Apothecary so I was very excited to receive an arc of the author’s newest novel! The world Penner created in The London Seance Society is tense and atmospheric and has you questioning what’s real and what’s a ruse. It’s obvious Penner did tons of research into the world of spiritualism and the inner workings of seances during the height of the spiritualist movement in London society. However, while I appreciated Penner’s thoroughness in her writing, I found myself bored throughout the majority of the novel. I never liked any of the characters or felt they had any real connection with each other. I didn’t become truly invested in the story until well over halfway through. Even then, I didn’t care about the characters or wish for justice or vengeance, I just needed to know how everything wrapped up. There were some twists that took me by surprise, and if I’m honest, those twists, which happen in the last 20% of the book, are the only reason this book is worth reading.

The book opens with Lenna Wickes whose sister, Evie, was recently murdered, apprenticing with internationally renowned medium Vaudeline D’Allaire. The two women are called to London to investigate the death of Vaudeline’s friend and president of the London Seance Society, Mr. Volkman, by Mr. Morley, the Society’s vice president. The women and Mr. Morley are soon playing a tense game of cat and mouse as they try to determine who killed Evie and Mr. Volkman.

Lenna had some good moments, but she came across as selfish and callous, especially towards the end. She does redeem herself, but I just never cared much about her, so it wasn’t a very satisfying redemption.

It was intriguing to have Mr. Morely’s point of view as we see how Evie became involved in the society and Morely’s connection to her and Mr. Volkman. Again, I just never liked him or any of the other characters.

Honestly, I think I would have preferred the story from Vaudeline’s point of view, or even having Evie’s POV at points would have been interesting since the book does vacillate between past and present.

While I didn’t love the characters or find myself enjoying the majority of the novel, I found myself entranced for the last 20% of the book. I couldn’t stop reading and had to know how things ended. If you enjoy murder mysteries with a paranormal element, or have any interest in the spiritualist movement of the Victorian period, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

I am all for a Victorian England setting. The creepy vibes were on point and I was so stunned by where the book was taking to.
It was a bit slow at points, but it didn’t take away from the story!

Creepy and compelling!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book.

Ms. Penner thoroughly researched seances, but this book was a disappointment.

I loved THE LOST APOTHECARY and was looking forward to another great read.

The characters were not any I connected with along with the story line.

There were certain surprises with who was who and who was really honest, but it was difficult to follow.

I kept reading because I wanted to see how this all ended up and why so many readers gave it high praise.

It still ended up to be disappointing for me.

This book will be enjoyed by those readers who enjoy spiritualism.

It was not enjoyable for me even though I read until the end. 2/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

“May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…”

Don’t throw the book at me, but I’ll be honest and tell you that my copy of The Apothecary is still on the shelf, unread. Curiosity had me eager to read something by this wildly popular author and I was willing to ride the coattails of her debut’s popularity….promising myself that I’d read my dusty copy if I liked this one.

I appreciated the exploration into the question of whether women in the 19th century could adequately live out their passion or calling and whether they really found power or if it was simply an illusion.

I was hooked by the premise of a conjurer solving baffling murder mysteries. I knew that the Victorians were curious about the supernatural and appreciated the author’s note that this book was loosely based on the London Ghost Club.

The characters were great, the different POVs added to the development, and the mystery was ok, but the atmosphere was the star of the show. Definitely.

Despite all these positives, though, the book fell short for me. It was not a compelling read and I felt that the characters didn’t represent what I’d read about Victorian society. Furthermore, due to severe pacing problems mid-way through, I kept setting the book aside. Had the author been able to bridge the gap with an emotional pull, or have a tighter rein on the plot development, I might have enjoyed this one more.

I know this will be a popular book for many, but it didn’t appeal to me.

I was gifted this copy by Legend Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This is an interesting delve into the world of séances and the supernatural in victorian England. An enjoyable read if you're looking for an easy historical read.

First things first…. The cover of this book is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. What’s nice though is not only is the cover amazing but the pages in between the covers is equally as great. One of the quotes in the description of the books is “May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…”. And boy is that true in this book. The book goes back and forth between Lenna, a women who is determined to learn the truth behind her sister’s untimely death, and Mr Morley one of the members of the London Séance. Lenna must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When her mentor Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

This book had a great mystery mixed with some supernatural and a great love story. If Sarah Penner is going to keep putting out books like her last two I can wait to see what she comes up with next.

Victorian era London, this book follows the story of Lenna, whose sister was found murdered. Lenna is an apprentice to a famous Medium, with the hope that she herself can hold a Séance and find her sisters killer.

This seemed to have all the ingredients for my kind of book and initially I really enjoyed it, being hooked on the story. However the middle of the book dragged hugely, feeling like a real chore to keep reading which is such a disappointment because the premise with interesting and honestly, it's difficult to make Spiritualism dull.

I have heard many good things about this Author, I've yet to read any of her other work, however it won't put me off from reading it in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this ARC.