This is a gothic mystery about two sisters, Sylvia and Charlotte, who are spiritists. Set in Paris in 1866 they were raised to help others contact the dead. There are many twists and turns and it kept me guessing. The dark atmosphere and seances make this a perfect read for fall. 3.5 starts rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me smiling to myself at several points. The writing is very good, and I loved the world building of historical Paris. This book was more mystery than I was expecting, but that is a plus for me. I enjoyed the characters. I thought they were well-rounded and their choices made sense within the plot. Overall an enjoyable read!

Spitting Gold was high on my list to get to this year and I can’t believe it took me this long to read but also glad I saved it for spooky season. This historical mystery takes us along for a ride leaving us wondering who is good and who is evil. Two estranged sisters reunite to revive their family’s sham of a medium business to assist in the identification and removal of a spirit haunting an affluent family. Neither sister is prepared for what awaits them at the estate.

A dual POV, historical fiction and gothic mystery featuring a sapphic love story and the tumultuous relationship among a family broken by classism, addiction and poverty.

For fans of:
The London Seance Society
Mediums and ghosts
Sapphic romance

Carmella Lowkis’ Spitting Gold is a mesmerizing dive into a world where folklore meets modernity. The narrative weaves a rich tapestry of myth and reality, drawing readers into a story that is both timeless and refreshingly unique. The protagonist’s journey is compelling, filled with heart-wrenching moments and bursts of triumph that keep you rooting for them until the very end. Lowkis’ writing is evocative, painting vivid scenes and complex characters with a deft touch. The themes of resilience, identity, and the power of storytelling are explored with depth and sensitivity. Spitting Gold is a testament to Lowkis’ ability to blend the fantastical with the deeply human, making it a must-read for fans of modern fantasy. It’s a book that lingers with you, prompting reflection long after the last page is turned.

This one was historical fiction with a dash of paranormal. Sylvie is a baroness and has escaped the less ideal lifestyle she led before, leaving her sister, Charlotte, with their father. In the before times, as a family they conned people by communing with ghosts and exorcising them. Well it seemed fake to them. They couldn’t tell what their mom thought, and it’s too late now that she’s dead.
In one last scheme, there is more than one ploy happening, and when things begin to happen that weren’t planned, it’s possible that there really is a ghost haunting.
The first half of the book is told from Sylvie’s point of view, and the latter Charlotte’s and their perception of the events that unfolded.
It’s a story of the lengths one goes to for love, and also what they will stay blind to for that same love.

Thank you Atria Books for the copy for review!

I enjoyed the concept of this book. Sisters reunited for one last con, a rich wealthy family with a strange dynamic and a suspected haunting. However, the pace of the book was a little slow for me, and I kept urging the plot forward. A well-written book, and readers who relish detailed historical fiction will love this novel.

Spitting Gold is a hauntingly atmospheric story that centers around two estranged sisters in 1800s Paris. Sylvie and Charlotte are nothing alike and have led extremely different lives since their paths diverged years ago, but they must rejoin forces for one last con in their work as fraudulent spirit mediums. However, all is not what it appears to be... with the family they are employed with, with the so-called spirit they are attempting to communicate with, even with Charlotte. Can the sisters navigate their differences in time to figure out what is happening and salvage this last job, or will time be up for both of them?

I absolutely adored this debut novel by Carmella Lowkis. The haunting, gothic vibes were spot-on, and this would be a fantastic book to read during spooky season. The gaslamp French atmosphere really contributed to the angsty feel of the book, and I love historical fiction in this time period. The writing was compelling, and I loved the voices of each sister. The perspective change halfway through the book allowed for a fantastic look at the other side of the story and helped us to appreciate both sisters and their struggles. The first half (Sylvie's POV) really had me rooting for Sylvie and looking down on Charlotte, but the second half (Charlotte's POV) completely flipped the script! I absolutely loved immersing myself into both sides as it allowed me to look at the story two entirely different ways.

The relationship between Sylvie and Charlotte was awkward and tense, but that angst really contributed to the vibe of the book and really solidified the unstableness of the entire plot. We never knew quite what was happening, with mystery surrounding almost everything in the story, so the unstable relationships really tied in well with everything else. The second half definitely cleared some things up, with us hearing Charlotte's side of things, and I really loved the slow build-up of the con <spoiler> between Florence and Charlotte. Their relationship felt very organically built, and I loved seeing Florence's burgeoning feelings come to fruition.</spoiler> I think Florence may have been my favorite character. The pure feminine rage portrayed so plainly throughout the entire book, from Sylvie, Charlotte, and Florence, was so well illustrated and made for a fantastically compelling story.

I really loved the conclusion to this book. I think the final reveal was fantastically well done and very dramatic, and the epilogue really tied everything up really well. My only gripe is that I would have loved more of what happened directly following the reveal and before the epilogue. We had this high-tension reveal that kind of ended a bit abruptly, and then the epilogue explaining where all the characters ended up. I would have loved a bit more of that dramatic, chaotic rush to figure out how they were going to handle the consequences of what happened and where that led them. Overall, though, I did really love what the epilogue did to tie up the whole story, and I think the character development reflected in the last few pages really shone through. <spoiler> Even though the sisters were again apart, I think they finally understood each other and came together in a way they never had before. </spoiler>

If you liked Belladonna by Adalyn Grace, The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, or The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner, definitely give this book a try! I loved it and will definitely be looking out for more from Carmella Lowkis!

*I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Very slow moving and I didn’t find myself caring about many of the characters. The first half was much better than the second

this book was amazing. i loved the relationship between the sisters and the focus on their character/relationship development, and it's just a great historical horror novel!

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on September 13th, 2024. Links provided.

Set in 1866 Paris, Baroness Sylvie Devereux is reluctantly pulled back into the past she left behind as a spirit medium when her estranged sister, Charlotte, comes begging for help to cover their ailing father’s medical bills. Persuaded to take on one final con, the sisters target the de Jacquinots, a wealthy but troubled family convinced they are haunted by their murdered ancestor. Using every trick to exploit the family’s fears, Sylvie and Charlotte are soon caught in a whirlwind of eerie events that blur the line between their deception and a haunting reality. As supernatural occurrences escalate, the sisters must confront the chilling possibility that they may have awakened something far more dangerous than they intended.

I found Spitting Gold to be quite an enjoyable read! I do not usually read period pieces but maybe I should start doing so because I loved the setting of Paris in the 1800s. While the summary of the book might have you thinking it is solely a mystery novel, I felt it was much more than that. At the heart of it, this book is about family, love, betrayal, secrets, and revenge. The first half of the book is told from the perspective of Sylvie and then switches over to Charlotte’s POV at a critical juncture in the plot. While some people might not like that the duel points of view occur during the same period of time (ie you go back to the beginning of the story when it switches to Charlotte’s point of view), I liked the fact that the reader is left at critical point in the story from Sylvie’s point of view and then we get to go back and see the reality of how we got there based on Charlotte’s POV. I think each character was well written and complex and I felt the author did a good job helping the reader understand each character’s motives and deep rooted feelings throughout the book.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of Spitting Gold in return for my honest review.

So this book has a really cool concept- sisters pretending to be mediums but then the ghost story starts to seem real- but the execution and particularly the character really undermine it.

We spend the first half of the book in the head of a reasonable character who is suspecting a haunting and caught between her family and her husband (shocker, but the husband is the one who *doesn’t* suck). Then, halfway through we switch POVs to the other sister, who has an unbearable internal monologue. She’s so much less sympathetic through her own words than through her sister’s (even though I disliked her before). We retrace most of the book in this new POV for some reason and then have just a little bit to squeak in the ending.

I did actually enjoy the first half, which is why the rating is what it is. The ending is ok-ish but I think some people could have done with some consequences, or at least accepting that they were in the wrong.

Baroness Sylvie Devereaux gets invited (read: borderline blackmailed) by her sister to resist her con-artist past to pull off one last job.

This book was delightfully unsettling with a twist at the end that had my stomach dropping. I loved the creepy atmosphere and how the sisters had you questioning if ghosts were real or not with their antics.

In addition to being a spooky mystery, this was also a tale about the complexities of sisterhood, what one would do for family, and what it means to be a good sibling or bad.

My one complaint is that while each sister has POV chapters, it’s repetitive. We get the entire story from Sylvie first in part one, then again from Charlotte’s point of view. Charlotte is able to fill in things that Sylvie didn’t know and give the reader new insights into the events of the book, as well as more insight into Charlotte herself, but I think it would’ve been more effective if these chapters had been woven together instead of separated.

Strongly recommend! It’s a powerful testament to rage and revenge. Especially to those enjoying a bit of a Female Rage Moment.

Spitting Gold struggles with a lack of cohesive storytelling. I thought it had some pacing issues, which challenged its potential. Despite its brief length of under 300 pages, the narrative feels overextended due to a redundant use of multiple perspectives that retell the same events from different angles within the same timeline. This repetition bogs down the story, with the plot only gaining momentum halfway through, leaving little room for resolution by the end.

On a more positive note, the book does excel in its depiction of 19th-century Paris and its exploration of occult practices. Part 1, narrated by Sylvie, is particularly strong, showcasing intriguing descriptions of the sisters' performances and a sinister turn. However, Part 2, narrated by Charlotte, is less compelling, with drawn-out suspense and predictable twists. The author successfully captures the gothic atmosphere of the de Jacquinot home, and although the ending might be predictable, the overall portrayal of spirit mediums and the occult offers some redeeming qualities.

3.75

This was a fascinating debut that honestly packs a lot into a fairly short page count. In Paris 1866, we follow two sisters who have taken diverging paths but are reunited by the haunting of the de Jacquinots, a family of dysfunctional aristocrats who believe they are being haunted by a great aunt who was murdered during the Revolution. The book explores grief and complicated family dynamics and the treatment of young women in history and queerness.

I found the pacing of the story to be really compelling though I sometimes questioned narrative choices. For example the book begins from the perspective of Sylvie, the older sister who married a baron, but then about halfway through there's a change so we get a replay of certain events from Charlotte's perspective. While I think that helped keep the mystery of the reality of the haunting, it also made the book drag a little in the middle because we had already gone through those events once. I also thought the overall resolution felt a bit rushed.

I loved the setting of Paris 1866 with the shadow of the Revolution still hanging over the heads of society and the belief in spiritualism and mediums running rampant but I wish Lowkis had explored that atmospherically a bit more.

Overall, I found this book to be a compelling read and a really solid debut, so I'd be interested in seeing what Lowkis writes next.

A pretty well done tale of scams, fake psychics, and swindling sisters in paris. also sapphic. unfortunately not even that glowing resume could make it a favourite. it just kind of fell flat. I couldn't tell you exactly what went wrong it just didn't live up to its potential. its definitely not a bad book by any means, just not a favourite,

I love a story about con artists and there aren't nearly enough of them!

Spitting Gold is a debut novel centering a complicated sister relationship, sapphic love, conwomen, and ghosts(?!). We meet two sisters—Charlotte and Sylie—who have reunited after a years-long estrangement to come together for one last con: acting as spirit mediums for an aristocratic family being haunted by the ghost of a past relative. The book shifts perspective in the second half revealing that not all is as it seems, especially as the sisters' past comes back to haunt them, too.

I really enjoyed this story! I found it engaging and heartfelt. Despite the enmity between the sisters throughout most of the book, the ending was hopeful and light. If you are looking for an intriguing gothic mystery (and can put up with characters using a slightly botched Cockney accent), I'd recommend the read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Altria, and Carmella Lowkis for the chance to read this book!

I though this book was a great story and the twist and turns were beautifully done! Getting one sister side then switching to the other sister for her point of view to truly know the story and the fill the gaps was wonderfully done!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest rating.

A pair of sisters take on the task of ridding a wealthy family of a ghostly aunt all for the sake of one last money con.

I liked the premise more than the execution. Sylvie was very unlikeable and I'm sure that's part of the story but I just didn't care about her reasoning for why she did or didn't do something at all, which made getting into the story quite difficult.

This might've just been the wrong kind of book for me. I was expecting a historical fantasy.

I love a con novel, and the historical setting of Spitting Gold was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing just how many layers of deception were involved, as well as the ambiguity of the haunting.