The Dishonest Miss Take by Faye Murphy was everything I was looking forward to and more! Mix a Pigeon with questionable culinary choices, a cast of hilarious side characters and a mind-reading crush and you have the ideal backdrop for what is a delightfully unique Victorian Paranormal Mystery

Utterly delightful and wonderfully whimsical, comedy steampunk at its finest and I am absolutely here for it. Defo one for the shopping basket! I am really looking forward to where this one goes and absolutel slated for a re-read

Thank you to Netgalley, BHC Press and the brilliant author Fay Murphy for this glorious ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

What do you get with a sassy yet grumpy protagonist, a world full of superpowers and special powers made from industrial pollution in a modern take on Victorian London? An instant hit! Couple that with a porridge eating pigeon, a dopey band of assassins, a love interest who can read minds and a friend with hideous taste in wallpaper, and you had a book that I couldn't put down!

This book was full of hilarious writing and just nonsensical information. It was heartwarming and fun. I would dearly like to read anything else that the author has written. Definitely a different take on a heroes and villains story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author and publisher for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.

To start, I believe that the target age demographic for this book — what I assume to be somewhere between a middle grade and a YA reader — is going to really like this book. Described as Enola Holmes meets X-MEN meets Warrior Nun, I was also reminded throughout of the Jessica Jones series — our FMC has the bad temper, short fuse, and surliness of someone who’s had to fight to survive.

In addition to clean and clever writing, one of the most compelling elements was the banter and budding intimacy between two of the main characters. This romantic subplot was the emotional heart thread of the story!

The biggest takeaway is the sheer volume of elements built into this tale. It felt less like a cohesive arc and more like many great starts to standalone book-length novels:
- a school of assassins whose identities remain a secret + an enemies-to-lovers queer romance between an assassin and her target
- people with special powers who prevent and fight crime in Victorian England — though some heroes have turned villain and we don’t know which ones — and a girl skirting the line between both worlds to survive.
- a magical dirt monster terrorizing the city and a girl clever enough to save the day.

There were many areas where I felt more contextualization and/or clarity was necessary but these two stand out the most:

- The morality and motivations of the assassins. When any citizen has a legal right to order a hit on any other citizen for any reason, what is the precedent for assassins believing that their work is noble and making a difference? (I believe both Morgan and Darcy have lines about this the text.) We needed clarification here.
- Clara’s family dynamic. It feels difficult to empathize with a scenario in which you can care about someone’s well being but also readily harm or kill that person the moment it suits your own needs.

I’m giving this 3 stars because I think there are some special things going on here and even though I left with more questions than answers, I WANTED to know more. I think this author has more she can give us!

Thank you to BHC Press and Faye Murphy and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

In this sci-fi, steampunk, gas lamp book from Faye Murphy; it follows Clara who has left her days as a notorious villain behind and so she would have us think, not allowing herself to be dragged into a fight that not hers. She reluctantly has to join forces to fight the corrupt elite.
This was an exciting traverse into the Victorian era I found the story intriguing and flowed through the story at some points I felt the story went off on a tangent with the word building but on the whole I reaped the benefit of the story.

I was hoping for a lot more from this but it didn't really do anything for me.

It had an interesting magic system and I wish there was more worldbuilding, seemed like the author didn't develop the magic system passed the basics so didn't bother explaining it. One of the characters even says they don't know how it works but just don't think about it too much? Like what is that??

I liked the idea of the assassin school and that the public actually knew about it especially in a Victorian era.

The whole premise sounded great but the execution didn't work for me. I didn't really like the writing style or the pacing, I felt pulled out of the story a lot because it just didn't flow.

I didn't connect to any of the characters or really care about what was happening because it was too fast paced and there wasn't much depth to any of it.

I think the book has a lot of potential, if it was reworked it could be great but it missed the mark for me unfortunately

This book surprised me! I have to admit, after the first 25% I almost DNF. I was a bit bored, and was not connecting with the main character. But once we encountered the "big bad" of the Dirt Man, the pacing sped up and the characterization tightened for me. I loved the camaraderie that developed between Clara and her found family (not that she would call them that, amazing grump that she is). I really began to enjoy her inner voice and her snarky comments. Sometimes it was a little much, but overall I enjoyed it. And while I like her romance in Morgan I didn't quite "buy it." I did not get a feeling of chemistry between the two; it feels more like a platonic friendship than romantic feelings. This story was entertaining, the voice was fun, and the worldbuilding was interesting. I think the characterization could have been a bit deeper, and the pacing in the beginning was slow. For these reasons, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up to 4.

this felt so much like a victorian romantasy half the time and so much like a superhero scifi the other half and both halfs were so gorgeous. thanks for the arc.

The Dishonest Miss Take was set in Victorian England where there are people with powers they call "functions" and assassins have a school that people publicly know about. The premise of this story was really fascinating and got me really reved up to read. Unfortunately, the writing style was just not what I was hoping for. The language to not flow for me for Victorian England. To many liberties were taken in my opinion with the world building and character development that made it slightly unbelievable, sucked me out of the immersion, and at times made it seem a little lackadaisical and convenient. 😞 I found myself getting caught up in the story at times only to be yanked out by any of the above.
I just don't think that the writing style was just really what I was looking for in this. ☹️
Overall the events of the story were great. The premise again something that really got me excited to read this book.🧐 I would recommend to people who are interested in a steam-punk superhero vibe. It was okay, just did not entirely my style. 2.5 ⭐⭐

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and publisher ARC access to this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

<i>I received an ARC of this book through Ntegalley</i>

2.5

I really wanted to like this, I really did. Both the title and the plot are intriguing, but I'm afraid the story itself fell a bit flat. I found the characters to be very blund which made it impossible for me to connect with them and be interested in the story, and I wasn't a fan of the writing style at all. However, it was fast-paced and had an interesting magic system (which, if I'm being honest, I didn't understand entirely).

This is a story that follows our main character Clara as she tries to discover the truth behind a murder that she is suspected of committing, I really didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did as i found the first 20% to be slightly flat, but I could also see this to be important to explain the story and motivations for each character, as soon as I got to around 30% it’s like we suddenly switched gears and I really started getting into the plot. I really loved the found family feel that we got from our characters and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing. The idea of certain people having “Functions” which enhanced certain abilities really interested me but it wasn’t that clear to at first until we got to a few more peoples abilities. Overall I found the story to be super interesting and the interactions between everyone was really funny and the banter that Clara had with her little gang of misfits made me smile, this book was definitely a pleasant surprise for me! Thankyou Netgalley for an arc of this book :)

This had a great overall concept for a action-adventure novel, I loved the use of steampunk in this world. Faye Murphy has a great writing style for this type of book, I enjoyed getting to know the character and how they worked in the setting. I loved that the character was a villain at this book and that she had to pay her debt. I hope to read more in this universe.

The Victorian era is one of my favourites to read about in terms of historical fiction, and from the description, I thought this book sounded interesting.

This was an entertaining read. The narrator struck me as not particularly kind or caring, but funny, confident and sassy. Even if she didn't seem particularly likeable, she had a strong personality that I appreciated.

The author wrote with a sort of simplicity that I liked, bringing to life both the setting and the characters within it, without over-embellishing. Maybe this was partly due to the personality of the narrator, telling the reader what they needed to know, and nothing more.

I did find this quite humorous in places, and it was quite light, easy reading. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

I was given a chance to read this book thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.

This was a fun, fast-paced read. It was enjoyable but did leave me wanting more. It gave me the Incredibles, but Villians mixed with XMen vibes. Although to me, the powers of each weren't fully explained. I also feel like the speed made it a bit hard to connect. At one point, it felt like this was a second book in a series, not the first , as it was written. The world building is there, but to me, I wanted more.

Though I did enjoy it and some parts had me laughing. There was some good banter between characters. If there is a future book, I would definitely give it a go as I did enjoy the premise and story!

I really enjoyed this! Read it on a plane (two sittings) and it was a perfect in-flight book. The pacing was quick, the banter was witty, and I enjoyed the premise.

As other reviewers have noted, it's not particularly deep or complex, but if you go in looking for a fun, goofy, anti-hero story, I think it stands up. Will recommend.

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, I have since lost my initial interest in the story. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

Thank you to BHC Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the premise of this story but I found it very fast paced. To fast paced to really connect to any of the character’s properly or have any emotional stake in what was happening.

The magic system (functions) was never really properly hashed out or explained. I would have loved more info about functions and how they came to be and what their purpose is. Most of the ones we hear about seem to just be random talents that push the plot along. The main character even says something like “I don’t know exactly how this works, but it’s best with functions not to think about it too much”. like what? I want to know how they work!

I did enjoy the banter between Clara and Morgan though. I chuckled several times. That was a highlight of the book. The relationships between the main character group are solid. I enjoyed whenever they were all together and the friendly teasing that ensued.


Overall I did enjoy the book, I just felt it was a little rushed and didn’t quite hit the mark with Clara. She makes a point the whole book of saying what a heartless mean person she is and she’s self absorbed but I don’t feel it coming from her actions.

As a side note, LOVED Victor!

I found this to be a super cute story. The witty banter between Miss Taks and Morgan (the assassin) made me giggle out loud. A quick and fun read that has supernatural elements.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this but unfortunately I will not be finishing this one. I was intrigued by the premise of this story but it felt a little flat to me and I didn't see much in the way of world or character building.

I wanted to love this story! The cover is awesome!

I found the story to be all over the place! The building of the characters fell flat for me! I feel you didn't get to know them to be able to enjoy the story!

I hope this gets a revamp before published!

Thabks NetGalley for letting me read and review

'This story wanted to do so much more than it could deliver. I found it quite messy, the characters felt a bit flat and the story was too fast-paced. You didn’t get to know the characters you were supposed to like.

Also did not get the magic system, that could be explained a bit better to help the readers understand the setting better. I think its totally achievable since this book isn’t published until June 2024 so I wish Murphy and her literary team all the best!