A novel and engrossing mystery reminiscent of Shadow of the Wind. The dual nature of the book intrigued me in the start, but ultimately was not beneficial to the narrative.

The first half, whilst a solid enough concept, structure wise, left me faintly unsatisfied. It lacked tension and felt mostly like two characters discussing the events that led them together.

The second half, thankfully, ramped up the tension, and threw a considerable amount of the first half into doubt, revealing it as largely fiction.

The writing style was where the book shone, with visceral descriptions that did well to evoke the various locations.

The plot however, felt a bit rushed, like the author was favoring the cleverness of the format over character and plot development. Of all the characters, Oliver was the most developed: the others felt a bit flat, and Ken's involvement did not feel particularly solid. Ultimately, things would've been much easier for him had he just walked away - and his motivation for staying felt weak.

Whilst you supposedly could start the book with either side, i would strongly recommend starting with the Victorian half.

I DNFed this book about halfway in. LOVE the concept but couldn't get into the writing and characters. Thank you for letting me read this book.