The Seventh Life of Aline Lloyd

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Goodness me was this book easy to fly through. It is a story of a man who loses his brother and relocates to the remote Welsh cottage his brother leaves for him. When there he meets a woman, a seemingly strange woman – but there is more than meets the eye with Aline. I will leave my overview there as I think it is best to learn more through reading the book and the way Davies tells it. The book is a nice mix of gentle plot development and character building and I was surprised at the end to get the impression that it would not be part of a series – the amount of character building would lend itself to more in than one book.

Being Welsh it is nice to see a more modern book set in the beautiful country that is Wales (rather than more historic timelines) and it is clear to that Davies knows what he is talking about with regards to Wales - which is a bonus.

I will say that I like my books a little lighter in the fantasy department than I would like and some of the actions/dialogue felt a little forced/unrealistic but this did not hinder my reading experience too much.

If you’re in the mood for a quick and easy (light) fantasy read then I would recommend this one. 3.5/5 - rounded to 4 for Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers and author for an early copy. I really like the story line and the character development. I look forward to reading other books from the author!!

The Seventh Life of Arline Lloyd has a interesting storyline and characters. A quick read and I would read more by this author.

The Seventh Life of Aline Lloyd, by Robert Davies. A well written, and intriguing novel. Evan's brother has just died and left him and his sister a considerable estate. Part of that estate is a house and land in Wales. His new neighbor is a careful woman with a lot of secrets. And as those secrets spill out things get a little creepy.

Powerful and captivating. This story is perfect for this summer: witchcraft, reincarnation and romance. i can't stop reading the book until the end...


#TheSeventhLifeOfAlineLloyd #NetGalley

This is a very readable book, which is more of a fictional memoir than anything else. It does have some supernatural qualities, but it is more about an average person thrown into an exceptional circumstance, and how he deals with it. It’s a very step-by-step account of how Evan Morgan moves through the loss of his brother, pursuing the mystery of his death and his prior change in financial circumstances, all the while falling for his mysterious neighbor – the titular Aline Lloyd.

It’s not a fast-paced romance or fantasy thriller, digging rather deeply into Evan and Aline’s interpersonal relationship development and how Aline’s special talents dovetail into that. As the relationship develops, so follows necessarily Aline sharing more and more of her history and talents piece by piece with Evan. Along the way, tension is put upon both the relationship and specifically Aline, as outside forces invade with an agenda to learn more about her abilities.

While I enjoyed the story, it was milder than I expected. There is no crescendo, but rather a gentle process of unfolding, action/reaction and much internal introspection. Perhaps that is more aligned with how life goes and that is the point of the novel. In the process, it is an engaging story, albeit slower to move along at times and not as impactful as it could be. Again, perhaps that is the actual point. I give it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars - it's not for everybody, but it is well-written and enjoyable to read.

I really enjoyed reading The Seventh Life of Aline Lloyd, especially as I've visited both Colwyn Bay and North Wales in general, so I know how the charm of North Wales and the landscape. It was perhaps a lighter fantasy, both in the sense that it's a modern day fantasy and that it doesn't have too many dark elements as one might guess by the cover and the blurb, but that's totally fine. I also really liked Aline and Evan as characters.

An engrossing and entertaining book with fleshed out characters and an interesting storyline.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is not your usual kind of mystery story. The set up and many of the tropes would make it fit into a number of related genres – mystery, paranormal, even sff. The death of a brother sees the MC moving temporarily to Wales to take care of his affairs but then the MC falls in love with the landscape, and is compulsively interested in the beautiful and mysterious Aline Lloyd, who has a secret. On the surface that’s classic mystery set up especially when taken in context with the beautiful rendering of the landscape whereby the setting almost becomes a character in its own right. (Which, btw, I am all for. I love it when authors pull that off.) But there is more to Aline than meets the eye and as things unwind we discover just how strange she really is. I can see how this might not be for some people. It is a gradual story done in delicate strokes that assumes you will keep up. If you want lots of action, it’s not that kind of tale. The character journey is largely internal and paralleled by the landscape and the slow reveal of Aline’s past. Personally, I loved it. It may have had few surprises but the way the author wrote the journey meant that the fact I knew the destination didn’t matter. If you like a gradual mystery with flashes of folk horror and paranormal fantasy, then this is for you.

This was an interesting book with some good ideas, although at times it was a little unbelievale and the fantasy aspect of it was a little bit much for me - I like my fantasy light as possible!