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shai3d's review against another edition
4.0
It all started with a death. When Holly's brother Ben disappears, she discovers an old journal that takes her back in time when she reads about another woman's hopes and dreams. She starts to research this woman and discovers ties back to the Winter Queen.
I really enjoyed this book and how it covers the lives of the three women and how their lives intertwine. It really shows how history can affect the present. And there's no need to suspend your disbelief about time travel.
I really think that any of my readers who enjoy mysteries and love stories that span time will enjoy HOUSE OF SHADOWS. It's well written and guaranteed to sweep you away.
*** I received this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed within are my own.
cservat129's review against another edition
3.0
I am a sucker for a time travel books. The plot was really interesting and I found that I quickly became absorbed in the story. I like how the story went from past to present seamlessly. Overall a very good book.
bleyz16's review against another edition
3.0
The ending seemed a bit rushed and did not match flow of the story. I love slow burn mysteries with altering timelines, but this one fell a bit flat to me. I wish the author had spent more time on the ending. Still a decent read.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
5.0
Booktrail your adventure to the house of Shadows here
This book is the perfect read to get engrossed in and to keep you there. With three time periods, three heroines and their love stories, and two objects defining their fate an their journey in life, I was hooked. I’ve always been chilled by history and wondered whose hands have touched the objects I see in museums, the people they’ve affected and how they came to be in our possession now. This book gives you some of those answers and as I passed seamlessly between one period and another, I realised I was holding my breath. God this was good and I spent a whole day immersed in it, not wanting to move and not wanting it to end. It’s so evocative and atmospheric that I wanted to be drinking red wine from a goblet, in a room with wooden paneling or out in the gardens of Ashdown House itself. This is a place which really fascinates the author and from which this story originates and I really need to go there now in order to sense the story and the footsteps of history in the present.
It sent chills up my spine in a good way to sense those who have gone before us and what legacy they leave on the present. I really hope Nicola writes more of this kind of story as if this is not a way to get people entranced by history, then I don’t know what is.
The photo here was taken by Nicola herself of the very house where she works and where the story is set. It's this house which is central to all three stories. This was the last place Ben was seen alive whilst he was in the process of researching the family tree. Lavinia Flyte also has strong links to the house and the ornate bejeweled mirror and the pearl soon resurface as the stories link together.
Two objects passed down by history and the mystical aura that these two objects have, having been in the hands of three very different women. The author is a guide at Ashdown house and a keen historian and this passion shows though in the evocative and rich detail of each time period and of the mystical Ashdown House itself.
Each time period is clearly defined by voice, dress, social mores and the beliefs that tie each women to the object of cursed beauty.
This book is the perfect read to get engrossed in and to keep you there. With three time periods, three heroines and their love stories, and two objects defining their fate an their journey in life, I was hooked. I’ve always been chilled by history and wondered whose hands have touched the objects I see in museums, the people they’ve affected and how they came to be in our possession now. This book gives you some of those answers and as I passed seamlessly between one period and another, I realised I was holding my breath. God this was good and I spent a whole day immersed in it, not wanting to move and not wanting it to end. It’s so evocative and atmospheric that I wanted to be drinking red wine from a goblet, in a room with wooden paneling or out in the gardens of Ashdown House itself. This is a place which really fascinates the author and from which this story originates and I really need to go there now in order to sense the story and the footsteps of history in the present.
It sent chills up my spine in a good way to sense those who have gone before us and what legacy they leave on the present. I really hope Nicola writes more of this kind of story as if this is not a way to get people entranced by history, then I don’t know what is.
The photo here was taken by Nicola herself of the very house where she works and where the story is set. It's this house which is central to all three stories. This was the last place Ben was seen alive whilst he was in the process of researching the family tree. Lavinia Flyte also has strong links to the house and the ornate bejeweled mirror and the pearl soon resurface as the stories link together.
Two objects passed down by history and the mystical aura that these two objects have, having been in the hands of three very different women. The author is a guide at Ashdown house and a keen historian and this passion shows though in the evocative and rich detail of each time period and of the mystical Ashdown House itself.
Each time period is clearly defined by voice, dress, social mores and the beliefs that tie each women to the object of cursed beauty.
rhodesee's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! I don't usually love multiple timeline books that take place in more than two time periods but I thought the addition of the early 19th century setting worked really well here and didn't just add unnecessary fluff. The flow of the time shifts felt natural and helped the plot move along. I didn't find myself liking any one time period more than the others, they all worked well individually and together. This is my first Nicola Cornick read and I'll definitely be picking up more of her work. I'm always on the hunt for another author to fill the gap between Susanna Kearsley releases for me and this one will definitely go on that list! If you are a fan of Kearsley I highly recommend you give Nicola Cornick a shot.
bookdragonslair's review against another edition
5.0
Another amazing novel by Nicola Cornick. House of Shadows was an amazing read filled with magic, love and loss. I have found another author I absolutely love and will be reading more books by her as I have not been disappointed yet
ryner's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Holly is woken up in the middle of the night by a phone call from her tearful and frightened young niece — it seems her brother had gone out and never came home. Immediately upon her arrival in Ashdown Park, where their family owns a summer property, Holly can sense that something is not right; Ben would never knowingly leave his six-year-old child alone. It isn't long before her brother's mysterious disappearance appears to be connected to two centuries-old artifacts once in the possession of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia.
Initial DNF review, October 2022: I detected pretty quickly that the writing wasn't as polished as I would like, but I thought I'd give it a few chapters to see if it grew on me. Alas, it was not to be. Two early characters were egregiously one-dimensional, and an accumulation of unrealistic character interactions finally annoyed me so much that I had to abandon the book during chapter four.
Second attempt, April 2023: I thought I had washed my hands of this book, but one of the Read Harder categories for 2023 was "a book you DNFed." In looking over the short list of books I had abandoned in recent years, I deemed this one likely still most palatable, and I attempted to be more forgiving the second time around. Clearly Holly needed to break up with Guy in order to free her to move to Ashdown, but what makes it problematic as a plot device is that Holly having been with (engaged to!) someone like Guy in the first place suggests she had colossally poor judgment. Luckily, both Guy's and Tasha's presences are short-lived. The writing was passable, the story was just okay. I'm not really into mystical objects in what is otherwise a perfectly normal, non-fantasy setting, and I'm really not into magical realism.
Initial DNF review, October 2022: I detected pretty quickly that the writing wasn't as polished as I would like, but I thought I'd give it a few chapters to see if it grew on me. Alas, it was not to be. Two early characters were egregiously one-dimensional, and an accumulation of unrealistic character interactions finally annoyed me so much that I had to abandon the book during chapter four.
Second attempt, April 2023: I thought I had washed my hands of this book, but one of the Read Harder categories for 2023 was "a book you DNFed." In looking over the short list of books I had abandoned in recent years, I deemed this one likely still most palatable, and I attempted to be more forgiving the second time around. Clearly Holly needed to break up with Guy in order to free her to move to Ashdown, but what makes it problematic as a plot device is that Holly having been with (engaged to!) someone like Guy in the first place suggests she had colossally poor judgment. Luckily, both Guy's and Tasha's presences are short-lived. The writing was passable, the story was just okay. I'm not really into mystical objects in what is otherwise a perfectly normal, non-fantasy setting, and I'm really not into magical realism.
elvenavari's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars really. The writing was lovely and all the characters well formed and fun. I enjoyed the mystery of the story. However, there were times near the middle that the three different stories became a bit too much and I was bored. In the end though, I was smiling.
bdubois's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning threw me, it jumped around some and did not follow what I thought the story was going to be from the summary. But the story drew me in and captured my attention.
zoe_d_marriott's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful. My favourite of all Nicola Cornick's timeslip novels - and that is saying something! I had to force myself to ration this to make it last a few days because I knew I'd be bereft when I finished; otherwise I could easily have devoured it in half a day. Sublimely good.