Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Tangled Webs by Lee Bros

Hello there guys!!

Continuing with my trying to get back into the rhythm of blogging after my hiatus, today I have a review of an ARC, trying to get back into my nearly 80% ratio that I had in NetGalley before May and when all the apartment and moving thing started!

So here we are, another Mark This Book Monday and another ARC review. Unfortunately this one was read after an amazing contemporary and it failed to get my attention or pull me from the book hangover from the previous book.


Tangled Webs by Lee Bross

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This could be a case of bad timing, more of a it's not you, it's me kinda thing. I usually adore historical fiction but in this case I was not as captivated as I usually am.

There wasn't anything wrong with the world building or any historical innacuracies, but there was a certain vagueness to everything as far as the background and the setting. It was London, but other than some references to the foggy weather here and there... my impression is that we don't know nothing of the atmosphere, nothing much but a blurry background. The only setting that felt more real was when we went to the docks and Grae's ship. Only then I felt like it was a real place more than a setting in a play.

I wasn't very keen on the plot progression either mostly because some of the twists were really out of nowhere and very much on the "why now?". Instead of shocking me, they kinda disappointed me, to be entirely honest. And I wasn't keen at all on how Arista seemed to be so clueless when it came to plotting and saving herself when she has spent so many years being a courier and proveyor of secrets.

The romance felt a lil too much too fast, and although I understand that the 18th century was a different time and that things could certainly go fast... From attraction at a dance to declarations of love and more... it just felt all too sped up! Their connection was sweet and their relationship was full of support and positive interactions, Grae being able to let her be who she is. But the way they get there, so fast!

One of my favourite parts of the book was the friendship between Arista and Becky, and how they supported each other and how Arista worried about her friend and wanted to make sure what's right and to ensure he friend would be safe and protected.

I also liked how Arista felt protective about the family she finds herself living with, and how it made her want to find a way out of the web of lies she had been living in.

Arista/Lady A wasn't exactly what I was expecting from the book's summary. She had a very tough life and she wanted out and wanted more. She didn't want to continue with that life, but given how she behaved and acted throughout the book, it feels like she wasn't as good or as savvy at her job as you could have expected.

It was a fast read because it was easy to read but it wasn't captivating and by the end I was a lil annoyed at how things were progressing and the twists that happened. In the end, I cannot give this book more than 2.5 to 3 stars.





View all my reviews