I did this as a Buddy Read with “Romance Book Buddy Reading” group on Goodreads.
Good lord, I got nothing. I just realized why this was my least favorite of the Brothers Sinister books. Sebastian and Violet are tedious, all of the science parts did my head in completely, and Violet’s sister is written inconsistently. The way she is initially framed in the story is being protective of her daughter, then Sebastian calls her a viper, and we get a scene where Violet’s sister is upset about her daughter getting an education, and her sister becoming known as an educated woman with “theories”. Spare me.
The only thing I loved in this book and wish had been played up more is that we get to figure out what really happened to Violet’s now dead husband.
Sadly I liked these two in the other two books in the series, I was shocked as anyone that their standalone left me cold.
Older review:
So I finished up the Brothers Sinister series a few months ago. I really didn’t gel with this book as well as I did with books #1 and #2. Probably because the main characters in this book, Violet and Sebastian were not as funny and quick witted as they were in books #1 and #2. I absolutely adored these two in the first book and was chomping at the bit to get to their story. It was somewhat a let down though I ultimately did enjoy the book.
I actually loved the overarching plot of Sebastian refusing to play along with Violet’s ruse that he is the person behind all of the recent scientific discoveries concerning flowers and cross pollination. To find out that Violet and other women of her time were actually the true geniuses and allowed their husbands or lovers to receive accolades for things that they really were not discoverers of was intriguing. It also made me want to read more stories about women like this.
But the romance between Violet and Sebastian really did not feel earned at all. Violet’s self pity was such a turn off to me that I was exhausted by her. I really didn’t get the whole thing with her not telling her mother or sister what was going on with her and what went on in her first marriage. The end reveal about the mother totally came out of left field, and seriously didn’t seem like something the character would do based on the way that she was painted in the book.
Sebastian acted like a teenager the entire book. His anger at Violet because he was in love with her and her not wanting him was just ridiculous. I got his anger at the conspiracy that was going on since it was hard for him to be ridiculed and hated by so many people when all Sebastian wanted in life was for everyone to be happy and to be liked. I wish that we had spent more time on Sebastian’s relationship with his older brother and nephew since I found Sebastian doing his best to show that he was grown up and done with dabbling in science in order to make himself a more appropriate guardian to his nephew a very interesting subplot.
Characters from the first two books show up and man oh man none of the guys come across very well at all. Robert (The Duchess War) and Oliver (The Heiress Effect) are clueless on how they come across and pretty crass towards the character of Violet. Frankly I was surprised since they both are married to two women who are definitely not typical of women in that time. I was glad Sebastian cursed them both out.
The writing was top notch per usual, but the flow was all over the place. I think it was because I was tired of Violet’s never ending woe is me parade. I was tired of reading about Sebastian trying to convince her of his love and her worth. I needed some red hot romance and there really was none to be had her for the most part.
The ending was kind of meh in my mind.
