This was a first time author for me. This book did not impress me whatsoever. Victorian? Not much. Gothic? Yes, I suppose. Thriller? I would have to classify the thriller part as modern day thriller. I did not enjoy this book and the animal cruelty was a horrible addition to the book. Silas was a sickening character. This book was just not for me. ( )

A novel about a strong, smart and spirited woman, an artist, an incel, the male gaze, the patriarchy, the freedom and liberation of art, passionate love and dangerous obsessions all set in the filthy and grim Victorian era London streets. Well written and difficult to endure in parts (if you're sensitive to animal cruelty, this may be hard-going at times), this was a character driven novel that delivered. ( )

Book #4 in NZ Goodreads Readathon

CW: Sexual content, killing of animals, described taxidermy scenes

If you have any sensitivity to animal cruelty and animal death then I would give this book a wide berth. I struggled in some parts and thought I might have to dnf.

This was equal parts disturbing and dull. Weird combination right? One minute you are in the mind of a truly insane person and being drawn into their delusions and obsessions, the next minute you are yawning your way through a conversation between people about painting. It was quite jarring. To be fair, I couldn’t read an entire book from Silas’ perspective either as it was quite horrific. However, did the ‘down time’ have to be so boring? Perhaps it was because I found both Louis and Iris to be unlikeable. In my opinion it took too long to get to the point where you could feel the tension start to build. Albie was a brilliant character and it was through his investigations that the story started to move along at a better pace. The last quarter was really gripping as the horrific parts were set aside and the main plot of a Silas’ obsession with Iris came to a climax. The ending was a bit sudden but I enjoyed that you were left to understand how things turned out based on the review of a painting at the end of the novel. Stomach turning and dull parts aside, on the whole I did appreciate this book (I don't think you can enjoy it). It had a deliciously gothic horror vibe which was both exciting and unsettling. ( )

Couldn't make it past the dead puppy taxidermy scene on page 20 ( )

"‘I would say observing. It’s an important skill for an artist".

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

I am editing this because I want to be clear. This is a good book but NOT FOR ME. Different books are for different people.

Were it not for the Taxidermist and killing of an animal, graphic scenes of stuffing animals ETC I would have most likely given this a higher rating. And I did read most of it although I cannot even say how much I skimmed or ignored entirely because of this issue. If these things DO NOT bother you, you may indeed like this book. I skimmed to finish. Not the writer's fault. She writes beautifully. But I cannot read a book with intense animal cruelty that starts literally on page one. I do understand the main character is a taxidermist but there is such focus on what he does to the animals. He also thinks nothing of murdering an animal to work on it in his store. It was all a bit much.

I love Historical Fiction and I love Gothic novels which is what I understood this book to be and in a sense it is but did not know how brutal it was and most importantly the unrelenting scenes of dead animals were nauseating and really interfered with any enjoyment of this book. As I said, it is well written, beautifully written actually, but is not at all for people who loath graphic scenes of Taxidermy, animals being murdered, and animal brutality as it is pretty much through the whole book. I am not one who stops reading all that easily and I have read books with one or two scenes of animal brutality and I usually dock a star but this is unrelenting, throughout the book and I wish I had looked more closely on what it was about. My mistake.

I would also describe this as more of a Horror/Gothic then Traditional Historical Fiction.It is more geared toward Horror in my opinion then even Gothic. This is a pretty twisted story that made me think of the show "American Horror story".

She writes beautifully about the time period and the book is genuinely frightening at some points. I understand why it has such positive reviews as if one likes Historical Gothic fiction and do not have issues such as I described that would like this most likely.

In short..I made a mistake with this one. Not for me at all. ( )