The Book Wench

Seoul, present day. Antiques dealer Alys’s task is nearly complete. She has at last secured Elizabeth, the final anatomical Venus in a dangerously intertwined trio. Crafted in eighteenth-century London and modeled after real-life sex workers to entice male medical students to study female anatomy, these eerie wax figures, known as slashed beauties, carry unsavory lore. Legend has it that the figures are bewitched and come to life at night to murder men who have wronged them. Now Alys embarks for England, where she knows what she must do: sever her cursed connection to the Venuses once and for all.

London, 1763. Abandoned and penniless in Covent Garden, wide-eyed Eleanor and another young woman, Emily, are taken under the wing of beautiful and beguiling Elizabeth, one of the city’s most highly desired courtesans. But as Eleanor is seduced deeper into a web of money, materialism, and men, it seems that Elizabeth may not be the savior she appears to be.

As past and present begin to intersect, it becomes clear that the women’s stories are linked in deeper, darker ways than it initially seems. And that the only method for Alys to end the witchcraft that binds her legacy is to gather all three models in one place and destroy them.

The problem is, Elizabeth is not ready to burn. Far from it. Centuries on, she is determined to rise again, and she will obliterate anything standing in her path. Including Alys herself.

When I saw this book at the bookstore I knew I had to buy it. Something about its cover just drew me in….and I’m not a pink girl. I put off reading it for a while because of school, but the premise just left me wanting to crack it open and dive right in. I went in with unrealistically high expectations and, unfortunately, came away somewhat disappointed.

I didn’t have any issue with the dual timeline or the characters themselves. My biggest issue was with how and how fast everythingproceeded. Everything from the set-up, the world-building, the rising action and climax, the romance, and the denouement felt rushed. And I’m not just talking about the writing. In one timeline, only about a month and a half passes for the two thirds of the novel and yet six months or more worth of stuff happens, including an insta-love relationship that borders on obsession. The villain went from mentor to villain far too quickly and unbelievably. And the stakes felt underwhelming because not enough time was devoted to developing them.

The writing, when not rushed, was actually really good. Rushby knows how to write good descriptors and she can come up with good ideas…it’s just the execution that, for me, felt lacking. I honestly think if she had been able to write the story and make it fit about two hundred extra pages (aka, if she had had more time and space to fill) everything would have felt more natural. The characters really needed six months to a year to get from point A to point B and instead they had a month and change. I was pretty disappointed and had a hard time forcing myself to finish the book because the off timing just felt so loud and in my face. I do want to say, however, that I read other reviews afterward and plenty of people loved this book! It could entirely be a “Me” problem. So, if the premise draws you in, give it a chance.