This book had a strong premise and the title really drew me in. When I began, I expected more parties to be honest; there’s only one. Saffron Everleigh is a research assistant in the botany department and in 1923 London, for a woman she has faced some sexism and the unwanted attention of a professor who absolutely made my skin crawl.
Then, during a party, someone ends up poisoned and Saffron becomes obsessed with trying to figure it out.
There were a fair few moments where this book was kind of boring. There wasn’t any danger and things moved slowly. When there was danger, I was hooked but getting to those moments was a bit flusering. I could have stopped several times and just shrugged it away but kept going. I think the author has a great voice, I liked Saffron quite a bit actually.
She’s not afraid to get dirty or use herself as a guinea pig, she’s braver than smart sometimes which makes for a character that down the line could be very interesting.
Mr. Ashton is boring, I hate to say it. He’s a former soldier dealing with PTSD and while he’s a nice man, he’s just boring. There was a moment where the two of them were meant to be arguing with each other because of something he said and it just wasn’t believable.
All in all, I did love the focus on plants, I love botany. But I wanted more from this than I got.
I think I’d give it a 3 star out of 5 but in reality it’s more like a ⅖.
I received this eARC from NetgAlley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.
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