Book review: The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin

Title: The Wicked Cometh
Author: Laura Carlin
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release date: 01 February 2018

Synopsis: Down the murky alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place and no one is willing to speak out on behalf of the city's vulnerable poor as they disappear from the streets.

Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible.

When Hester is thrust into the world of the aristocratic Brock family, she leaps at the chance to improve her station in life under the tutelage of the fiercely intelligent and mysterious Rebekah Brock. But whispers from her past slowly begin to poison her new life and both she and Rebekah are lured into the most sinister of investigations.

Hester and Rebekah find themselves crossing every boundary they've ever known in pursuit of truth, redemption and passion. But their trust in each other will be tested as a web of deceit begins to unspool, dragging them into the blackest heart of a city where something more depraved than either of them could ever imagine is lurking . . .

Review: One day as I was scrolling through Twitter I saw the words Velvet proof and obviously my attention was hooked. That's a level of attention to a proof that you don't often see, and with a title like The Wicked Cometh I was intrigued. But I think it was also at this point where I started to make assumptions of what I thought this book was going to be, and when it wasn't I think I mentally checked out. 

It's not that it was a bad book, it's just I don't think it was a book for me. I imagine it's how people felt reading The Essex Serpent. 

I actually liked Hester, I thought she was a fantastic strong minded woman who sought to advance herself. In a world where you have no option but to thrive for yourself because no one is going to do it for you, she did what she had to do. She was of strong will and mind, and that meat that she was a great pair for Rebekah. Their relationship thankfully was not forced, developing out of mutual respect, companionship and intellect that built layer upon layer over time so that it blossomed into what it became, breaking down the character of Rebekah that we are presented by the men around her. That right there is a crucial point in this feminist tale, the underestimation and then triumph of women. That they can and should hold a place in society, not based on archaic stereotypes.

The main problem I think I had with this book was that it didn't really feel like it was doing anything until about 2/3' s of the way through and when I had been waiting a whole book for something, I felt by this point that it was more a slog than something that had kept me interested. Indeed I had thought about stopping a couple times but wanted to push on because I could see there was something in it. But then the drama changed its course, amped itself up a gear and you start getting in the gritty undertones of the novel. As a history graduate I find that I'm fascinated by the weird and grittier parts of history, and Victorian medicine is quite the field of exploration, so to think that something like the events of this book was commonplace sends shivers down the spine. 

This was a book that I wanted to enjoy more than I did, but that I know other will enjoy and I think is one of those books where with time I will see and realise different things about it, so if you've read it please do tell me what you'd thought!