Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad for an early release copy 

A historical novel starting a story with an arranged marriage for the unwanted niece and orphaned daughter of a white man and a black woman , a marriage situation that seemed to cause more anger than warranted for something that was more customary at the time. I was surprised to find how many pages the author dedicated to that fact. Unfortunately the first fifty or so pages started to lose me over the contradictions. 

You will fall into the scene, particularly that of the manor from the author’s use of descriptions. A little too heavy in places at times and may have made the story a little stronger to leave a little more to the reader’s imagination.  Orabella was an interesting character and I would have loved to seen her with a little more growth. But I think that may just be the story- stagnant. The transitions of the reality and the fantasy weren’t always smooth and could come across as muddled, as if the writer couldn’t decide the nature of the beast, so to speak.

Unfortunately, the back half of the book didn’t seem to know what it wanted to do with itself. It came across as if it wanted to have the readers question but I needed more investment from the writer to care enough to be confused. I even found myself laughing at a part in disbelief in how the author did not have the characters question certain situations. 

I really do hope the story goes through the editor a few more times from the arc to the published copy, as I do feel like there is some potential here.