Title: The Leviathan
Author: Rosie Andrews
Published: 17th February 2022, Raven Books
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley/Bought
Format: ARC/Hardback
Rating: 4.5/5
Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft.
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley/Bought
Format: ARC/Hardback
Rating: 4.5/5
Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft.
Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before.
Something has awoken, and now it will not rest.
richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is set in England during a time of political turbulence and religious zealotry. It is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but most of all it is a spellbinding story of impossible things.
The Leviathan is a fantastic historical mystery with a hint of fantasy and follows Thomas as he arrives home from the army to an ill father and a sister accusing the maids of witchcraft. It had me completely hooked.
The Leviathan is mainly set in Norfolk in the mid-1600s but there are also chapters set in the early-1700s. This was fantastic in linking the witchcraft accusations to the story as it was the height of the witchhunt era where villages has their own hunters. The majority of the story occurs in a rural setting and towards the end, I found this increased the creepiness. My heart was in my mouth during the dark field scenes - I felt like I was there with Thomas.
I really liked Thomas as a character. I liked his skepticism and his need to figure things out with logical explanations instead of going along with the accusations. His protectiveness of Esther was lovely to read. I loved his kindness. And I loved seeing his relationship with Mary develop.
The godliness of some of the characters did annoy me at times, but in the end, this fits both the time period and the plot perfectly. And the characters were all pretty easy to distinguish between with their personalities. Even the side characters are memorable.
The story is told in first person from Thomas' POV. We see firsthand his complete confusion regarding what is going on on his return home. Like Thomas, you're not sure who to trust. I didn't find the story predictable at all, but in hindsight, there are bits that are obvious when you really think about it.
I found the story quite fast-paced and a definite page-turner. I needed to know what was happening - particularly the final 25%. I really enjoyed the majority of the story and I really thought it was going to be a 5-star read. However, the last couple of chapters let me down. I wasn't 100% happy with how The Leviathan ended and wanted more answers.
Overall, I found The Leviathan absolutely brilliant and it was only the ending that was a letdown. The writing, setting, and characters were all fantastic, memorable, and 5-star. I'd definitely recommend to fans of historical mysteries and fantasy.
My favourite parts? Everything but the ending, particularly the dark spooky feeling scenes.
My favourite character? Thomas.
Did I learn something? What a Leviathan actually is...
Will I read Rosie Andrews again? Yes.
Will I read the rest of the series? N/A
Worth the price? Yes.
I haven't read many books set in this time period, but the few I have read have been pretty good, and this sure looks exciting and interesting.
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