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  • A Restless Truth

  • The Last Binding, Book 2
  • By: Freya Marske
  • Narrated by: Aysha Kala
  • Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (30 ratings)
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A Restless Truth cover art

A Restless Truth

By: Freya Marske
Narrated by: Aysha Kala
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Summary

Knives Out meets The Binding in this historical romp full of magic, queer romance and adventure. A Restless Truth by Freya Marske is the thrilling follow-up to A Marvellous Light.

'It's the lesbian locked-room murder mystery of my dreams. Beyond delightful!' - Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She’d hoped for plenty of it when she agreed to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy. She even volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner. But Maud didn't expect the old lady to turn up dead on the very first day of the voyage.

Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham. Violet is everything Maud has been trained to distrust, yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must learn to drop the masks they’ve learned to wear. Only then might they work together to locate a magical object worth killing for – and unmask a murderer. All without becoming dead in the water themselves.

Set in an alternative Edwardian England filled with magic, murder and romance, A Restless Truth is the spellbinding second book in The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske. Continue the series with A Power Unbound.

©2022 Freya Marske (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

A Restless Truth is a delectable sapphic fantasy-adventure on the high seas. Maud and Violet stole my heart from page one. Never has the term 'to ship' been more appropriate (Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy)

Jaw-droppingly fantastic. Anyone who's ever hoped that the Miss Phryne Fisher Mysteries had a bit more magic and a lot more sex is going to adore this book, which doesn't skimp on either. Add to that fantastic, thoroughly captivating characters, a deeply engaging story and divinely lyrical prose. In a word: delightful (Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings)
The perfect book if you're looking for oceanbound queer shenanigans, suspense in a coherently magical world, or opulent historical fiction! (Malka Older, author of The Mimicking of Known Successes)

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Appalling

CW: lesbophobia, rape

One would think that a sapphic book would be in touch with concepts of lesbophobia, yet in Chapter 6, the author parrots the lesbophobic trope that lesbian lifes are easier because they can show affection in public etc.

There is no romance, only lust, which is not a problem in itself, but is annoying when the book it advertised as romance.
The plot and world-building is still as thin as in Book 1, the author admitting through their main characters, that they do not really know how magic works.

I thought the hazy plot and world-building could be forgiven in the first book, definitely not in the second.

The author also completely ignores the issues of slavery and its consequences despite having an alleged cotton-mill owner in the main characters.

The pace was slow and characters' decisions were often non-sensical and frustrating. The narrator was excellent, but listening to this book was triggering for me. I continued to read hoping that the author would address the rape. It didn't happen. Just the usual "she didn't move away so she consented". I'm appalled that this was written without any thoughts.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Sequel, I adore Maud!

I really loved the second book in this series. Maud is *such* a good character, she's so precocious and stubborn but also whole and real. I thought the interactions between the four main characters was fun and sets up the relationship between Lord Hawthorne and Ross well. The whole story takes place on a ship travelling to England and I love this kind of restrained setting.

I personally disagree with some comments made by another reviewer. In terms of lesbophobia, I'm not sure it counts as such when that argument (of women having an easier time of things than men) is being used as a flirtation device.

Also, I truly don't think that there was only lust between Maud and Violet. Don't get me wrong, they have plenty of lust between them, but it is absolutely mixed with the slow beginning of a romance. The book takes place over one week or so and it's definitely not an insta-love, but I totally believed in it!

SO bloody hyped for the next book!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

.

4.25/5

A delightful sequel to A Marvellous Light. Robin's sister Maud is travelling on an ocean liner from America to Britain as a lady's companion. However, her mistress is murdered and the killers are after her piece of the contract. with help from the beautiful Violet, the reluctant Lord Hawthorn and less than honest Mr Ross, Muad must work out who is responsible and stop them from retrieving what they desire.

- The characters were super fun and distinct, each with their own attitudes and mannerisms. Also the wonderfully queer nature of the book was amazing and well written within the characters.

- The book struck an excellent balance between mystery, comedy and spice. I laughed so hard at some points (Maud's book purchases) and some of the scenes made me sweat but it was all well spaced and thought out.

- As is often the case with middle books in the trilogy, there's a lot of continuation from the first book and then a lot of set up for the final book. This is the case here. However, I feel the book is enjoyable and carries its own story very well without relying too much on what has happened before and what is to happen next.

A fun installment and I'm now very excited for the third book, coming in November.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not as good as Part 1

Although you warm to the characters eventually, I missed the Edwin/Robin chemistry. Maud and Violet didn’t win me over immediately.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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fantastic!

I absolutely loved this book. A brilliant continuation of the series! You can really feel Freya's growth as a writer between, and A Marvellous Light was fantastic as well, so that says something!

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Great story & narration

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend the first one in the series too!

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