I have read several of Hester Fox's books and can truly say that this author is an expert at creating a chilling read complete with paranormal vibes. Her books nearly always rank on the top of the "creepiness scale". This one was not an exception coming filled with grave robbers and ghost galore. Overall, I had a great time with this story. If you are looking for something creepy and enjoy a historical setting as well as a paranormal angle, The Orphan Of Cemetery Hill is a great option. ( )

Neither interesting historical facts nor descriptions of how pretty and charming the lead characters are can save a novel from ham handed plotting, wooden characters and every sort of unbelievable, inconsistent behavior. Body snatchers, kidnapping, mediums real and fake, and murder in antebellum Boston decorate an truly stupid romance. ( )

The Orphan of Cemetery Hill is a Gothic historical mystery that was a bit of a disappointment. While I enjoyed the setting and loved the atmosphere of the cemetery, I was not a fan of the romance as I didn't like one of the main characters, and I thought one of the plot points was really pushing it. I get that this book has a paranormal element to it, but it still has to be believable.

Tabby was a lot of fun as a main character. I liked her spunk and resourcefulness even as she was trying to lie low and hide from an aunt and uncle from whom she had to flee when she was little. Although she didn't have much, she lived a quiet life with her adopted father who took care of the local cemetery, who took her in when she was little. It was the perfect place for Tabby to develop her abilities as she could communicate with the dead, a secret she learned to keep to herself at a young age. However, I was not a fan of Caleb, her love interest. Yes, he was selfish and self-absorbed, but characters like that can be developed and show growth throughout a novel; Caleb didn't really impress me with his growth and I felt like he was still selfish, even at the end. I couldn't, for the life of me, understand what Tabby saw in him, and I just didn't buy into their romance, which was a huge fail for me in this book. Oh, don't get me wrong, I like a good rogue, but Caleb just seemed silly.

The plot was interesting in the beginning, and I did enjoy it, but it definitely slowed down towards the middle as it got bogged down in the so-called 'mystery'. I loosely called this a mystery as there was no mystery simply because the reader knows who the culprit was quite early on which took away a lot of the suspense and intrigue, at least for me. I think knowing who it was was supposed to add this fear element for the characters as they tried to figure out what to do, but it didn't really work. The author spent too much time telling the reader what was going on as opposed to letting the reader figure things out themselves, a writing style of which I am not a fan. Unfortunately, what ended up happening is that I had to dig in and force myself to finish the book, which was disappointing.

Verdict
The Orphan of Cemetery Hill was a bit of a disappointment, but the potential was definitely there. I wasn't a fan of the romance as I didn't like Caleb as a main character, and I thought the plot slowed down too much in the middle as the author spent too much time telling the reader how things were going rather than letting the reader figure things out. It's a shame as I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I always love settings that have to do with cemeteries and ghosts. Unfortunately, the atmosphere, ghosts, and an interesting concept are not always enough. ( )

Having read Fox's first two books, this was not quite what I was expecting. The plot here is less gothic in that there's no manor house to run from and instead there's a group of evil scientists stealing bodies for a dark purpose. The heroine is a medium and fled her aunt and uncle as as child because they were abusing and exploiting her. The hero (I didn't care for him) is a philandering rich boy who doesn't want the shipping business his recently deceased abusive father left him. (There are mentions of slavery and being complicit by transporting goods.) This is a more diverse historical Boston than we often see, which I appreciated.


The plot is sort of all over the place, however, and the MCs have this insta-love relationship. They're not often on page together and though this isn't a romance, I needed more in order to understand why this love motivated so many of their decisions. (There is an HEA.) Sadly, I can't gleefully recommend it like I did the last two.


Content Warnings: grave-robbing, abduction, evil scientists, parental and familial abuse (referenced, not on page), children in peril, bad guys threaten to use Fugitive Slave Act to send heroine's adoptive father back into slavery, imprisonment, probably alcoholism, cheating (kissing while engaged), probably more

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review but ended up listening to it on audio via Hoopla. ( )

Well, that was a bit of a letdown... I think the concept was excellent, but unfortunately the execution was lacking. The pacing was off, and there was too much I had to suspend my sense of disbelief for. ( )