The Moonlit Maze by Zoë MarriottMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm beginning to think that timeslip novels are just not for me. In concept, it's cool, but for some reason, there's always something that leaves me not-quite-satisfied.
What's there not to love about this story? There's modern-day Juliet (Jude) Stewart inheriting a cottage in a cozy British village giving her enough money to turn her life around and a chance to catch her breath. There's young Lady Xanthe Kearsley in the 1920s torn between her betrothal to horrid cousin Jonathan (who will inherit all her father's possessions due to entailment) and wanting to live her life on her own terms.
Two separate, entrancing stories, connected by space (Winterthorne) and somehow bleeding through time. I should have loved it, but...
In Elaine Chiew's The Light Between Us, I felt I couldn't quite grasp how the two protagonists were connected by time travelling letters with a fancy mathematical theory, so I quite appreciated the simplicity of this connection through time - and even the lack of any solid explanation. There's a mystical quality to how Jude keeps dreaming of Xanthe, and how Xanthe catches glimpses of Jude at odd times.
There's enough in both timelines to keep me going - rooting for Jude as she tries to figure out her future and being angry on Xanthe's behalf because she's stuck in a society with little options. And Jonathan is a manipulative abuser being enabled by Xanthe's parents - there, I said it. You want to believe that Xanthe will overcome, that Jude will somehow find a way back in time to help her...
One little thing that really bothered me was the strange love triangle between Jude and the two men in Winterthorne, where for a moment it was like Jude HAD to fall in love with one or other of them because a woman cannot just be friends with a man!!! Marriott resolves this as part of the plot, but it was just very annoying while it was happening.
The ending itself - and its revelations - felt satisfying to me. Like yes I'm glad it resolved that way.
I want to say I loved this story. And yet... like I said, maybe I'm not configured to really enjoy timeslip stories, the same way time travel and multiverses give me a headache (looking at you, Avengers: Endgame).
Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Headline via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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Sounds like something you'd like to read? The Moonlit Maze releases tomorrow, 5 June. Preorder from Amazon! (Affiliate link)
