Orchidelirium by E.B.

"I have never accused Hector Ardmore of having more brain matter than is strictly necessary for vital functions."

3 stars

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher/author. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

DNF @ 39 percent

First of all, I would like to offer my utmost apologies for the delayal in my publication of this review along with my timeline in reading it.

Orchidelirium is a book that caught my eye, specifically from the nature of the title. I found it intriguing, wondering what the meaning was behind said title and I entered the book with a hope to learn what it was. 

While I am an enjoyer of historical fiction, this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found the writing a bit choppy, which was quite saddening, because I believe that the premise of the story was good and had plenty of potential. 

However, upon being marketed as a "cozy mystery", along with the subgenre of historical fantasy (which was interesting in and of itself), I expected a sort of world building, obviously not that equivalent to full-blown fantasy novels, but I needed a deeper understanding of the world that the main characters, Gem and Opal Morris lived in.

As I stated before, I DNF'd this at 39 percent. For my personal preference, I prefer the story to gear in no later than 20-25 percent. Without some intriguing piece that inspires me to keep reading, I find it difficult to stick with the narrative. Additionally, with such a poor storyline, it diminishes my capacity to care for the characters. 

It took me a while to be able to differentiate between Gem and Opal. And once I did, my feelings changed drastically about the both of them. I feel kind of bad for Opal, because it's appeared clear to me that she has some unresolved issues between her and her father, and perhaps some underlying resentment. Opal seems to be our "ground-stomping", loud, meant-to-be-heard protagonist, while Gem is more of the traditional woman in the time period, meeker and agreeable. I would also venture to say that Gem is extremely naive in not thinking to consider the motives of her husband-to-be, Mr. Ardmore. 

I also felt that the only real character development that was done, and that I noticed so much so that it was unable to ignore, was when Mr. Ardmore arrived on Opal and Gem's doorstep, covered in blood. To Opal, this immediately puts her off and as is true with that time, her classist instincts seem to immediately place him below them. When Opal, the lady of the house, offers to run him a bath, Mr. Ardmore takes it upon himself to "flee" (what I would equate that to) the scene. 

-->We are then met with a rather interesting scene with the gardeners, the sisters, and Mr. Ardmore. I couldn't find the purpose in Sir Roberts. Perhaps that came later in the book, though. He seemed to be an aggravated, bored old man that enjoyed poking his nose where it didn't belong.

As I said before, I do believe that this book has great potential. I think that with a bit more of world building and perhaps some adaptations to the characters, there is definitely a premise for something great. For that, I give it 3 stars. I liked it. It's going somewhere. I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you E.B. for entrusting me with a PDF and allowing me to be a part of your journey.