I loved Lost Apothecary so was thrilled when I saw the author had a new book out with a really eye catching front cover too. It practically screams read me!!!!
The London Seance Society is a historical novel, set in Victorian England, with a dash of spice that examines the enigmatic world of seances, the paranormal, and secret societies. Although this sounded like a book that was right up my street, I didn’t find it as compelling as her earlier book.
That said, it wouldn’t stop me picking up her next one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance copy.

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

Full disclosure, I could not get past 51% of this book. I really enjoyed Sarah Penner's debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, because it was a fun and super atmospheric read. Reading this book, however, I could tell that Penner was trying to do the same kind of thing with this novel (a spooky, feminist, magical realism type story), but this one was just so poorly written and uninspired. The characterization, scene-setting, dialogue, and "mystery" elements all felt incredibly amateur and elementary. As the reader, I could not get the sense of if this novel was supposed to take place in "actual" London or a fantasy, parallel-world tye of London, or what "magical system", if any, was taking place for the characters possessing supernatural abilties. The dialogue between characters and inner monologues was so basic and cliched that I wouldn't have been surprised if it was written by a high schooler for a school assignment. All of these elements were quite bad, but then a forced, surface-level, out of nowhere romance between two characters that have very little depth sprung up, which was just so cringe-worthy and distracting from a plot that had the potential to be interesting that I somehow became even less invested in this story. The overall potential for an interesting plot is what is allowing me to give this book two stars instead of one. Again, I was not able to get through this, so maybe it had a good ending, but I was not willing to subject myself to this terrible writing to find out.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really enjoyable read. We follow Lenna as she navigates the world of spirits and seances in the 1800s as a new apprentice of a famous spiritualist in order to investigate the circumstances around her sister Evie’s recent murder. It is told from Lennas pov as well as from another character Mr Morley who is a senior member of the London Seance Society and appears to be involved in the events leading to Evie’s death.

This is an intriguing and atmospheric read which immerses you in 1800s London. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing as we slowly unravel the story. This book holds just the right amount of suspense and intrigue with interwoven characters and plot with a good balance of ghosts, murder mystery and even some subplot romance! Really enjoyed this one!

absolutely adored Sarah’s debut book The Lost Apothecary in 2021, and promised myself that I’d read whatever she wrote next so I was instantly excited about this. Whereas The Lost Apothecary is set between the past and the present, this book is all in the one time period. I wondered if it would be as interesting or gripping but I needn’t worried. It’s fabulous reading.

It is so absorbing and all encompassing. It might be set in the 1800s, but it feels so familiar and timeless. We’ll always love stories about vengeance about mystery and about love, no matter the setting.

History can be a bit dusty, a bit long and tiring, a bit dull, and it’s not for everyone. But Sarah manages to bring history to life, showing off all its dazzling qualities, and shows just how exciting history can be.

I love the exploration of women in this book. Women, especially in the 1800s, are often ignored, seen as not as important as men, subservient, quiet. But this book shows how powerful they can be, even in the darkest of situations, and prove that you should never underestimate them.

There are many characters but I’d say there were four main ones: Lenna, Evie, Vaudeline and Mr Morley. Lenna is a fabulous main character. She trusts others (sometimes to her detriment), she is passionate and honest and eager to make sure the dead are loved as much as the living. We only know Evie after her death. She seems very different to her sister Lenna, but at the same time, they both have this determination and passion for righting wrongs. Vaudeline is an interesting character. You’re not sure whether to trust her or believe her, but you can’t help but be fascinated by her and what she does. Mr Morley (I had a teacher once called Mr Morley which made me giggle) is a good old fashioned good cop/bad cop wrapped up in one single character. He may not always be the hero we want, but he is deliciously written.

I have always been someone who prefers character development over plot. And whereas this book does have some character development, especially with Lenna, the plot was so addictive I couldn’t put it down, I was so desperate to know what happened next. Sarah sure knows how to grab you and keep you hooked from the first to the last word.

It is so atmospheric and almost claustrophobic. The level of research I’m sure Sarah had to do to ensure everything is accurate to the time and period really pays off. It’s chilling, but friendly at the same time.

The world of spiritualism and ghosts and whatnot is a fascinating one, and one that causes many arguments. I, for one, do believe in ghosts and spirits and I don’t believe there’s a need to be afraid of them. This book was an interesting look into the world, and may even whet your appetite for more on the topic.

The only small criticism I have is that the surprises done really come until the last, say, 15-20%, and whilst that does give you time to get absorbed into the story, part of me would like to have had some of these twists dripped in carefully a little earlier. It doesn’t take anything away from the story though.

Although thematically I’d say I enjoyed The Lost Apothecary better, Sarah has nothing to worry about regarding the second novel syndrome (much like the second album syndrome, when you fear a second offering won’t hit the same heights as a successful debut). It’s as dazzling and absorbing as her debut, and I think she’s only going to get better.

I loved this! This was such a well written read, so atmospheric and the way Penner described the different landscapes was just stunning. This was spooky, creepy, and just oh so unpredictable.

I was spellbound and thoroughly captivated by this tale of mystery, danger, and suspense - with a tiny hint of dark romance to go alongside. Lenna and Vaudeline's stories intertwine and set the stage for an incredible take on the fascinating history of Victorian London's Séance scene. Immersing you fully in their stories, Penner's writing puts you right in the middle of this gothic tale.

I can't recommend this book enough, and I cannot WAIT to get my hands on a physical copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of The London Seance Society in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I was not a huge fan of Lost Apothecary, so I did not know how I would feel about future Sarah Penner novels, but as soon as I saw the cover and title for The London Seance Society, I KNEW I needed to read it.

I am not a fan of historical fiction, but I LOVED this Victorian Gothic story. It was very atmospheric and just draws you in. There is enough paranormal and ghost aspects to keep you intrigued, plus murder!

You will stay up late at night continuing to turn pages to find out what happens at the end of this one. I highly recommend giving it a read!

A fun and fast paced historical mystery. A flew through it and didn't really figure out the truth until the end.

Thank you netgally and the publisher for the copy of the book

this book was such a blast! at first i wasn't sure how all of this will go, but the summary sounded promising, so i dived right into it. i don't think i've ever read a book related to spirituality (or at least it wasn't the main subject), which made it more interesting and made me want to know more. this is the thing with historical fiction - they include some real events, places and people, which makes it so compelling and might even make you curious enough to look into it further and deepen your knowledge about a certain subject. I wouldn't say that this book was completely unpredictable and if you paid close attention, you may be able to figure out how the story is going to unfold, but i don't think it is a bad thing. i liked the characters too, especially Vaudeline, a medium who resides in Paris and whose opinions doesn't always coincide with others, but she is still willing to express them despite the consequences. well, it probably comes as no surprise that the men in the book are not very happy about that... nevertheless she persisted! personally, i think she makes The London Seance Society so charming and encourages to read further. of course, the story itself is interesting as well, although at times i found it too slow and other times a bit rushed and lacking proper transitions. despite this, i'm glad i had a chance to pick up this book!

thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity of reading The London Seance Society in advance. I rated it 5/5 stars. Loved the historical period and the setting of the novel, but i will give a special mention to Lenna and Evie, I miss them already a lot.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61109069-the-london-s-ance-society?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=kduqWkhqI6&rank=1

A Victorian murder mystery with ghosts and spirits - this book had it all! Penner is so good at crafting sequences of suspense and spookiness, blending it together perfectly along with Gothic elements. Lenna's determination to find justice for her sister is at the heat of the story, and Penner never loses sight of that.

I had heard great things about her first book, and with the stunning cover, I started reading straight away.
The novel has two narrators,
- Lenna - apprentice of a famous spiritualist, early 20s, from a well-to-do background, very naive
- Mr. M. Morley of London, vice-president of the Society's Department of Spiritualism, has a blotch on his face and very sore about it.

The book has short, snappy chapters that alternate. Both characters are underwhelming and frankly annoying.
The book started off well, but it was SO predictable. I'm sad I didn't like it as there was a lot of potential.

The London Séance Society focuses on the spiritualist movement that was extremely popular in Victorian Era England. Our first narrator isLenna Wickes is a young woman studying under Vaudeline D’Allaire, in the hopes of being able to complete a séance to commune with her sister who was tragically murdered on All Hallows Eve. Vaudeline is living in exile in Paris due to circumstances outside of her control, however in the opening of the book, she is invited to return to London to assist with a séance to commune with the recently murdered President of the London Séance Society, Mr. Wolckman. She is invited by our second narrator, the Vice President of the Society, Mr. Morley. Coincidentally, Mr. Wolckman was murdered on the same evening as Lenna's sister. The coincidences and overlapping lives don't stop there.

For me, this book started off fairly slow, but it did pick up fairly quickly. The setting and characters all lend themselves towards building up a very tense, Gothic vibe in the novel. All is certainly not as it seems with the Society, and Mr. Morley works with Lenna and Vaudeline to investigate. There is also the additional of a sapphic romance, however for me it felt like a reach. Out of nowhere after working together there is sudden attraction and tension.

All that said, the twists and turns of the plot, and how the characters all intersected by the conclusion of the novel were all very smart, and well done. Overall, I certainly enjoyed this sophomore novel by Sarah Penner.

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Penner once again has crafted a women-led historical novel full of intrigue. With fantastic twists, this addition to her work continues to entrance the reader quite literally as they learn more about Lenna and her sister Evie. The London Seance Society is also prominent and seeks to deter anyone from discovering the truth about itself while blacklisting women like Vaudeline who are able to commune with the spirit world. Overall, I enjoyed this book but did find it a little slow from the middle to the end.

I don't think it's fair to say this is a bad book, because it's not, but I did struggle with it.
My issue was the twists were all written in the stars a mile away, yet when each twist was revealed, it was in such a way that made it look like a surprise, which it wasn't.
I see what this book was going for, women are doing seances for the good of others, men pretending to do seances and capitalizing greatly off it. But it personally wasn't for me.

I sometimes anticipate what debut authors do following the success of their first book. One hit wonder, or can they back it up with a second book? Super happy to report that I was impressed with Sarah Penner’s second book, The London Seance Society. (That means I probs need to read her first book, The Lost Apothecary.)

The London Seance Society is a suspenseful historical fiction with a touch of spice set circa 1873 in Victorian England that explores the mysterious world of seances, the paranormal, and secret societies.

As two main characters/two POVs (Lenna and Mr. Morley) attempt to unravel the circumstances of two murders, we get drawn into a world of deceit and danger, troubled ghosts (soz), and figure out who to really trust along the way.

I found the subject matter of seances, the supernatural, relationships, and the search for truth pretty interesting. It’s loosely based on real societies of the past and present. Decent atmosphere building, but perhaps a few improvements can be made in pacing and character development. In saying that, I was surprised by the story's direction and couldn’t predict anything in advance, unusual for me. Appreciated this! A historical fiction page-turner -- I recommend it for people who don’t mind a few twists and creepy vibes mixed along with their historical fiction.

PS. Love the cover!

Thank you NetGalley, Legend Press, and Sarah Penner for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The London Seance Society takes place in 1870s Paris and London. In it, we follow an ethereal, highly esteemed medium and spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire and her more skeptical, science minded apprentice Lenna. Lenna is seeking answers that Vaudeline may have about the murder of Lenna's sister Evie, as Evie was Vaudeline's previous apprentice. Vaudeline, who had previously fled London under mysterious circumstances, is unexpectedly summoned back to perform a seance for her dear friend Mr. Volkman, leader of the London Seance Society, who was murdered the same night as Evie--All Hallows Eve. His colleague, Mr. Morley, tells Vaudeline that he is convinced that a seance, and communication with Mr. Volckman, would uncover details that would lead them directly to the killer. To do this, Vaudeline and Lenna must spirit themselves from Paris to London, and lie in secret in the belly of the London Seance Society, a paranormal gentlemen's club where women are expressly forbidden.

I really appreciated how this book was dual POV: Lenna's and Mr. Morley's. It gives appropriate backstory and an insider's view into the inner workings of the London Seance Society, as well as views from an outsider hiding inside its walls. They also have drastically different personalities, which was fascinating to jump back and forth between--especially in the later chapters as more information is brought to light. 

I already knew that I loved Sarah Penner's writing style from The Lost Apothecary, and The London Seance Society was no exception. This book was truly a roller coaster of emotions. It was more of a murder mystery than I expected, but I really enjoyed having my suspicions early on, then learning whether I was right or totally off base. (Non-spoiler spoiler alert: I was right!) 

As someone married to a paranormal investigator in the 2020s, my favorite part of this book was read about techniques and methods that the Victorians used to communicate with the dead, many of which Penner explains in an Afterword are historically accurate. The Victorians, apparently, had somewhat of fascination with Death and the dead, and seances were a quite regular occurrence. Reading this book even prompted me to add a few less traditional, less technologically advanced, more "old school" paranormal gear under the tree for my husband this year.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner is out March 31, 2023, and I seriously cannot wait for more people to read it. It has Sarah Penner's trademark poignancy that will leave you all in your feels, while also having you longing to take a trip to 1870s London, if only for a moment.

Sarah Penner lives in St. Petersburg so we are highly likely to purchase considering she is a local author.

I loved the Lost Apothecary, but this one didn’t land for me. The pace felt too slow and the opening felt too tell-not-show for me to get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed The Lost Apothecary so I was very excited to receive an arc of the author’s newest novel! The world Penner created in The London Seance Society is tense and atmospheric and has you questioning what’s real and what’s a ruse. It’s obvious Penner did tons of research into the world of spiritualism and the inner workings of seances during the height of the spiritualist movement in London society. However, while I appreciated Penner’s thoroughness in her writing, I found myself bored throughout the majority of the novel. I never liked any of the characters or felt they had any real connection with each other. I didn’t become truly invested in the story until well over halfway through. Even then, I didn’t care about the characters or wish for justice or vengeance, I just needed to know how everything wrapped up. There were some twists that took me by surprise, and if I’m honest, those twists, which happen in the last 20% of the book, are the only reason this book is worth reading.

The book opens with Lenna Wickes whose sister, Evie, was recently murdered, apprenticing with internationally renowned medium Vaudeline D’Allaire. The two women are called to London to investigate the death of Vaudeline’s friend and president of the London Seance Society, Mr. Volkman, by Mr. Morley, the Society’s vice president. The women and Mr. Morley are soon playing a tense game of cat and mouse as they try to determine who killed Evie and Mr. Volkman.

Lenna had some good moments, but she came across as selfish and callous, especially towards the end. She does redeem herself, but I just never cared much about her, so it wasn’t a very satisfying redemption.

It was intriguing to have Mr. Morely’s point of view as we see how Evie became involved in the society and Morely’s connection to her and Mr. Volkman. Again, I just never liked him or any of the other characters.

Honestly, I think I would have preferred the story from Vaudeline’s point of view, or even having Evie’s POV at points would have been interesting since the book does vacillate between past and present.

While I didn’t love the characters or find myself enjoying the majority of the novel, I found myself entranced for the last 20% of the book. I couldn’t stop reading and had to know how things ended. If you enjoy murder mysteries with a paranormal element, or have any interest in the spiritualist movement of the Victorian period, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

I am all for a Victorian England setting. The creepy vibes were on point and I was so stunned by where the book was taking to.
It was a bit slow at points, but it didn’t take away from the story!

Creepy and compelling!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book.