Despite my excitement to dive in, the tiny text made it impossible to fully experience the content. I got to 60% before I dropped it. Not sure if I will continue this when released as it didn't really grasp me to begin with.

I wanted to like this book, and did at first, but the experience ended up being very lacking.

The writing was okay, though there was way more telling than showing. I don't believe using telling over showing is a cardinal sin, but there was too much of it here. I didn't connect to any of the characters and I would confuse who was who a lot. The climaxes were, well, very anticlimactic and the explanation for what really happened wasn't satisfying. Much more emphasis was put on mundane details and then important scenes were rushed through.

This also could have been set anywhere and it wouldn't have made a difference. I wanted Victorian Australian culture to be shown in some, way, shape or form and there was none to be seen. Just basic Victorian mores.

It just needed more care put into it, I think.

*Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.*

I enjoyed this historical mystery about seances which is a favourite subject of mine. This was well written with interesting characters and a real sense of the time period. The mystery was intriguing and the book had quite a dark atmosphere

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

"For Ellen Whitfield, the betrothal of her dear friend Harriet to Ellen's brother has brought both loss and solace. But when Harriet suddenly breaks off the engagement, ostensibly at the insistence of her deceased mother, Ellen is bewildered. And when she learns that Harriet is involved with a spiritualist group led by the charismatic Caroline McLeod, she fears losing her friend altogether.

So it is that practical, sceptical Ellen moves into the gloomy East Melbourne mansion where Caroline, along with her enigmatic daughter Grace, has assembled a motley court of the bereaved. Ellen's intention is to expose the simple trickery - the hidden cabinets and rigged seances, the levers and wires - that must surely lie behind these visits from the departed.

What she discovers is altogether more complicated.

Tara Calaby weaves a compelling and richly detailed narrative around the romance of old Melbourne in this intriguing, possibly supernatural, historical mystery."

I mean, spiritualist possible cult leader? Sign me up. To read about it, not to join.

I enjoyed this story set in Australia in the 1800s. The plot was a bit slow, especially in the middle and it was pretty clear where it was going. I would definely recommend it to readers.

I had hoped for a little more about Melbourne but it was a fun read. Nothing too surprising. The end was a little too neat but it was a romance...

I was drawn to this book for the Spiritualism. That element is certainly there. However,I don’t know if it will offer anything new to the person who reads that topic frequently. What “The Spirit Circle” does highlight is the grief, loneliness and need to be accepted that would lead people to be persuaded.

I’m sorry I don’t have better things to say about this book, it seemed like it would be right up my alley.

Ellen’s best friend gives up her life for a spiritualistic cult and Ellen follows her in, supposedly to rescue her friend but ultimately loses herself too in the seances, charismatic leader, and falling for the leader’s daughter.

This book was ostensibly a mystery, but unfortunately every assumption you make about what is behind the spiritualism is correct. It’s super disappointing that there was not really one surprise for an aware reader. Ellen herself even wonders about twists that ultimately prove correct, but she still mindlessly follows the cult. Even after people have died and the truth has been revealed.

Another sticking point for me was the love story. It felt very formulaic, enemies to lovers, and again, it goes exactly how you think it would. Complete with anachronistic treatment of two women in love in this time period.

The aspects of the book that saved it from a 1-star review for me were the highly descriptive and evocative atmosphere and overall readability.

A great queer historical fiction novel. It had a very plot shift near the end which made me enjoy the book more. It had an amazing mystery element that was really fun.

3.5, Honestly for the first 40-60% I was going to DNF it, the only reason I kept reading was I needed to know what happened with Harriet.

The last part was great and I didn’t expect some of the outcomes, saying that it’s a shame the whole book wasn’t that way.

Overall it’s a good book, there is a plot shift towards the end which is good and if you’re considering DNF stick with it.

I really enjoyed this as a historical fiction novel, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall story being told. It worked with what U was looking for and enjoyed the maybe supernatural element maybe not. It had that mystery element that I was looking for and glad I read this. Tara Calaby has a great way of telling the story and characters.

I love historical fiction about queer characters living their truths under the weight of heteronormative oppression, so I was immediately drawn to this lush Gothic thriller about a woman, Ellen, who seeks to rescue her dear friend, Harriet, from the clutches of spiritualism after she unexpectedly breaks off an engagement to her brother.

Ellen, a lesbian when there were no words or examples to explain her feelings toward other women at that time, was at one time in love with Harriet, who had teased her with kisses and touches that Harriet felt were merely platonic - and later was unneccessarily cruel to Ellen about the way things were, but Ellen's affections eventually cool to sisterly love. I was grateful this didn't turn into a love triangle.

Beset by grief after her family dies in a shipwreck, Harriet becomes immersed in a spiritualist church in their home of Melbourne, Australia, which holds seances and claims to speak to the dead.

A woman of science and logic, the practical skeptic Ellen resolves to expose the fraud of the spiritualists. But she becomes enamored by the found family of women she finds in the church house, all united in grief and sisterhood, and a maternal figure in Caroline, their leader. And she finds an unexpected heat with Grace, Caroline's daughter, who is rude and unwelcoming at first. Could this time her romantic longings be exchanged with something more than platonic affection?

Thus follows a charismatic leader, family secrets and even murder as Ellen becomes swept up in forbidden love, sapphic yearning and her beliefs about the supernatural begin to shift. The murder mystery bits felt rushed and a lot of the pacing was focused on Ellen's belief and her conversion, but overall I loved the atmospheric, cinematic writing style.

It did not turn out the way I expected at all, either. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

A delightful, wonderfully written story and an unexpected find.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

**The Spirit Circle** by Tara Calaby centers around a spiritualist group, often referred to as a Church, that feels somewhat cult-like. The group is led by the charismatic Caroline, who has the reluctant support of her daughter.

The protagonist, Ellen, immerses herself in a community of women who live together and participate in rituals, such as seances, to cope with the grief of losing loved ones. Ellen embarks on a mission to save her friend, Harriet, and to debunk the group's practices, only to find herself questioning what is truly real.

Fans of *Spitting Gold* by Carmella Lowkis, *Affinity* by Sarah Waters, and *Unnatural Vice* by K.J. Charles are likely to enjoy this engaging novel that keeps readers guessing. A special thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.