The Oprhan of Cemetery Hill

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Hester Fox
Published:
Series: N/A
Goodreads

Thank you so much to Graydon House for providing an ARC of Hester Fox’s The Oprhan of Cemetery Hill in exchange for an honest review via Edelweiss.

Set in the buzzling city of 1800s Boston, Tabitha ‘Tabby’ Cooke has an ability to speak and see the dead. Due to her ability, she can easily be taken advantage of. To avoid trouble and danger, she hides with a caretaker in a cemetery. Her life of secrecy would all change, however, when she meets the dashing heir of Bishop & Sons Shipping, Caleb Bishop.

I love the prose of this book. The dialogue perfectly gives color to the characters. It also painted a beautiful 1800s Boston and gave us a glimpse of the political side during the era (although we didn’t focus there that much). 

What I didn’t like was inconsistency of the time that had passed between the change of POV: the POV of Tabby was set in the ‘present’, then Caleb’s POV follows and it has skipped a few months but then the next POV of Tabby is still set in the same ‘present’ (the time has not changed). It would have been neater if everything that happened to Tabby in the same time would have been included in one same POV before jumping to Caleb’s POV that had time skipped. 

Another thing I didn’t like is how Tabby and Caleb’s relationship was rushed. It was basically the reason all of the things happened. It didn’t build up but paragraphs of how handsome and dashing Caleb is, thus, you can’t really feel a connection between Tabby and Caleb. It feels forced. They made irrational decisions as well which was annoying. They also didn’t explain how their abilities came to be. I half expected they would venture into the history of Tabitha’s parents and lineage but it didn’t.

Nevertheless, it was still a good read. I’d say a refreshing read, even. I’d recommend it to everyone, especially those who like historical fantasy and a dashing 1800s romance. For those who weren’t able to read historical fiction for so long, this will definitely bring back your love for them!