Fair Weather (Barometer Sequence, #1) by Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Fair Weather (Barometer Sequence, #1) Reviews

• 
  Space Cowgirl

  Writing Herself Into Her Book📑
  
  Adult Murder Mysteries, Past and Present...
  The fictional book author, Molly💃, dreams herself into the body of Matilda👗, a 6 year old street urchin in the medieval London slums. The year is 1206.
  As time goes by, the rail thin, half starved girl matures io a fourteen year old, then sixteen years old. All this time Matilda👗 lives with a group of street thieves controlled by an adult, a tall man called Vespasian Fairweather🐺🍆🌋🔪.
  Starvation in the whole of Europe is rampant..many days the group has nothing to eat.
  Molly💃 goes back and forth into and out of her medieval world. Her life in The present stinks, too. She divorces her husband, Bertie, for endless affairs, then let's him move back in within days of The divorce finalization.
  Molly💃 thinks she is going crazy, when one of Bertie's latest girlfriends is found hanging in the woods after being brutally tortured.
  Molly goes back into the past as Matilda, but her body in the present is in a coma like state. Then there is another murder, similar to the first! Then another! Each Is more gruesome than the last!
  Is some kind of black magic involved?
  
  Why is such a mild mannered woman involved in two such brutal 🌎worlds?
  
  ARC Received by Hidden 💎Gems
  I also got the book with KU.
  
  This is a well researched and written book. The sights, sounds, and smells of medieval London are almost tangible. The brutish life of the poor is horrendous. The book has violent episodes. What is going on?! I was mesmerized!
• 
  ChillwithabookAWARD With

  Fair Weather by Barbara Gaskell Denvil had been awarded a Chill with a Book Readers' Award
  
  www.chillwithabook.com
  
• 
  Janelle

  While the premise of the book was interesting, even fascinating, I found the writing to be confusing. When I first read a description of the book, I was led to believe it was somewhat of a sci-fi thriller. I was not warned about the graphic rape and murder described toward the beginning of the book. At that point, I was no longer able to continue reading.
  
  ***I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.***
• 
  InD'tale Magazine

  Between Molly, Tilda and Vespasian they travel between worlds to find the murderer, and battle the evil that has been unleashed in both worlds.
  
  Read full review in the
  2012 July/August issue of InD’tale Magazine.
• 
  Helen Hollick

  This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:
  
  ' The novel is very cleverly conceived and pursues its fantastical conceits in a convincing and exciting way, building to a dramatic centrepiece that had me gripped. '
  
  Helen Hollick
  founder #DDRevs
• 
  Emma

  What a book. I have never read anything like this. It took several hours to read this. It is a long story. But, so worth the time. I was not disappointed. The pace is moderate and the overall story is excellent. The lead characters are outstanding, fully developed, complete with engaging personalities. The supporting characters are just as engaging. The story would not have been the same without them. The book is detailed and very descriptive. It described the mood, the facial characteristics, the type of clothing, the physical surroundings and the elemental environment. I love the story line of two timelines. One timeline in the present and one timeline one thousand years in the past. Two lives that mingled in one body past and present. Molly is a writer who lives in the present and Tilda/Matilda who lived in the past, is an orphan stealing to live on the streets of London. Their lives magically intertwine with each other. The story covers their lives in their respective time and covers their experiences. Tilda and Molly help each other live and experience life in the others stead. Both Molly and Tilda have fallen in love with Vespasian. Vespasian lived in the past and was a mystic/alchemist. He had different beliefs of time and space, life and death. He taught Tilda/Molly what he knew they could absorb and nothing more. He was a mysterious man who had many secrets. However, everything he did had a distinct purpose. He had taken in a ragtag group of orphans, four boys and two girls. He taught them how to survive and he protected them. Vespasian found Tilda when she was ten years old alone on the streets. Tilda never knew her father. He died the day she was born. Then her mother died ten years later. She was grateful to Vespasian and hero worshipped him. All the other kids did also. Molly had a more difficult childhood. When she was a child she was always plagued with nightmares or that was what she thought they were. Her father left Molly and her mother when Molly's mother became emotionally unstable and was a danger to Molly. Molly was just a young girl when her mother was put into the asylum. She grew up in the country with her foster family. As an adult, she is still plagued with these nightmares. But Molly is beginning to think there is more to it that what she first believed. Thus, Molly and Tilda's journey begins. This suspenseful, murder mystery is exciting to read. Be prepared to be mystified, horrified, impressed, amazed and blown away. The ending was so unexpected you will not believe it. This is a must read. I highly recommend it. I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book via Hidden Gems and am voluntarily leaving a review.
• 
  Pauline

  Wow just wow. I had no idea that when I received this book I would be gaining a new favourite author. Fair Weather was beyond expectations. It started off with a an almost lyrical formality and managed to morph reflectively with the context of the story; characters embedded in prose before realising it had happened in the narrative. I loved the characters, the mystery and supernatural enchantments. I was enchanted. Amazing book and have recommended this author to my mum (often confer over authors). Definitely reading more from this author. Wow
  I received a complimentary copy of the book from Voracious Readers Only
• 
  Marie

  For me, this book was way too "wordy", I think the story could have been told just as well in half the pages. The book is 483 pages long....the story could have been told in a lot fewer pages than that.
  
  The story is ok, but not really my cup of tea.
• 
  Deborah Ozmer Diaz

  I really enjoyed this book. Interesting and believable characters in a fantasy setting. I even downloaded Dinner with Vespasian and enjoyed that too. Thank you for an entertaining book. I hope there is a second one with the 21st century trials and troubles. And was it a boy or a girl?
• 
  Lynn Leach

  This is a complex and intriguing tale of time travel, shared souls and undying love. While I was put off a bit by the graphic, brutal physical and sexual violence, the story drew me in and kept me engrossed until the end. It is a work unlike any other I have read.
• 
  Anna Douillard

  Delightful historical novel
  
  This book is a mix of history, magic, and love. One woman with two identities. One lives in current time and one lives 800 years before.
• 
  Trisha K. Carlson

  UGH. Review later. Maybe.
• 
  The Book Whisperers

  I could not finish this book. To be fair I was in a reading hang over from finishing the Throne of Glass series so...there's that.
• 
  susan stacy smith

  Highly recommended
  
  Great book beautifully written not the type of ending you expect but the just the ending you would need after reading this book
• 
  Claudia Foglein-Goins

  Voracious Readers review...well written, interesting and I was intrigued from the first chapter.
• 
  Jacqueline

  A fun read…
  
  The characters and historical setting made for a light, fun read. A bit of violence—for those too sensitive, but overall very entertaining.
• 
  Diamond

  [See full review on my blog:
  http://diamondlovestoread.blogspot.com]
  
  I really enjoyed this story. It’s a story you should really concentrate and take your time to read. It doesn’t rush you into learning the characters. As a reader, I didn’t know who to trust because Molly/Tilda didn’t know who to trust. So, for example, if someone betrayed her, I felt the betrayal. It was harsh and unpleasant. When I, as a reader can feel emotions that mimic the character/protagonist; it is the mark of an excellent novel. What stood out to me was the beautiful symbolism—a main theme in the story. There was also great imagery in this book. I felt the bleak world of England in the middle ages, yet I saw how the sun shined brighter and the air tasted sweeter than the future times. I could sense the appeal and understood why molly stayed in the past, despite the pangs of hunger. My favorite character was Molly/Tilda (in that order, tied but slightly more with Molly). I felt like I could relate more to Molly. Her reactions to the middle Ages and what was happening with Tilda mirrored mine. Her skepticism and judgment matched mine as a modern woman. The horrifying murders scared me, the alchemy intrigued me.
  
  As the story unfolded, we learned as much as the protagonist. We learned with her, which made it unravel slower, perhaps, but more organically. Although the story took its time being told, every part was vital and it’s not the type of book you can read quickly or skim through some parts. (I am guilty of this as I do this with many books, it was refreshing to have to slowly read and absorb all the information in this book!)
  Like Molly, you will leave your consciousness. You will enter into the Realm of Fairweather (which I thought was ironically named, until the ending when I understood it was the only name).
  The story sucks you in; you become the "third presence" in Molly and Tilda’s shared consciousness.
  
  I enjoyed the unique relationships in the story. For example, Molly’s husband, Bertie continued living with her after they divorced due to his infidelity. Most books try to simplify things like portraying one person as being clearly villainous, which I expected at first Bertie to be—yet it isn’t that way. In that way it’s closer to real life. There is something so HONEST about this story. It's a modern story, set in both middle aged England and modern age—but I think it will remain timeless.
  I cried towards the end, the amount of emotion this book made me feel is overwhelming. I felt curiosity, sadness, grief, frustration, anger, rage, emptiness, loneliness, wonder. And finally; you feel the most brilliant of emotions -- love. This is truly a story of love. Not a "love story" but a story OF love.
  Not cookie cutter love that we all know can occur between two unlikely characters; but real, messy, painful, sometimes deceitful love. It’s the kind of love that goes in circles and loves what perhaps it shouldn't, yet persists despite it all. Real love isn't explained in 100 pages. It took almost the entire book to the very end to fully comprehend the love, not only between these two characters, but among all the characters. The reader mistrusts Vespasian as Molly does in the beginning and throughout the novel; but also loves Vespasian. If an author can get the reader to feel what the character feels when the character 0feels it—it’s a home run. Denvil does this incredibly well. She does this so well I find myself swooning for Vespasian and wishing I had a dark man such as him to love. Sigh.
  
  Such intense physical and emotional pain was endured by Tilda and Molly, this made the ending that much sweeter, yet nothing was assured. It’s a novel that takes you on a crazy imaginative journey. I honestly did NOT know what to expect! But it wasn't a "surprise ending;” rather, the entire book was a surprise. I felt I was being led on a path that had many turns; I would sometimes recognize a yew tree or silver pool, but I just trusted the narrator-- Molly/Tilda-- who takes us on this winding journey to another place and time. It's amazing. I ask you to read this book. You won’t regret it, I promise you. Denvil is on my “favorite authors” list now. The ideas and themes are so varied and imaginative, I sat in awe at how one mind can think of all these different nuances and background, which tie together beautifully in a braid. And a first time author too! It’s almost unbelievable. I can’t believe this is her first book. I will hungrily read all her other books and future books, and if there’s a sequel? *squeals* I’d just die!
  
  
  Barbara Gaskell Denvil
• 
  Leah

  It was wonderfully written and pulled emotions out of me that were vividly felt. I admit to having felt disturbed by some things that happened but as I continued to read they came more easily for me to soak in. This story of Molly/Tilda and Vespasian has stuck with me even though I've finished and I'm going to have to take some time to decompress before I can start another book. I say that in the best of compliments. I became so involved with these characters that near the end, I was sobbing for the loss that came. Never once during reading this did I ever fail to believe in Vespasian. This is a story of good and evil, fear and strength, and ultimately, hope. What a ride Barbara Gaskell Denvil took me on!
• 
  Tonya

  For a full review please see
  www.indtale.com July issue.
  
  
  
  http://www.indtale.com/reviews/fair-w...
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Hafiza

  Dark Fantasy/Time travel.
  Absolutely engrossing.
  1 star deducted be because it was a touch too long and could have been edited "tighter".
• 
  Jillian Bald

  This book was recommended to me by a book reviewer I follow. I have been reading fiction with witch themes lately, so this book's description fell right into that with its black magic. The story weaves back and forth between worlds, and between bodies--Molly sharing Tilda's consciousness. Other reviews here give full synopsis details, so I won't go into the storyline (which I found refreshing from other time travel book I've read). The characters do face some brutal torture, but we do not witness it as a reader; the author has chosen to just have the characters talk about it. The brutality of the events and the murderous twists in the plot were not too jarring. Overall, I enjoyed the story and will definitely check out more of Barbara Gaskell Denvil's mysteries.