The Guild Master's Daughter - Geneva Price - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Geneva Price

GENRE: Historical Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2023

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: An ambitious debut historical fantasy that wanders through many paths not taken before. The ending (a bit too wild for my liking), the length and the pacing could have been better, but kudos to the author’s imagination for keeping the fantasy part rock-solid.

Plot Preview:

Faith’s stepfather Colonel Trumbull, a renowned artist, has categorically told her that the art world is no place for a woman, and her only purpose is to get married and breed children. While Faith has learnt to curb her true nature in his presence, she can’t stifle her longing for art, especially when she seems to have a wild imagination and a talent for sketching.

When Faith learns about a mysterious Ink used by the Colonel, her curiosity surges, and she soon discovers how magical and powerful the Ink is. Will Faith give access to her inner artist and be able to use the Ink against the explicit instructions of her stepfather? Will her wilful nature be acceptable in the 19th century NYC?

The story comes to us in the third person perspective of various characters, with a majority of the narration being from Faith’s point of view.

Bookish Yays:

🤩 A historical fantasy that delivers on both the historical as well as the fantastical aspects quite well.

🤩 The concept of the Ink and the related magical dimension created by the author. I am amazed at how vividly she built this fantasy world that was so farfetched and yet so believable. Excellent creativity!

🤩 The historical setting is also written well, especially in its depiction of the varying societal standards for men and women.

🤩 Faith as a character, especially as a female lead of a historical fiction work, is unlike the typical FMCs of this genre. She is morally grey, but not in the way you would think. Her name suits her excellently.

🤩 The other characters are also sketched well, with artist Charles Ingham serving as a great supporting character.

🤩 There is romance in the book, but at no point does it overpower the core plot. The relationship is just budding and hence very understated.

🤩 The story tackles several powerful themes such as feminism, gender discrimination, the limitations on women in choosing their own future, parental gaslighting, marital discord, and wealth bias.

🤩 The writing is beautiful, being well balanced across inner monologues, descriptions, dialogues and action.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

😐 The author’s research is commendable. An introductory note clarifies that every character in this book except Faith is a real person from history. The author explains her reasons well, and in a concluding note, give elaborate details about the real people and to what extent their lives had been included in or altered for the novel. However, I am not entirely convinced about the need to use actual artists such as John Trumbull or Charles C. Ingham as key characters, especially when the only vital factual points in their arc were their paintings. I feel that except for the true masters such as da Vinci and Blake, the storyline could have functioned nicely with fictional characters, and maybe performed even better without the personal clutter. That said, I am still impressed at how impressively the artists’ real lives have been transmuted to this fictional fantasy.

😐 The ending was way too wild for my liking! I wasn’t prepared for the direction taken by the story and hence was caught unawares at how it almost imploded. It was a brave trajectory, and though it didn’t exactly work for me, I must give credit to the author for surprising me.  In many ways, the ending was perfect for the story, I guess. 

😐 While I loved the fantasy-related content, the family strife, especially in the second half, was a little bit boring. I loved the first half of the book much more.

Bookish Nays:

😒 The pacing is extremely slow. It took me more than a week to complete this 400 page novel, more than double my usual time. The length is also a negative, as certain events, especially in the second half, seem too dragged out. This partly stems from Trumbull’s being a real person. Keeping his character fictional and cutting out the needless complications of the actual Trumbull family might have helped improve the pace and reduced the length.

😒 Certain essential details are skipped out. Faith’s age, for instance, is never revealed in the book. (I hope I didn’t miss it somewhere in the extensive descriptions!) Considering her rebellious behaviour, knowing how old she was would have helped us better understand her impetuousness. Also, the year that the story is set in is not directly revealed, though the blurb clarifies it to be 1816. I could have estimated it approximately because Trumbull is revealed to be in his early sixties, and a Google search reveals his birth year to be 1756. But seriously, who does maths while reading fiction?

😒 I am not a fan of adult novels having chapter titles, especially if they reveal key upcoming scenes, which basically creates a spoiler.

All in all, the pace and the extraneous content in the second half were downers for me. But the rest of this indie novel, especially the fantasy-related content, was exceptional. I loved the imagination of the plotline and how it brought the art world to life, literally.

Recommended to those who like historical fantasies and wouldn’t mind the slow pace. It is going to make you wish that the Ink were real!

3.5 stars, rounding up wherever applicable for the sheer innovativeness of the plot!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through StoryOrigin. This review is voluntary and contains an honest opinion about my reading experience.