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| Book cover via Amazon.com |
Opinion
Let me recap a bit. I reviewed CA Asbrey’s “The Innocents” and “Innocent as Sin” previously for Booktasters, and I loved both books because I found them exciting. Some of the features that come with CA Asbrey’s work is some beautiful tension and romance that is woven between layers of mystery and drama. “Innocent Bystander” came out in November, and I wanted to read it as soon as I could. Not once did she ask me to review this, nor did I go to Booktasters for this review, this is entirely my own pickup via Kindle Unlimited of the third in the series. Like all of my reviews, this is an honest review from my opinion and perspective entirely.
I was delighted to find the things I loved about the first two books were still strongly featured in “Innocent Bystander”, and yet, they weren’t run of the mill or old hat things. Sometimes when a writer gets to book three, it can become predictable or stale, and that did not happen here. Instead, we have an entirely unique story, and this time, it wasn’t primarily focused entirely on Abigail or Nat. This time, we get to enjoy one of literature’s best uncles get some well-deserved character growth and development. Jake, the uncle of Nat, is one of the most fun characters ever. He gets a lot more action this time and has to endure a lot of pressure and change himself.
We also have new secondary characters to enjoy and each is unique and fun. Of note, this book goes into those characters more than the core ones, but that’s fine because it all balances well. The pacing never changes, it’s still well paced and the tension is great too as always. And, in case you missed my previous blogs, I mean all sorts of tension here, not just story driving tension from the way the scenes each layout, but also romantic tension, relationship tension, friendship and otherwise etc. There is a lot going on here, every element has a contract and it blends well. I really enjoy this aspect of it all.
Another positive, the science in the stories is great and never more so than in this book. It really highlights that Victorian-era science that only was during those days. Back when electricity was new, batteries were new and people still were getting the hang of photography. I enjoyed how this element of the story was laid out and so beautifully executed. It’s as rich and lively, as the way that female to the male dynamic of those days was illustrated in this story, and how people just did not accept any diversity. The storytelling from the perspective of past days highlights the problems of our current day and accentuates the positive things we are doing correctly now.
The only thing I wanted to point out as a critique here has to do with a slight structure situation in the transition of the second book to the third. While I am delighted the secondary characters get to play, the thing I missed from this book was that same back and forth between Abi and Nat of old. It took Abi a very long time to trust Nat. Even in that second book when they were working so well together, there still was that layer of tension. I was expecting walking into this book, to feel that where it left off, and it sort of did, but not in the same way. Though this one did start with Nat and Abi’s focus again, it wasn’t what I was anticipating. Especially given how things left last time, I was hoping for a bit more, a bit more of Abi explaining why her feelings were what they were with the second book, in the first act here. Just a recap really, or an acknowledgment, because chronologically not even a year has passed in the story. She was furious with him, and rightly so. And he was troubled, and also rightly so. That Sam and Diane thing from Cheers was so great in these books, but I felt here it was missing that extra oomph that I loved so.
Yet even with that in mind, the story itself didn’t suffer. The arch of the couple works well in this story and, the actual story didn’t really need the extra bits in the front. All of it considered, including the doozy of the ending because it was wonderful, makes “Innocent Bystander” entirely a story that can be read out of order of the rest of the books. Yet, one finds they are rewarded for reading the other two with some inside knowledge so I still would recommend starting at the first book and working toward this one. “Innocent Bystander” as a standalone book retains a full beginning, middle and ending and still a richly detailed story. The ending is utterly lovely and is a proper closing that either can lead to more stories, or none if there are none.
Score
Score here is going to be a resounding 95/100, which is a five-star review on Goodreads and Amazon. The scenes are set well, you can smell things when they are brought into the story, and the fashion is on point. I loved this story. I still want to take CA Asbrey to a coffee shop, get her a scone and a tea or coffee, and pick her brain. She’s as gifted as a writer, it’d be lovely just to learn how she approaches writing and the craft of developing her stories. If you would love to get yourself into a fun series of books, pick up “The Innocents” series from CA Asbrey.
