I wasn’t able to read this one as I have not been able to download a copy. As I was bot able to read the book, I will still give it a five star review because it was not the author’s fault.

I went into this book thinking that it was going to be some sort of fantasy or mystery young adult novel where the fair was going to be at the hub of the action. Not even close. I am not entirely sure what I read.
In 1899, Alice and Mary travel to Scarborough for a vacation. Meanwhile, Alice is secretly being tailed by her jealous fiancé's stooge.
In the present day, Rose travels with her mother to Scarborough to spend the summer with her grandmother. All of Rose's friends appear to be having the time of their lives vacationing in exotic destinations. But, her summer starts to get interesting when she meets Dan and he asks her to go to the fair with him. Soon enough, Dan and Rose get entangled into a criminal underworld.
So, the book has two stories going on. One takes place in 1899 and the other takes place in the present day. I thought these stories were going to be intertwined, but they really weren't. I was just reading two different stories at once that takes place in the same location. The only thing that connects Rose to the 1899 story is because Rose and Mary are related.
Also, there was major instant romance between Dan and Rose. What exactly did Rose like about Dan? What did Dan like about Rose? I don't know. Perhaps what really brings two individuals together is life threatening situations.
The characters didn't have much personality. I didn't really side with any of them or really care too much. Instead, the story was majorly flat and I was just happy to reach the ending.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, while the blurb really interested me, I have been unable to get into the book.

Excellent historical fiction in the Victorian era with a modern tie-in, though it's a little too insta-lovey for me.

Very interesting book. Loved both the characters and the setting! I’m a huge critic when it comes to historical fiction but the author was able to successfully tie in two different timelines within the framework of this story. I enjoyed how this was done so well that there was no confusion between the transitioning of timelines. I originally went for this book because it reminded of when the Celtic Women first sang Scarborough Fair. This book seemed to even capture that song and made me nostalgic. I definitely would recommend this book for fans of historical fiction and YA. It even has mystery elements that keep the plot moving forward. I’m interested in seeing what else this author has to offer.

Did Not Finish @ 30%
If you want to read some random ideas strung together in the Victorian age then you might be able to get into the past story of Scarborough Fair. Unfortunately even when Margarita Morris brings us into her present day story line it's just flat. It lacks flow, consistency and polish.

Creativity is Key
There wasn't really any original thoughts in the introduction of this book. Our characters and the present day teen insta-love story were all tropes and set-ups that have been done again and again.
The worst part however was the constant use of this thought by our leading present day gal:
"it was like something out of the movies”
If this is supposed to endear me into believing what is happening or the ridiculous character description it really doesn't. Using it once I may have forgiven but three times in the first 30% of the book?! Sorry but that is just lazy.

Insta Love
Ugh. Need I say more? If you think it's 'cute' to have your potential love interests father nearly run you over in his Ferrari; then maybe you will find something in the present day love story Morris tells of interest. For me it was just too cliche. Not only do our characters, more or less, immediately have a connection; but they both pull each other out of the 'funk' that is their summer to date. All it was missing was our leading characters to break out into song and we would have had a re-boot of Grease.

Victoria Age
As someone who loves to read historical novels all I could feel about the Victorian age presented in Scarborough Fair was that it felt like Downtown Abbey (but not in a good way). Not only are our leading two ladies lavishly trotted around by a mysterious man but they go to a circus and are enthralled with the light show that appears to have spirits overtake the big top. Now done well, see The Night Circus by Erin Morgensten, this can be enchanting. Instead Morris barely scratches the surface of the atmosphere that is needed to really bring her story to a level in which you buy into it (never mind are amazed by it).

Overall
Scarborough Fair is just missing all the keys to a good book. There are a few dozen books out there with similar premises and I likely any one of them is likely to be more readable than what Morris' has given us here. With the typical historical set-up of a past/present story line that connects across a century, a cliche teen summer romance, and Victorian times that seem too easy to navigate for our women; I struggled to find any reason to continue reading past the 30% point. This is a book that I believe will be quickly forgotten or confused with others; and that's assuming people even make it to the end.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Okay, did anyone else immediately think of the song from Simon & Garfunkel when reading this title? No? Okay ...

This book intrigued me. I usually really like Historical Fiction, even though I rarely buy those books. Most of my Historical fiction books are books I got as a gift or something. I really need to change that.

And I have to admit I have a thing for creepy asylums and all that jazz. So reading a book that features an asylum in two different timelines seemed to be something I'd surely enjoy. And I did. Somewhat.

The beginning was great. I was intrigued right away and liked both timelines. In the past, Alice and Mary, her maid, travel to Scarborough to get some fresh air. Alice wasn't feeling so well. Now that she was apart from her fiancé she feels better. (I wonder why ... he is soooo nice /s)
I loved the letters both she and Mary wrote to loved ones at home. How distinct their voices were. How they described the same events and landscapes so differently.

But relatively quickly I became bored with the story. Nothing really surprised me. The soon to be husband and his 'man for the dirty' were cliche and not fleshed out enough. But still, I liked this storyline way more. It had at least the appeal of historical fiction going for it. Even though it was quite predictable and not really anything new.

The present though wasn't my thing at all. I had to force myself to pick the book up again. It wasn't badly written or had any major flaws, but it just didn't grip me. The two main characters were very blah for me. The start again was at least moderately intriguing but very quickly I lost interest. I didn't care for the storyline at all. It felt too forced.

So, unfortunately, I can't really recommend it. Although if you really like these kinds of stories and probably if you enjoy contemporary more than me, it might be worth a try.
I won't pick up the second book in the series though.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @55%
I gave this an honest try, I just couldn't bring myself to get through this. It was really slow and the characters of the "now" POV drove me nuts. I really only cared about the "past" POV but even after a while that got old.

Excellent read. Melding the Victorian era with modern times.
This book tells a story of generations of women. The friendships that last a lifetime are inclusive to the story. The characters are remarkable and mesh well together. The Author has done a remarkable job with this story line. Recommended.
5 Stard

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction or books with a lot of history in it, but this one was good

I've always enjoyed good YA reads. They touch on real-life matters and are clean
reads. I have, for the most part, stuck to the Nancy Drew series when it comes to
YA reads but am always interested in going out of that box for a good YA read. I
enjoy historical fiction so this series piqued my interest and I was excited to read
them.
I was not disappointed! This is a really cool historical fiction that's about the unique connection of Alice and Roe's Connection...even though they never met because Alice was alive in 1899 and Roe..2016...This was a great start to a series. Intriguing, keeps the reader guessing, great writing...It may be a YA read but I believe readers beyond YA will completely enjoy this; especially if you're into historical fiction with a time travel type element (from the past to the present, but not time traveling). This isn't a slow read either, the author keeps you pulled in and sets the scene excellently. I think the only disappointment I had was that the romances seemed to move too fast; there didn't seem to really be any build up. But I enjoyed the book nonetheless.

This was a great story, fast-moving and inventive, with a completely believable historical setting. And the story really has it all: mystery, suspense, romance, and family bonding. Great read for young adults, age 11 to 16 or so would appreciate it the most. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded to 4

In 2016, Rose's mum is dragging her away from London to dreary old Scarborough. Rose would rather be anywhere than Scarborough; however a summer romance and a summer mystery are quickly changing Rose's opinion on the seaside town. In 1899, Alice and her maid, Mary, head to Scarborough to relax for a little while. However, the vacation ends up being anything but relaxing.

Scarborough Fair does a great job of switching between narrators between different centuries. I felt like each character had a distinct voice, and I never got too confused whenever the point of view (or time period) would abruptly switch. The author also did a great job at describing both life in 1899 and in 2016; both settings felt decently fleshed out. I stayed interested in both characters' stories up until the end (see the next paragraph for more explanation on that one).

On the other hand, what it did not do was create protagonists smart enough to live. And by that I mean it's a miracle these people know how to walk and talk, let alone actually function in society. At one point, Rose (our protagonist from the modern day) manages to escape capture once and, instead of finding the police or a random good person to help her, bikes to the marina and jumps on a boat to save her (captured while trying to save her) boyfriend from the Bad Guy. She had passed hundreds of cars waiting in traffic on her way and not once did it dawn on her to knock on a window and ask politely to borrow someone's phone, please help, it's an emergency. While on the boat, she rescues her boyfriend and then proceeds to get captured again. It's only at that moment when she realizes that she could have gotten help when she passed all of those people on the way to the marina. Honey, I love you, but you so dumb. To the point I wanted to create a shelf just for this book entitled "too dumb to live".

Also a heads up; if you're an American reading this book (or at least the edition I did), the copy retains British terms for things (e.g. a boot being a trunk). Most of the terms are quickly understood, but I can see a teenager getting very frustrated when reading if she/he isn't familiar.

If you're looking for some good chocolate cake literature, I would give this one a try. It's pretty quick paced (almost too quick paced at times), and while it relies on coincidences way too much, it was still an enjoyable read.

On the cover we see the beautiful Alice back to the beach. In the foreground Rose runs his hand in Dan's hand at the fair.

This first volume tells the story of Alice in 1899 and 2016 nowadays Rose's life on arrival in Scarborough.

For Alice, she seeks refuge in the seaside resort of Scarborough to escape the clutches of her fiancé. She will run away with a man she really loves and will put her life in danger. For Rose forced to spend the summer in Scarborough with her mother and grandmother and it's not going to be a pleasure. Especially when a Ferrari driver is going to miss it on his arrival. She will meet Dan and they will go to the fair but things will not go as planned.

I was immediately attracted by the cover that is beautiful. I immediately hooked on the catchy story with the endearing Alice and Rose characters. Look forward to reading the other books in this series that deserves to be translated to have more readers.

Book: Scarborough Fair
Author: Margarita Morris
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and Margarita Morris for providing me with this galley.

I will admit that I was drawn to this book more so than the summary. I am not going to lie. That doesn’t mean that the summary didn’t get my attention, but look at the cover. It’s so pretty! I guess that this is one of the cases that the cover really sold the book.

This book is told from two time frames, I guess. Alice is from the Victorian era and Rose is from, well, now. Both girls are pulled together by mystery. Alice disappeared and no one knows really what happened to her. Rose, her maid’s great-great daughter, finds letters and starts to read them. She quickly discovers that everything is not what is seems.


I thought that the characters were actually pretty well put together. I really enjoyed Alice, Mary, and Rose. However, I didn’t really understand the propose for some of them, such as Kitty. I just didn’t see what she really had to add to the story. They also were not as complex and as well developed as those who are in books that I give a five start rating to. We do have a huge cast of characters and, like I just got done saying, I am not sure that a lot of them really add anything to the overall plot. I mean, I did know who everyone was, but it was hard to juggle when I first started out reading the book.

The world building was excellent. Margarita really comes alive with this. She does an amazing job of portraying Scarborough as this really homely, magical small English town. Like other small towns, we have our dark secrets. I know it sounds really clichéd and it probably is, but there was just something about it that really pulled me in.

Margarita’s writing was beautiful. She knew when to have a lighter mood and when to have kind of a darker one. The ability to write rather gentler and action scenes with such ease really appealed to me. She also really played with the senses, which only made the book come more alive for me.

Overall, this was a pretty entertaining book, with a few issues. However, I do think that it is still worth your time to pick this up and read it.

(Review is already on Goodreads)

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
The cover and title is what originally drew me to this book.
This was my first book by this author, It was okay. It was slow paced but it was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
3.5 star rating!

Sypgnosis below
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

1899: Alice isn’t mad. So why has she been put away in a Victorian lunatic asylum without any hope of escape?

2016: Rose is excited when Dan asks her to go to the fair with him. But an encounter with some dangerous men leads them to an abandoned lunatic asylum with dark secrets of its own.

Visiting Scarborough over a century apart, Alice and Rose’s stories are nevertheless connected in mysterious ways.

Scarborough Fair is the first in a thrilling historical trilogy. Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

To be honest with you I can't remember the last time I've read a ya book besides this one. I know a lot of adults do but I'm not one of them. With that being said, I enjoyed this, actually a lot more than I thought I would considering I've never read this author either. This is a time slip book taking place in 1899 and 2016. Turns out the girl in the 2016 parts of the story is related to a character in the 1899 parts of the story. In 1899 Alice is put in a lunatic asylum by her intended with no hope of escape under false information just so he can get his hands on her inheritance she gets when she turns 21.
In 2016 Rose comes with her mother to Scarborough to visit her firecracker of a granny who is slowing down but doesn't want to admit it even after a fall. Rose meets Dan in Scarborough and sparks fly for this teenage couple. Can this modern day sleuthing couple solve this suspenseful historical mystery?
This book was fun and kept me guessing. I really hope I get a chance to read the other two books in his trilogy.
Pub Date 20 Mar 2018
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Margarita Morris through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Highly enjoyable mixture of gothic victorian and modern day mystery very cleverly entwined. Perfect pace. This impressive story grabbed me from the start and kept me entertained all the way.

Thank you Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours

received an ARC of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. I enjoyed it and kept guessing , a must read.

Upon taking a vacation with her mother, Rose meets a boy named Dan. Together they end up fighting for their lives at Scarborough Fair when Dan’s father ends up the focus of two shady criminals. Through a course of events, Rose’ adventure soon ties into Alice’s disappearance from 1899. Alice’s jealous fiancé found a way to make her vanish from Scarborough and leave everyone mystified.

Margarita Morris created a fun atmosphere in Scarborough Fair. From arcades to the beautiful seaside to an insane asylum, this book depicts a lovely scene. The characters are even easy to like and follow their story. I’ll even say the two story lines tied in to each other quite seamlessly.

That being said, the writing is amateur at best and was lacking a certain voice to make the story line flow along. While this story may be fit for a younger crowd who could over look the writing errors, it wasn’t the right fit for me. As a lover of asylums, fairs and carnivals, I was hoping for so much more from this book.

I was offered a digital copy of Scarborough fair in exchange for a fair review. These opinions are my own and no way influenced by the author, publisher, or anyone affiliated with this book.