I found this book very difficult to get through. I felt that it honestly just dragged and did not catch my attention for most of it. This is a mysteryesque historical fiction and it gave a lot of detail into life in the 1860's in america which I truly enjoyed. This is a story of Marion who is trying to figure out what happened with her systems mysteries death of falling off the roof of the asylum she was in. Marion takes it upon herself to try to figure out if it was actually a suicide or if her sister was muirdered. I wanted more from this book, but unfortunately I did not find it engrossing until the last 80 or so pages. I would be interested in reading another book by this author.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc of this book, all opinions expressed here are my own.

After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore is the first book I have read by this author.

Set in the Civil War Era the main character Marion sets out to prove her sister Alice didn’t commit suicide in the asylum, but that she was in fact murdered.

Unfortunately I found the storyline very slow going, a little confusing and felt no connection to any of the characters. While I finished the book, for me personally it was a two star read. Hopefully others will find the writing more enjoyable. After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore is available now.

A dark, suspenseful historical novel.
After Alice Fell is a really enjoyable historical novel set in 1865 America.
I really enjoyed the storyline and how the suspense builds and develops throughout. The “reveal” and change of character narration was a surprise and felt really fitting to the story and characters.
The characters are all well developed and you connect to them in the way you should.
I loved following Marion on her journey to uncover the reason and cause of her sisters death and her backstory Nursing during the Civil War is fascinating. Learning about some of the treatments in the asylum is an added horror to the book too.
My only complaint is I would have liked another chapter or so to find out what happened to the characters after.

I thought this was going to be a fun, creepy historical thriller, and it was — for a bit. A lot of it was just long and dragging and very slow. This book is just a little bit less than 300 pages but it took me way longer to finish it and I even contemplated putting it down. The first hundred pages was like Marion just sending letters to the asylum and thinking that something was very wrong. For a short book I thought that the pacing should have been a lot faster than this. Not much happened at the start and how it all went down with Alice was kind of predictable. Not many of the characters were that memorable for me, but I really enjoyed Marion. I did like the vibes though.

I loved the historical context within the novel and felt so deeply aligned with the protagonist throughout. The first half of the book was fairly slow and I felt there were some unnecessary details. The second half of the novel had me furiously reading to get the answers. In the novel, Blakewell uses Marion to take us down the slow unwinding of a family and the secrets each member may hold. The secrets are confounded with the mental state of each character and have you questioning your own thoughts and ideas.

This book unfortunately fell flat for me. The concept seems promising, but the story line dragged out way to slowly to grip me AT ALL. Too many details, too choppy writing style.

After Alice Fell is about a woman who, while staying with her brother, is trying to figure out what happened to her possibly mentally ill sister, while everyone around her acts like nothing happened. It's a mystery of sorts. The main character is trying to figure out if Alice indeed fell or if there might have been something more nefarious to her death. Her brother and sister-in-law (with whom Alice was living) seem like they are either hiding something, or doing that whole not-talking-about-feelings thing. Or both.



I really loved the prose of this book. It was an easy read, but not a simple read. There was a lot of complexity with emotions and trying to decipher exactly the undertones of what's being said. The characters themselves are also complex and, honestly, there's a lot to unpack with mental illness.



I picked this book on NetGalley not knowing what it really was about. Sometimes you're unlucky with a book and you get a dud. But that wasn't the case here. After Alice Fell is really quire sad and beautiful. I enjoyed it immensely.



4/5 Stars

I ended up DNFing this book at chapter 8. I was expecting an exciting historical thriller but ended up with an extremely boring read. It is an incredibly slow read and by chapter 8 there’s still not much action other than our main character Marion lamenting about how she wasn’t there for her sister and how she may have been able to prevent her death if she had been. By this point I simply didn’t care why poor Alice was dead and whether it had been murder or suicide or whether Marion ever found out what really happened.

I was sadly disappointed with this one. I ended up DNFing the book at chapter 8. I was expecting a historical thriller but ended up with a slow, rather boring story. It is set in the Civil War Era and is about our main character, Marion, who is investigating the death of her sister, Alice, which may be either suicide or murder. So far the only action I've seen is Marion wandering about the old family home feeling guilty she wasn't there for Alice in the end. I just couldn't manage to make myself finish the book as it doesn't seem to have much potential at this point.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The suspicious death of Alice leaves her sister Marion discontent with what she’s being told and not settling for being brushed off. Alice’s death is not making sense, and Marion’s search for answers begins to unravel some dark truths.

After Alice Fell is a slow starter, but is worth sticking with for Blakemore’s good writing. She sets the right tone for this post-Civil War era, a somewhat somber and struggling time in history, and doesn’t revise anything in depicting the behaviors of the time which serves to further the frustrations of Marion.

This would be a great selection for book groups as Blakemore provides discussion topics, and leaves the reader with much to consider after the final page.

After Alice Fell takes place in New Hampshire after the Civil War. The main character, Marion Snow, was a nurse during the war. She lost her husband in the war, but isn’t really that bent out of shape about it. This was a marriage of convenience. She gets called back home when her youngest sister, Alice, has jumped out of the third floor of an insane asylum to her death.

Alice, to most onlookers, seems a bit unhinged. She went mute at 14 after the death of her mother and has some strange OCD tendencies. While staying with her brother Lionel, she claims there are bad spirits in the pond outside the house. Toby is the son of Lionel and his former wife. The reason Alice is sent to the insane asylum is because she holds Toby out the window. He is somewhat like Alice in that he likes to talk to things that aren’t there and believes in the supernatural beings that Alice says haunt the pond.

I found myself becoming bored with the story a third of the way through. It kind of hints at first that it will get into supernatural territory. Marion sees Alice’s ghost early on in the story, and the reader finds out the backstory of Alice and her belief in strange or bad spirits in the pond. Not much comes out of it, and action doesn’t really happen until the end of the book. The book is relatively short, but I found myself slogging through it waiting (and waiting some more) for action and resolution.

2.5/5 I really wanted to like this book. I was intrigued by the mystery of the premise, however, I found this book really slow and hard to stick with. I put it down several times but made myself pick it back up and finish.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to give my honest review of this ARC.

Now this book was such a treat especially given that it was set at a time when little was expected of women. Now, if you were bold, outspoken, assertive then you were frowned upon which is something that Marion, Alice's sister experiences when she starts asking about the factors surrounding her sister's death.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

Alice has fallen from the roof of an insane asylum. How did she get there you ask? Well, this book will tell you. All in a timely fashion. I enjoyed reading this book immensely. It was interesting and thought provoking. At a time when women were merely for decoration, this story shares the downside of women who were different. Whether they were unmarried, studious or merely delicate.
A look into family dynamics.
I was given this book to read and review by the publisher through Netgalley.
I recommend this book. Great read!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I struggled even picking this up and being excited to read it. I wanted to like it so much but it was too slow for being marketed as a “page-turner.”

Kim Taylor Blakemore has crafted a unique Who Done It novel. Marion returns to her families house once the Civil War has ended to find her sister Alice, after being put in an insane asylum, has died. She keeps being told by the doctors, workers, and her brother and sister-in-law that Alice jumped to her death from the top of the building. Marion does not belief that Alice could do that. Marion keeps on searching and not giving up on finding out the truth of what happened to her sister Alice. Twists and turns all the way until the very end.

I loved this book so much! It was the first book I have read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters and their story stick with you long after you finish the book.

Thank You to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I usually enjoy historic novels with a mysterious twist but this one I’m really sorry to say just wasn’t for me and I gave up around chapter 9, I just couldn’t get into it, maybe more to do with my frame of mind at the moment than anything, I wish the author all the best!

This is the first book I've read of Kim Taylor Blakemore's. I was absolutely thrilled with it the entire time I read it. Every chapter left me wanting more. Her attention to historical details was fascinating. The concept of historical fiction and thriller all in one was absolutely perfect!! I plan on reading her prior books and can't wait for the next one.

A combination of two of my favorite genres: historical fiction and mystery/thriller. I had very high hopes for this novel but felt it slightly disjointed at times.

The story is set in New Hampshire, 1865. Marion returns home to collect the body of her sister, Alice, who supposedly fell from a roof at the Asylum she was inhabiting. The whole situation is questionable. Was it an accident? Was it suicide? Or was it murder?

I've read very few books from the civil war era but the historical climate seemed well researched and well executed by Blakemore. Again, my only complaint is the disjointed path this story takes. I was often re-reading passages to make sense of the next scene or make sure i didn't skip a page. The story picked up pace at about 3/4 of the way in... was a fan of the ending but hated the open plot points that weren't addressed.