Wondering Sight

Extraordinaries Series, Book 2

By: Melissa McShane

Narrated by: Cat Gould

Sophia Westlake is an extraordinary seer, gifted with the ability to see past, present, and future in dreams and visions. Her talent led to the destruction of the Caribbean pirates plaguing England's shipping and gained her renown and the accolades of her peers. But when she accuses a prominent politician, Lord Endicott, of embezzling from the army, her dream is "proved" false, and she is disgraced, her reputation ruined and her career in the army's War Office over. Humiliated, Sophia returns to London, but Lord Endicott follows her, intent on making her life increasingly miserable.

Furious and desperate, Sophia takes the only course left to her: She sets out to discover Lord Endicott's criminal enterprises, to expose him and bring him to justice. Sophia's allies are few but loyal. Cecy, her best friend, supports Sophia in her quest while her cousin Lady Daphne is always ready for a challenge that will strike at Lord Endicott's heart. And always watching her is the mysterious Mr. Rutledge. But as Sophia delves deeper into prophetic dreams, Cecy and Daphne begin to fear for Sophia's health and sanity.

Furious and desperate, Sophia takes the only course left to her: She sets out to discover Lord Endicott's criminal enterprises, to expose him and bring him to justice. Sophia's allies are few but loyal. Cecy, her best friend, supports Sophia in her quest while her cousin Lady Daphne is always ready for a challenge that will strike at Lord Endicott's heart. And always watching her is the mysterious Mr. Rutledge. But as Sophia delves deeper into prophetic dreams, Cecy and Daphne begin to fear for Sophia's health and sanity.

©2017 Melissa McShane (P)2017 Tantor

My kind of book

I really liked this book, and also bought the first in the Extraordinaries series, will be listening to more from this author #Audible1

Not as good as the first.

I got this book because I listened to the first book as part of my "guilty pleasure/light/beach reading" category and was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately this book is not nearly as interesting as the first. I found the backdrop of London high-society in this altered history extremely boring. Also, while I empathized with the main character's feelings of anger and betrayal over a career ruined through no real fault of her own I found myself getting really annoyed with her more often than not-- though admittedly less so towards the end. I didn't really get hooked until around 2/3 of the way through, and only lightly at that. The narrator was great. Honestly though after listening to the first book this one was rather dull.

Really Enjoying This Series

I am greatly enjoying the Extraordinaries series for its strong female characters who use their intelligence and patience to solve the problems they are presented. McShane has done an excellent job of giving us stories that are thoroughly researched and with 'magic' systems fully explained and explored. The plot is nuanced, the characters rich, and the concept especially fascinating. The series is satisfying on so many levels.

Wondering Sight gives us a very different character and situation than in Burning Bright. Where the first book was an action/adventure on the high seas, Wondering Sight is a psychological thriller set in the noble estates of Regency England. The characters from the first book are referenced but do not make an appearance, though a recurring character in this book will be the heroine of book 3.

Each of the Extraordinary talents are given excellent thought as to how they should work as well as the important limitations so they are not all-powerful. With Wondering Sight, we have a seer as the main character, though she works with a bounder and shaper. Smartly, having extraordinary talents gives the women a bit more freedom/leeway than was historically possible in the milieu yet they are also confined in many ways. McShane does an excellent job of making it work.

In the first book, we learned quite a bit about the pirates and military of the era. With this book, we go deep into banking and counterfeiting as well as the haute ton. In book three, we visit the British Raj and the effects of colonization in India. Each of the topics is very well researched yet also without annoying info dumps - McShane seamlessly integrates her research with the story and never trumps one for the other.

But there is one elephant in the room with this second novel and that is the character of Sophia, our heroine. We get a nicely different person from Elinor in the first novel but Sophia can be very hard to like. She is stubborn to the point of detriment and her very strong willed personality can be frustrating. She's very unlikable as a result and I think readers may be put off a bit by her obtuse stubborness. Too much emphasis was on the cat and mouse game and how she was so obsessed with petty revenge/insult to her pride that she would physically injure herself and even those around her. As well, the romance felt forced since she was so difficult a person to really like.

But even with the above reservation, I still enjoyed Wondering Sight. I just wish the cover was better - it doesn't look Regency at all and didn't feel reflective of the Sophia character or the story's essence. I listened to the Audible version of the book and the narrator did an ok job - she wasn't distracting from the story but I didn't connect with her voice acting.

Romance with substance

This is a beautifully written story that, except for some world building, could be read as a stand-alone novel. Though I completely recommend getting the full trilogy.
Unlike most romance books these days, this one has twists and turns you can't easily predict. And the romance blooms over the course of the story.

If you are looking for a romance with instant attraction, hot looks and sizzling sex- this is not for you.
But if you are looking for a unique world to capture your imagination and a love that reads like the real thing... This book/series/author is for you!

great book

I love books set in Old England and the art author remains true to the time. And the characters in that era. I like the twist of the main character having a gift of sight and the interpretation of Dreams. the book was well written and catch your interest.

Interesting if you like fantasy.

I usually don’t listen to fantasy so I am not aware of the various types of talents these characters have: Seers, dreamers, bouncers, etc. once I got the hang of what the characters could do the story became enjoyable but I spent a long time trying to acclimate. Also, I felt the book could have been a bit shorter. I got tired of the villain getting a pass on his villainy to only come back to terrorize everyone again. The narrator was very good.

Enjoyed but first book was better

I love listening to Cat Goulds narration, but the story lost my attention quite a few times. Still very good though, highly recommend.

Difficult to connect with the Heroine. I found myself rooting for the villian.

I intensely disliked the heroine. She was self absorbed, thoughtless, little self reflection, stubborn, prideful, etc. It was difficult to imagine that she had any friends or acquaintances who would actually put up with her, let alone seek her out. The first book was so much fun and if it wasn't for that, I would have stopped listening to this one and chucked the book as a bit of bad business. I have high hopes for book #3.