Ashley's Reviews > Miss Benson's Beetle

I read this because Paula loved it, and we traded book recs (I had her read Thursday Murder Club). I really liked this book a lot. It does the main thing I want from my books, and that's get me emotionally involved. It wasn't perfect for me, though, mainly because of the ending (see spoilers below). But this is definitely worth reading, and if you like historical fiction centering female friendship, you will probably like this a lot.

I will say, don't trust the blurb, it gives expectations the book isn't interested in fulfilling. I was reading the book a certain way the whole time, largely because of the blurb, and was thus very angry and surprised by how things turned out*. No expectations are best!

*Seriously do not click this spoiler tag unless you want to be spoiled all to hell. (view spoiler)[This is the kind of book that will kill a main character just as they have achieved happiness, and it made me furious. I was reading this book as a wacky ode to female friendship in a time of trauma and hardship, plus science! And buddy comedy shenanigans. There are elements of all of those things, but as Paula pointed out to me, Enid is not a co-protagonist or there to just be friends with Margery, the MC. She is a co-antagonist, working in parallel to her opposite, the POW with PTSD who is stalking them. This sort of reframed the whole book for me.

I did not appreciate being fooled into thinking this was one type of story, when it was another altogether, hence the four stars instead of five. (hide spoiler)]

I do recommend checking out this hidden gem. I'd never even heard of it before Paula told me to read it because she loved it so much.