The Voice Upstairs and Roses & Violets

Weymouth, Laura E. The Voice Upstairs
October 3, 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Wilhelmina Price's life revolves around the Summerfield family in Thrush's Green, England not long after World War I. Her grandfather, who is the butler there, is raising her after the deaths of both of her parents. Her mother passed away under horrible circumstances (she drowned), and ever since Wil has been able to see the souls of people who are soon to die leaving their bodies. She's tried to intervene, but it rarely ends well, and when she sees the sould of a housemaid at the Summerfield's house, she doesn't say anything. Wil is also great friends with Edison Summerfield, whose older brother Peter died in the Great War, and whose spirit is haunting the house, destroying the nursery whenever Edison is home from school and forced to live in that wing. Since his sister Kitty is throwing a house party for her birthday, he is once again battling this ghost, and Wil has been unable to contact Peter and convince him to stop. Wil and Ed have always been friends, and know that their relationship would be tricky, Since things are changing for women, Wil has studied all of Ed's school texts, and has even earned money writing papers by mail for his classmates. She hopes to go to college herself, but after the latest death takes a job as a housemaid in order to earn some money and also get a better idea of what is going on. Her grandfather does not approve, but he doesn't approve of housemaids in general. Wil does a good job, and Abigail, who is now the head maid, is glad to have her help. Kitty's party is busy, but Kitty seems to be struggling with something big enough that she even talks to Wil about some things. When Wil sees Edison's spirit leaving his body, she panics, and tells Kitty. Kitty makes a cryptic comment that she will make sure her brother is okay... and then is found thrown from her horse. Clearly, something malevolent is leading to the deaths of all of these women, and Wil and Ed are even more motivated to find out after Kitty's demise. While Wil consults ghosts of the past, some ghosts that are more real surface and lead her to believe that both dark spiritual forces, as well as even darker human forces, are at work. Will she be able to combat them before even more deaths occur?

There's something comforting about an English country house, even if it IS inhabited by murderous ghosts! The cozy nooks, the servants' quarters downstairs, the hidden rooms, and palatial common spaces are something that most readers will never get to experience, so the next best thing is to be able to join Edison in his reading room! 

This had a fair amount of twists and turns, some of which were great surprises, and others which had been strongly suggested all along. We are never quite told why Wil has the ability to see ghosts, but the post WWI setting of this gives plenty of room for the belief in ghosts, as well as for a seance. The reasons for the ghosts are a bit dark, and while there is nothing graphic on the page, and the language is circumspect, the hinted history of sexual abuse and domestic violence might make this more suitable for upper middle grade or young adult readers. 

Readers who like historical novels filled with romance and mystery, like this author's A Treason of Thorns, Harvey's A Breath of Frost, Wallach's Hatchet Girls, or Johnson The Name of the Star series will enjoy the friends-to-lovers romance between Wil and Ed, the murderous ghosts, and the drama of the Upstairs, Downstairs social dynamics of  early 1900s. 

This could have used more period details; this could have been set today and been just as effective if the need for servants could have been spun a bit. There weren't any descriptions of the house, or many of the clothes, and fairly little about Wil's chances before she took a job as a maid. What had she been doing, other than selling papers? This was oddly unclear. 
 

Jensen, Gry Kappel. Roses & Violets

Translated by Sharon E. Rhodes

September 26, 2023 by Arctis

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Kirstine steals a letter from her father's desk, accepting her into Roseholm Academy. Even though she's too old to be in high school, she desperately wants to go, but her parents are very conservative Christians and don't want her to. Victoria also gets a letter, but since her mother is an alumna who works as a wise woman, she has  no problem. Chamomile's mother also attended the school, but Malou comes from a background of poverty and is distrustful of the others. Kirstine meets Jakob on the train to the school and thinks that he is also a student, but it turns out that he is a teacher. The school has a variety of tests that the students must take, and they are very odd. When all four girls pass, they find out that Roseholm is a school for magical arts, from blood magic to spirit magic, with some traditional Danish subjects thrown in. The girls are not supposed to consort with the boys from the school, since romance takes up too much energy, but this doesn't stop them from talking to Vitus and Benjamin, and jealousies are sometimes stirred. At a party on All Hallow's Eve, the girls have a seance after drinking a bit, and they find out about a girl named Trine who was killed back in 1989. Kirstine tries to coax information out of Jakob, and the girls do manage to find a little bit of information, which is crucial since Roseholm seems to be haunted in a particularly dangerous way. When another student, Anne, is attacked over Christmas, the investigation is continued, and comes to a climax during the spring dance in April. Will the classmates be able to solve the mystery before a tragedy occurs?

While this is clearly set in a country that is not the US, the translation is great, and most readers will not notice the difference. The cover is fantastic, and the shiny gold and dark purple will speak to readers who love paranormal romances. 

Told from each of the girls' points of view, we see a little of their backgrounds, and the different situations that brought them to the school. Kirstine's parents have thrown her out, Malou is suffering because the other girls are from more privileged backgrounds, and Victoria has the support of her mother. There's just enough romance to keep teens happy, and lots and lots of magical details. 

There seems to be a new trend in magical academies where the magic is rather dark. Even though the students at Roseholm are forbidden from participating in dark magic, they would be right at home with other magical schools like Aldridge's Deephaven and Alexander's Gallowgate.