This book kept me on my toes! We don't even find out the true identify of the main character until the last quarter and that penny dropped hard. And the mystery of the witch was later still. It was compulsive reading as there were so many questions to be answered.
Each answer was drip-fed, like water to a dried up well...

“The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.”

An historical mystery with a hint of the supernatural. I loved the atmosphere of Georgian London; the way the author evoked the sights, sounds, and smells of the city (the vivid descriptions sometimes had me cringing)!
Each chapter was from the POV of one of the three main characters. I enjoyed the way this book unfolded - never quite sure what was going to happen next. It didn't entirely answer all questions but I rather like the way it ended.

Stunning. I loved the way Shakespeare ran through this book so effortlessly. In the afterword, the author admits she “ransacked Shakespeare's entire oeuvre with giddy abandon” and it was beautiful. I didn‘t want it to end. And there were tears.

There is so much emotion (positive and negative) between these seven classmates, who were all drawn together (for better or worse) by their love of The Bard. As Oliver states, ”I blame him for all of it”.

“what liars they are, the sky and the water. Still and calm and clear, like everything was fine. It wasn‘t fine, and really, it never would be again”