It’s good to get back to my favorite demon-fighting Victorian power couple. Just last month, I reviewed The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, book 2 in Leanna Renee Hieber’s Magic Most Foul trilogy. After finishing the conclusion of that series, The Double Life of Incorporate Things, I’ve officially read every book that Leanna has published! Of course, now that means I’m stuck anxiously awaiting her next release. But in the meantime, I found Incorporate Things to be a highly satisfying conclusion to a love story I’ve been invested in for a good three years.
After racing around New York City to stop the schemes of hellish necromancers in the last book, Natalie and Jonathon are trying to settle back into their lives as a normal courting couple. But Jonathon is having a hard time being the kind of suitor he should be while balancing unaddressed grief for his home and his family, pretending to be a demon, and immense pressure from Natalie’s father. Meanwhile, the Master’s Society has spread their net wide, unleashing a dangerous powder in New York City that drives people mad, while an even larger danger is growing across the pond. When Jonathon returns to England to confront the demons that have taken over his estate, Natalie refuses to sit this one out. She and her new friend Lavinia must cross an ocean to save the men they love and put the evil Society to rest once and for all.
By relocating the action to England, The Double Life of Incorporate Things gets to dive more deeply into its Gothic roots. Rosecrest, Jonathon’s estate, closely follows the tradition of Gothic settings—an opulent manor house complete with hidden passageways and a few buried family secrets. And, of course, the fact that it’s been recently inhabited by demons and their followers gives the place an even darker feel.
But my favorite thing about this book is the way it sets up a contrast between the two female leads. Leanna Renee Hieber is a master at writing deep and complex female friendships, and Natalie’s relationship with Lavinia is no exception. Though from very different backgrounds, the two women are united by their desire to protect the men they love—in Lavinia’s case, that would be Nathaniel Veil, renowned Gothic actor and Jonathon’s best friend. Natalie and Lavinia also show their love in very different ways. Despite the fact that Natalie knows that Jonathon is the man she wants to spend her life with, her romantic relationship always come second to maintaining her autonomy and personal values, and she’s not afraid to argue with Jonathon or walk away from him when staying would contradict her beliefs. Lavinia, though no pushover, has clearly made Nathaniel the number one priority in her life. She leads his fan club and sticks by his side even without any promise of marriage. She’s the first one to drop everything and come up with a plan to chase him across the ocean, and she’s quick to forgive him when he missteps. Neither approach to relationships is judged or held up as superior to the other, and both Natalie and Lavinia are celebrated for their strengths. And that’s just what I love to see—supportive and complementary women working side by side to show that there’s no one right way to be or one path to choose.
If you want to read The Double Life of Incorporate Things for yourself, you can find it at your local retailer, or buy it online and support The Gothic Library in the process by clicking this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Once you’ve read it, let me know what you think!
And if you’ve finished the series but want to keep reading about the family that Natalie and Jonathon have built, I have good news! Leanna’s next book, The Spectral City, will be the start of a new series about a psychic crime-solver, featuring a few familiar faces. It’s due out in November, and is already available for pre-order.