fuck it catriona five stars. i’m only slightly biased by the fact this is like, the only catriona representation i had growing up, and even though i’m only just reading it now, knowing it existed was a lot of comfort to a lonely young catriona that was me, during my childhood in cold and uncaring england.

anyway, i do have one sole complaint which is that catriona herself is utterly failed by the book for a good chunk, becoming unbearably naïve in the middle there. the introduction to the canongate edition at least gives a good explanation as to why. and luckily stevenson resets the course by the end, so that she gets a bit sharper, and her innocence becomes more interestingly used for romantic misunderstandings, so the book ends on a high.

otherwise, what fun! what a genre piece. you have the adventure romping of kidnapped, but also political conspiracy, historical romance, legal thriller now mixed in. stevenson is such a compelling writer, and i rate him hugely. i massively liked how much of this is set in edinburgh (and that i generally know scotland better than i did when i read kidnapped), because it’s lovely to see the excitement happen on a field i recognise. david’s whole thing is ‘what if a normal guy had the best, coolest friends imaginable’ and that remains a really fruitful setup: miss grant is an excellent addition to the cast. a small thing, but i also adore how he lapses into dialect the minute he meets anyone who speaks the least bit scots: true, nice, and made me extremely sad about what’s happened to scottish language - great stuff! and loved the last page,

what a great reveal of what this narrative is, what a cute end, what a nice way to know everyone is well.