{"id":16465,"date":"2026-02-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=16465"},"modified":"2026-02-19T08:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:09:35","slug":"review-the-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-the-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Review – The Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Portrait<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Emilia Kelly<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"book<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Genres:<\/strong> Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance
Release Date:<\/strong> September 13, 2022
Pages:<\/strong> 308
Get from:<\/strong> Library<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Barnes & Noble<\/a> | Kobo<\/a>
My Rating: \u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every work of art tells a story. <\/em><\/strong>And every story has its secrets.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

London, 1850. Iris Sheffield has plenty of people to worry about in her life: Hope, the ailing younger sister for whom Iris feels responsible. Winston, Iris’s fianc\u00e9, who is consumed with his work. And James, the handsome but arrogant artist painting Iris\u2019s portrait, with whom she is forced to spend countless, awkward hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when Iris finds the diary and photograph of a mysterious young woman, she can\u2019t stop wondering who the woman is and what has become of her. The more questions Iris asks, the more she suspects someone does not want her to discover the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exploring themes of sisterly bonds, familial obligations, and the lengths we go to for those we love, The Portrait<\/em> illustrates the surprising and frightening ways a work of art can tell a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: This review is based on an eBook I purchased from Amazon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my mind, one of the most important aspects of mysteries \u2014 and especially thrillers \u2014 is the way the story urges you to learn the conclusion. Unfortunately, as I continued reading The Portrait<\/em>, I found I didn\u2019t care what the conclusion was. Had I read this story expecting a general \u201chistorical fiction\u201d book, it might have been more appealing to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think The Portrait<\/em> would be better served getting re-categorized as a historical romance. The slow-build, almost enemies-to-lovers romance between Iris and Mr. James could easily be marketed as the main storyline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few story threads that don\u2019t make sense or are left hanging at the end. For example, Mrs. Carmichael\u2019s cat is called out enough times that you expect it to ultimately have a large role, only for it to be completely forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Carmichael herself is set up as this foreboding character who controls her son, only for us to find out she play no part in anything. I can only assume she was meant to be a red herring, but the \u201cmystery\u201d was so slow-moving and inconsequential to the main characters that it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also need to acknowledge that I needed to read The Portrait<\/em> as an alternate universe story. While I\u2019m not as cognizant of Victorian mores as I am of Regency ones, there are still many instances of happenings that would cause massive scandal in the Victorian era. These are completely ignored in the story or treated as no big deal. It was easy to forget that The Portrait<\/em> was set so long ago as much of it felt modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t notice any spelling or grammar errors; the book was, technically, well-written. But, I never felt \u201csomeone [did] not want her to discover the answers.\u201d At best, people are evasive in their responses. You don\u2019t get any sense of danger until the end, which then seems out-of-place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this wasn\u2019t, technically, a bad book, it definitely wasn\u2019t for me. It also did not \u2014 in my opinion \u2014 live up to its description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Notable Quote<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 22: How meaningful would your beloved letters be if, instead of written by the hand you love, they were made by some impersonal instrument?… Show me a man who goes out of his way to have a woman captured in paint, and I\u2019ll show you a man who\u2019s serious about the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emilia Kelly holds an M.A. in Art History from Brigham Young University. She loves reading with her children, taking walks with her husband, and visiting small towns in New England. The Portrait is her first novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author links: Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Amazon Author Page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Have you read The Portrait<\/em>? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. Make sure to subscribe to my blog<\/a> or follow me on Instagram<\/a> so you don\u2019t miss any posts. I generally post at least once a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI found I didn\u2019t care what the conclusion was.\u201d Check out my review of *The Portrait* by Emilia Kelly.<\/p>\n

Keep ReadingReview – The Portrait<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[93,105,71,39,156,139,138,467],"class_list":["post-16465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-blogger","tag-2-star","tag-adult","tag-book-review","tag-books","tag-historical-fiction","tag-mystery","tag-romance","tag-spoiler-free","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/BookReviewGeneric-IGSm.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-4hz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16453,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-queens-crime\/","url_meta":{"origin":16465,"position":0},"title":"Review – The Queens of Crime","author":"Rachel","date":"April 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cI think [it] is an excellent addition to the mystery genre.\u201d Check out my review of *The Queens of Crime* by Marie Benedict.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Book Cover - The Queens of Crime","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/theQueensOfCrime.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2426,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-stalking-jack\/","url_meta":{"origin":16465,"position":1},"title":"Review – Stalking Jack the Ripper","author":"Rachel","date":"December 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my review of Stalking Jack the Ripper, first book of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stalking Jack the Ripper","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/StalkingJacktheRipper-231x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2459,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-hunting-dracula\/","url_meta":{"origin":16465,"position":2},"title":"Review – Hunting Prince Dracula","author":"Rachel","date":"December 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my review of Hunting Prince Dracula, second book of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hunting Prince Dracula","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/HuntingPrinceDracula-231x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3904,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-short-period-exquisite-felicity\/","url_meta":{"origin":16465,"position":3},"title":"Review – A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity","author":"Rachel","date":"February 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Read my review for *A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity* by Amy D'Orazio.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Blogger"","block_context":{"text":"Book Blogger","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/book-blogger\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/asepof.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1995,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/review-lord-millcroft\/","url_meta":{"origin":16465,"position":4},"title":"Review – The Mysterious Lord Millcroft","author":"Rachel","date":"August 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out my review of The Mysterious Lord Millcroft, first book of The King's Elite series by Virginia Heath. 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