A Little Knowledge is the fourth book in Emma Newman‘s Split Worlds series and therefore this review may contains spoilers for the previous books.

There’s a pamphlet circulating the fae court teaching the ladies of society certain things about their bodies, a pamphlet the men consider scandalous. These are things women should learn from their husbands. Now that Will is Duke of Londinium, Cathy is using her new position for change, but no one else seems to agree with her, not even her loving husband.

A key premise of the later books is the oppression of women in the Nether and Cathy’s fight to bring them feminism. There’s loads of fantastic threads but Cathy’s unending desire to fix society is forefront in A Little Knowledge.

It’s breaking the rule you all defend the most: that men are more valuable than women.

I am getting into Sam’s story a lot more. He is now Lord Iron and in charge of a massive, unethical, corporation which he very much wants to change. He’s getting as much resistance as Cathy in his desire for change. The Elemental Court is full of people who care more about money than caring for the environment, but maybe there’s more to it than meets the eye.

I wish more time was given to Max and the Gargoyle. It’s starting to come across that maybe what was done to Max wasn’t right and there’s something intrinsically wrong with removing a soul to make an arbiter. The Gargoyle’s been starting to act a bit oddly, with a lot of interest in Max’s past.

Don’t look so scared! It’s only a lump of stone with a soul trapped inside it, animated by arcane means.

One thing I’ve found with this series is that each instalment takes a long time to get going. I get to a point where it suddenly becomes amazing but then it’s over all too soon. It has been a while since the last book was published but if you were reading the series back to back there would be a lot of re-treading of old ground.

Cathy’s plans for social change are not moving quickly, in fact at times they seem to be going backwards. She doesn’t want to do things by halves but often she’s in a situation where a compromise would be the best option. Compromise doesn’t seem to be in her vocabulary though. Previously Will had come across as supportive of Cathy but he’s starting to see how Cathy’s beliefs are making things awkward for him. I think he genuinely cares for Cathy but their wellbeing is more important to him than the rest of the female fae.

I love this series but I am getting to the point where I crave some sort of conclusions. Some of the threads appear to have gone full circle and sometimes I feel as frustrated as Cathy. I’m looking forward to some closure in the next book.

A Little Knowledge is published by Diversion Books and is available now in paperback and ebook editions. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review via NetGalley.

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.