I received an ARC of this book from the author. I really thought I would like it, but it was disappointing. I loved the concept because it takes the typical historical romance and turns it on its head. Lady Julia Pembroke is a society spinster (for lack of a better phrase) and Miss Fleur Warburton has come to London with her best friend Jasper to find the man who destroyed her family. Unfortunately, we never really find out what he did to destroy her family. There are hints, but nothing is ever fully explained. Perhaps I would need to read another book int he series to understand, but because this book didn’t tell me, I’m frustrated. There were also several characters mentioned and I felt like ther reader should know who they were, but I didn‘t. I had to laugh when I read Jasper's description of Fleur after being asked if she is his fiance. “I think not. I’d rather wed a sea serpent. I’d rather wed a humpbacked whale. I’d rather wed… I’d rather wed a debutante.” Incidentally, the reason he specifies debutante at the end is because he is gay. Julia and Fleur are on a collision course for one another, both hunting the same villain and both overwhelmingly attracted to each other. The problem is, I never felt an emotional connection to either of them. The love they shared was somewhat superficial and the intimate scenes between them seemed mechanical. Still, the action portions of the plot were compelling and tense and Fleur journey (hero’s journey) was interesting. As Julia is trying to propose to Fleur, Fleur complains about the various physical discomforts associated with love. Her response to the proposal is: “If I am already miserably in love, then it’s only fair that you are as well.” I was fascinated to find that the pastor who was planning to perform the ceremony had done research and found records of other women marrying as far back as 1707. I had never heard of this history, but I looked it up and found it’s true. Amazing. Anyway, I enjoyed the other Fenna Edgewood story I read, but I didn’t connect with these characters on an emotional level. I’m still interested in reading more from this series, and maybe even finding out what exactly happened to Fleur’s family.
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5 stars Read this book! I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I’ve never read anything from this author, but I certainly want to do so again. I cannot pinpoint a single problem with this book. The pacing, the character development and character journeys, the plot, the heroes and villains, and the wisdom are all top-notch. This is a feminist manifesto and a fantasy, a vision for what we wish could be. The three main characters are Jo, Nessa, and Harriett, unlikely friends drawn together by complementary gifts and desires. All are at slightly different stages in life, having experienced similar sex discrimination but having different life experiences. All are strong women determined to make a difference and ensure that justice is served. There are some obvious unspoken references to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, but they only serve to reinforce the themes. They almost serve to display a different POV, but in the end, there’s no valid excuse for their behavior. I think one of my favorite things about this book is the multitude of quotable statements, some of which I feel I simply must share. I’ll end my review with these. “Nothing ages a person like poverty and misery.” “‘Witch’ is the label society slaps on women it can’t understand or control.” “...in case you haven’t noticed, somebody’s always killing women.” “...every recipe is a spell. And all cooks are witches.” “Anyone who needs a reward to be good isn’t good. They just like rewards. Good people do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.” There are a couple that made me laugh: “Do I know you?” Harriet asked, “her head cocked, like a cat contemplating a roach.” “Harriett greeted Chase with all the enthusiasm she would have shown a chin hair.” Nessa makes this observation about the chief of police: “Rocca was in his early fifties, with the robust physique of a triathlete and the personality of a barbell.” Another woman tells Nessa, “You’re the light that holds back the darkness… Women like you have always existed. Without you, the world would be thrown out of balance.” Discussing places where women are not welcomed, so-called ‘boys’ clubs,’ Harriett says, “Of course, we’re allowed…It would be scandalous if we weren’t allowed. So instead, we’re just not invited. Plagued by doubt because of all the failures Jo experienced in her professional life, she has a breakthrough because of Harriett’s words about not being ‘invited,’ at which point she realizes, “Jo had been good enough all along. They’d made her feel like a failure, when the truth was, they just hadn’t wanted her around. There was nothing she could have done.” Nessa, who was widowed when her police officer husband was killed, contemplates the justice system, which “was designed to punish, not protect.” Nessa, Jo, and Harriett, on the other hand, want to protect. This statement is telling: “No one teaches girls how to take care of themselves. We train them to be pretty and kind and polite right before we set them loose in a world filled with wolves. Then we act surprised and horrified when some of them get eaten…those people who wanted girls to be docile and disciplined were often the ones who took advantage of them.” And this statement is profound, and therefore, one of my favorites: “Why do you think women are designed to outlive men? Why do we keep going for thirty years after our bodies can no longer reproduce? Do you think nature meant for those years to be useless? No, of course not. Our lives are designed to have three parts. The first is education. The second, creation. And in part three, we put our experience to use to protect those who are weaker.” This is my other favorite quote: “God may have dictated the Bible, but it was put down on paper by men. And over the years, men have changed things that don’t make them look good. In the original story, Eve was the hero, and this snake was her friend… No animal is ever totally tame… They’re either too lazy to eat you or waiting for just the right moment…The most dangerous beast in Eden was Adam… He was God’s first try at humans, remember? And from the outside, he was magnificent… But there was something wrong with him—the thing that had convinced God to try again. He’d just come off making the animals when he went to work on Adam, and he forgot to change one little thing. Like the animals, Adam was driven by bodily needs. When Adam wanted to rut, all the reason God gave him went right out the window. With animals, sex is natural. What made Adam so dangerous was his desire to dominate…stay far away from those who seem driven by their desires. Don’t be one of the women who think they can feed those men. Those that do meet one of two fates. They either end up getting eaten—or they turn into monsters.” June 30, 2022 2 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. It had some really good reviews and sounded like it would be quite interesting. It was interesting, but it wasn’t very well written. I finished it, only because it wasn’t too long, but I feel like I wasted my time. Perhaps I would enjoy the original writings of Isabella Bird, but I'm inclined to think not. My biggest complaint about the book is the lack of consistency in verb usage. It would switch from past tense to present tense without any apparent explanations. This was jarring every time it happened and left me beyond frustrated. It completely hampered my ability to enjoy the story. There were also so abrupt interruptions in the timeline (moving from one scene to another without clear transitions). The other thing that bothered me, although I can’t really criticize the book for this, was the violence. I admit I can be squeamish, and it bothers me more than most when I read about people or animals being hurt. Descriptions of hunting, Mountain Jim’s encounter with a bear, even the treatment of the horses by the Hawaiians… All of it bothered me. And when I read descriptions of Miss Bird’s travels, I honestly had trouble believing they were not embellished. Some of it was just too fantastical. Believe it or not, this ties into my complaint about violence, because Miss Bird was in so many situations which should have gravely injured her, but she continued to put herself in these situations again and again, with no hesitancy. To me, they were cringe-worth. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t enjoy the book and I don’t feel I gained much from reading it, other than knowing about another feminist from the annals of history who did remarkable things. I don’t know if this book was the best source for that information, but it’s where I learned about it, so I must give it credit for that. I think I would advise anyone interested in the content to look for the original writings of Isabella Lucy Bird. And because I don’t want to leave this review without any compliments for the author, I did enjoy the phrase used to describe prostitutes: ladies of negotiable affections. June 27, 2022 |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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