Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

27 reviews

thefragranthand's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was just what I hoped it would be. I wonder how long I have to wait for the next one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Excrement, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Trafficking and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Cancer, Blood, Suicide, Torture, and Gaslighting

lorialdenholuta's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 I noticed other reviewers expected a lighthearted romp, based on the book’s cover. This is a fine lesson in NOT judging a book by its cover. Our Ill-Mannered Ladies, while quite prim and proper in appearance, are anything but. In the Regency Era, women were treated as less important than men. If the trio of adventures in this book are based in some truth, women were treated horribly, often to the point of torture and even death.

The stories are dark, revealing the worst aspects of Regency men’s behavior. But, this is balanced a little by the inclusion of a good man with a sympathetic heart, who believes in the value of women. You won’t recognize this at first, as he’s a character that’s not fully revealed at our first meeting. This was one of my favorite aspects of the book. the slow revelation of a truly good and worthy man.

But back to our Ill-Mannered Ladies. 42-year-old twin sisters Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook are close enough to share ‘twin language’, with the ability to exchange entire sentences via a meaningful look. They are also financially independent and quite capable of looking after themselves.

Together, they fight crime!

Okay, that was flippant, but really, they do. Specifically, crimes against helpless women committed by men who believe their gender makes it all right to do so. This book follows their exploits during three adventures. Each deals with different situations featuring ladies in distress, though I found the sister’s cunning plans to be very similar in each story. This didn’t detract from my interest in the stories, it was just something I noticed.

I mentioned earlier that these stories are a bit dark. They need to be in order for the women’s plights to be meaningful. I must caution though, the final story is *very* dark, and to my mind goes completely overboard with the use of a certain substance that all humans produce but are usually not compelled to wallow in. My goodness. The digging of a short trench and a daily bucket of water would have solved the problem right away. But the author clearly felt the need of some shock value to underscore the horrors of the situation.

That aside, I was quite absorbed by the lives and adventures of the two sisters, and all the women who benefitted from them. Also, I’m a big fan of the Victorian era but my knowledge of the Regency era has lots of gaps. In particular, I liked learning about sealing wafers. I knew about sealing wax, but wafers were new to me, and now I love them. So practical! Go google them and see for yourself. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Confinement, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

lea's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The trigger warnings are no joke. I have barely ever been triggered by a book but this was hard to get through at times. 

It's insta love too and the ending was kinda unsatisfying. 

For how hard it is to read, I am still giving it 3 stars because it felt honest in those parts. 

Edit: nah the more I think about it the less I like it. Lowering. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Child abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Murder

killerwhaletank's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was exceptional! From the cover it looks like it should be in the romance section, but it definitely does not belong there, even though there is romance in the book.

The story covers three “cases” that sisters Augusta and Julia partake in, each one with some dark themes of abuse and mistreatment of women and children. Essentially it’s like three novellas tied together with overarching main story. It starts with the sisters retrieving a letter for a friend, which sets them on a path of what Augusta feels is true usefulness… helping those women that have no one else. Along the way they enlist the aid of their butler Weatherly, Lord Evan Belford (former nobleman turned highwayman) and others. They’re a Regency sort of “A-Team”.

The characters are fantastic. Rich, well-developed… particularly Augusta who is the one we follow (told from her perspective). They are realistic, compassionate women… and unlike in a romance novel, their reactions and the restrictions, particularly for two spinster women, is very darkly realistic.

The book is satisfying in its resolution, but has left a lot of stories unfinished (Augusta’s relationship with her brother Duffy, Lord Evan’s future, Mr. Kent and Julia, etc.). I hope that this means there is another book in the works. I would love to read more about these wonderful and amazing women.

This book is what Sarah Maclean’s Hell’s Belles SHOULD have been… if it had been more realistic, and the writing is fantastic.

Read the afterward by the author as well, it’s very, very interesting.

Such a great read, I was completely blown away by the quality of this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Bullying, Trafficking, and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape, Racism, and Homophobia

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Gun violence, Classism, Trafficking, Cancer, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Child abuse, Rape, Colonisation, Racism, and Child death

magnetarmadda's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Boy howdy this book did not hold back and did not blunt the edges of the Regency era, but it was very well done. I’m genuinely looking forward to more adventures of Gus and Julia

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Torture, Cancer, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Ableism, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, Child death, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

smiti_nathan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Cancer, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Grief, Classism, Death, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Child death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Torture, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Slavery, Murder, Outing, and Rape

crisania's review

adventurous sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I like how this book focused on the lives of older heroines. All the characters are well developed. My favorite is Gus' character - she's independent, courageous, witty and adventurous.  The book has a strong plot driven by various cases that the twins go to solve along with Lord Evan Belford. The author was able to stay true to the time period while dealing with topics like women's health, sex trafficking, domestic abuse, death, and abuse of power. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Cancer, and Excrement

emilywc's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, and Excrement

sugarloaf's review

4.0

I wasn't in the mood for this book when I started reading it, but by page 50 I'd changed my tune. Of course it is a little eccentric and some of the sensibilities and language is on the modern side, but that's the kind of book this is. 

I didn't entirely click with Augusta as the protagonist, who was just a tad too unlikely and stereotypical for me to suspend my disbelief, but I certainly enjoyed the many side characters in this book, particularly Lord Evan, and I liked the relationship between Julia and Augusta. It was a very good portrayal of two people who are quite different to each other, but their bond and willingness to fight for the other strengthens both of them. 

The plot was good fun. I liked that Augusta and Julia were definitely amateurs and went into things with half formed plans or without having accounted for most scenarios; it was very realistic for their station and added to the hijinks and stakes. It also gets into the dark underbelly of regency England with domestic abuse, child sex trafficking and "madhouses" and the torture within them all examined. It did a good job balancing the horror and gravitas with the humour. 

We are clearly set up for another book and I hope Goodman delivers. Also, side note, this is the same author that wrote Eon and Eona? I don't remember much of them except enjoying them a lot, but they're very different books to this. Goodman clearly has range.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cancer