Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

11 reviews

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. 

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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. 

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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

cursed10fold's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Cancer

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Blood, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Rape, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Death, and Eating disorder

Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Deportation

churrocaitie's review

adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a fun book that felt like an adventure of a lifetime for women in the “Bridgerton” era (aka Regency England). 

It took me a good halfway through before I saw where the book was going but when I got there, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I enjoyed how special each new character was that was introduced, and I loved how unique and dark Alison Goodman wrote the storyline with “history” as a baseline. I’m always a sucker for anything not-modern and I totally got my fix in this, while also enjoying a story that was perfectly adventurous enough for my liking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Infidelity, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

goldseamedglass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Classism, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Torture, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Suicide, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child death, Torture, Gun violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity and Slavery

hdperez13's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Confinement

Moderate: Kidnapping and Rape

wonderreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Rape, Cancer, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Child death, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I loved this book from beginning to end but I confess that if I hadn’t had to read it for a book group, I’d never have picked it because it looks and sounds like it’s a lightweight “cozy mystery,” the last thing I’d normally choose. This has lots of humor and it’s quite entertaining but it’s about as far from cozy as you can get. Vivid descriptions of truly appalling situations abound. 

This is a feminist tirade against the abuse of women in the 18th and 19th Centuries, and nothing about it is gentle. I am not one to cry at books but I had tears in my eyes reading about the conditions at the private insane asylum - women chained half-naked in feces up to their ankles is just one example of the many cruelties and injustices. 

The author has done copious research on the Regency period of England (1811-1820), and it tells in the detail she brings to the story. This would be a good companion to Jane Austen’s books and the somewhat later ones of the Bronte’s. They focused on polite society whereas this book shows a part of England they may not have known existed. 

Unfortunately for me, this book was only just published so I’ll have to wait all too long for the sequel. I know it will be well worth the wait, but still….

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Cancer, Deportation, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Incest

alhalpern's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence