Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

This was good fun. Witty writing, adventure and lots of things to say about feminism. I liked the exploration of there not being just one way to be a strong woman, and how stern it was about feminists looking down on women who like feminine things. It was just an all-round nice character arc of some very different women learning from each other. I also liked the message about the futility of trying to make yourself good enough and acceptable enough to men to be allowed to follow a traditionally male path through a system designed by men for men, and the necessity to blaze your own trail instead. Also nice to have an ace main character who's relatively unbothered by it all and just wants to get on with exploring the world and becoming a doctor.

One thing that did bug me a bit was that the brother comes in and saves them at the end. For a novel that's been overtly and explicitly feminist, placing massive emphasis on female autonomy, having men swoop in and save them like damsels in distress left a very bitter taste.

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abookandaspotoftea's review

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

1.5

I preface this review by stating that I am not typically driven to write a review in rage, but this book and the author have received so much praise despite being extremely problematic. I appreciate that the author centered an ace (or asexual) lead character. I also understand that this book is a historical fantasy and should be treated with a grain of salt.

Things that I loathe about this book:

the normalization of white feminism
the overt racism and Islamophobia
the colonization fangirling

To @Mackenzi Lee and those who praised this book:

Removing a person's ḥijāb without consent is a gross violation and should NEVER be normalized.
Casually dropping the "N" word is NEVER okay. Also, get it through your daft head: the immediate assumption that black people are thieves and criminals is NOT okay. A half-hearted apology does not make up for this ridiculous shit. Stop using this as a trope.
The idea that it is okay to plunder another nation for its resources is NOT okay. And sit your white feminist ass down with your holier-than-thou attitude that colonizers will use these looted resources to "heal" the world.

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pattyblom's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? Yes

3.5

Interesting story about Felicity in the 1700's trying to become a doctor. Reading this without reading the first book i think i'm missing some background information and therefore some depth in her character. Which is why its a nice read but not very gripping.

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infinitefandomstrash's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

"In the company of women like this—sharp-edged as raw as diamonds but with soft hands and hearts, not strong inspite of anything but powerful because of everything—I feel invincible."

I loved it, your honor <3

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livruther's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

As far as I’m concerned, Mackenzi Lee can do no wrong. I really enjoyed this book. Tbh, my least favorite thing was the plot. Like the dragon thing was so weird??? But I loved the setting, the writing, and the characters. Felicity is such an interesting protagonist and obviously I LOVE monty & percy more than life itself. They are so sweet and the way that they both put their struggling careers on hold just to come find Felicity was the sweetest thing ever. Besides the dragons, there were some other things that bothered me.

1) Felicity’s characterization doesn’t quite match “Getting Lucky” bc in that, she is not at all homophobic, and she very explicitly speaks about sex with Monty, but she seems uncomfortable with the idea of sex in this.
2) She mentions being homophobic bc of the Bible, but she doesn’t mention all the sexism in the Bible. I felt like she should have mentioned that.
3) Felicity honestly didn’t seem as upset as I felt like she should be when she found out that her hero was a POS. He was basically her whole life’s inspiration and she was just like, a little bit mad that he actually sucked.

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ree_the_owlgirl's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-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

4.5

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laurajeangrace's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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onefineelephant's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

9/10. I loved this book. I wasn't aware that Monty and Percy would make an appearance in this one, but I'm glad they did. The exploration of asexuality/aromanticism was really awesome and well done (but I'm not asexual or aromantic so don't just take my word on it). I also really enjoyed the exploration and tensions of female friendship. And I loved how Felicity had to grapple with the notion of feminine + strong women instead of one or the other. Both Johanna and Sim were such fresh characters, I enjoyed them both a lot. Highly recommend.

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