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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
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:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
05/30/2025 || Earl's Trip #2 - Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday and Narrated by Harry Frost || #ManicPixieDreamEarl #NetGalley #HistoricalFiction
Thank you NetGalley, Jenny Holiday, and Tantor Audio | Tantor Media for making this sneak-peak ALC available!
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.
All of my thoughts are my own~
5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What worked for me:
Jenny Holiday has done it again!
For this second installment of the Earl's Trip series/trilogy? Holiday is focused on (my personal favorite) Effie!
Effie, or Edward Astley, Viscount Featherfinch, is a poet, writer, artist, and over all gentle soul who HAS to be gender non-conforming to a degree (in my opinion). He is also described on page as to be both demisexual and pansexual, although those terms are not exclusively used, their definitions were. Effie has been corresponding with a Miss Julianna "Jules" Evans, a magazine owner and writer, for some time now and if you've read the first book, is the primary subject of a specific topic held by Effie and another character. Miss Evans is either pansexual or bisexual herself, which makes this book officially queer!!! And as a queer person who loves their queer stories, I feel this one was very well done and really spoke to those who are in the closet and/or not sure how to exactly come out. I felt their queerness was handled well and while I am not a historian by any means, I felt Manic Pixie Dream Earl showed how queerness was handled by the different sexes and classes alike.
Manic Pixie Dream Earl felt like the best installment yet, and will probably remain my favorite forever. I really enjoyed getting to know Effie better and really wished the book had spent even more time focusing on Jules, as I truly fell in love with her too! I wanted to know more about her, her magazine, her family life, more and more and more! Although I fully understand these are the Earl's Trip books, and the focus of the story really remains and focuses in on the men, I need Holiday to make some little novellas about the female main and side characters STAT, along with some more detailed happily ever afters for our beloveds? Hint hint wink wink Jenny Holiday!
I digress - I really enjoyed this book a lot. Trauma and emotional health and emotional intelligence being the main focus for this book was the perfect timing for me personally. I really liked how the book explored both sides for both Effie and Jules and how childhood trauma shapes who we grow up into being (for better or for worse) but that is not who and what you have to stay as neither. Exploring childhood trauma and emotional/mental health in this book was a knock out and there was very important messages to be read from this book. I really appreciate Holiday holding this conversation and so artfully wrapping a story with beloved characters around it.
I truly look forward to Simon's book next!
Harry Frost is a very talented narrator and does such a superb job bringing the cast and world of Earl's Trip #2 Manic Pixie Dream Earl to life. Frost is perfect for this series and I hope to hear him again in the next book.
The audio book was crisp and clear and I had no issues with the narration, his voice or how he pronounced words or phrases, and over-all was a delightful listening experience.
I truly loved this installment so much! It took me 8 days to complete, but I probably would have finished it up faster if I did not have, yanno, life obligations and sleep. Silly things in the way of a good read if you asked me! (joking of course)
For this second installment of the Earl's Trip series/trilogy? Holiday is focused on (my personal favorite) Effie!
Effie, or Edward Astley, Viscount Featherfinch, is a poet, writer, artist, and over all gentle soul who HAS to be gender non-conforming to a degree (in my opinion). He is also described on page as to be both demisexual and pansexual, although those terms are not exclusively used, their definitions were. Effie has been corresponding with a Miss Julianna "Jules" Evans, a magazine owner and writer, for some time now and if you've read the first book, is the primary subject of a specific topic held by Effie and another character. Miss Evans is either pansexual or bisexual herself, which makes this book officially queer!!! And as a queer person who loves their queer stories, I feel this one was very well done and really spoke to those who are in the closet and/or not sure how to exactly come out. I felt their queerness was handled well and while I am not a historian by any means, I felt Manic Pixie Dream Earl showed how queerness was handled by the different sexes and classes alike.
Manic Pixie Dream Earl felt like the best installment yet, and will probably remain my favorite forever. I really enjoyed getting to know Effie better and really wished the book had spent even more time focusing on Jules, as I truly fell in love with her too! I wanted to know more about her, her magazine, her family life, more and more and more! Although I fully understand these are the Earl's Trip books, and the focus of the story really remains and focuses in on the men, I need Holiday to make some little novellas about the female main and side characters STAT, along with some more detailed happily ever afters for our beloveds? Hint hint wink wink Jenny Holiday!
I digress - I really enjoyed this book a lot. Trauma and emotional health and emotional intelligence being the main focus for this book was the perfect timing for me personally. I really liked how the book explored both sides for both Effie and Jules and how childhood trauma shapes who we grow up into being (for better or for worse) but that is not who and what you have to stay as neither. Exploring childhood trauma and emotional/mental health in this book was a knock out and there was very important messages to be read from this book. I really appreciate Holiday holding this conversation and so artfully wrapping a story with beloved characters around it.
I truly look forward to Simon's book next!
Harry Frost is a very talented narrator and does such a superb job bringing the cast and world of Earl's Trip #2 Manic Pixie Dream Earl to life. Frost is perfect for this series and I hope to hear him again in the next book.
The audio book was crisp and clear and I had no issues with the narration, his voice or how he pronounced words or phrases, and over-all was a delightful listening experience.
I truly loved this installment so much! It took me 8 days to complete, but I probably would have finished it up faster if I did not have, yanno, life obligations and sleep. Silly things in the way of a good read if you asked me! (joking of course)
What did not work for me:
I honestly don't have many issues. My main issue and concern is I feel like I don't know enough about Simon anymore than I did while reading the first
Earl's Trip installment. I love a good surprise and all, but I rather liked the build up of getting to know Effie so well in book 1 then anticipating his book that I feel a little anxious of what to expect for Simon's installment.
My other issue was I felt like the book/story needed to be longer. I needed more information, more backstory on both Julianna and Effie (and of course needed more on all the other characters as well).
I also wanted more of Effie and his family and their interactions and healing to be on page. There is a lot left up to the reader to glean and imagine and I really would have love to see Holiday cover all of those subjects! Maybe one day she will create some novellas or additional content to be read and enjoyed! (Again, hint hint wink wink!)
Overall, these are personal "what did not work for me" tid-bits and are in no way hindering my rating and are personal complaints and desires for more content to be made by Holiday of my now beloved series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Dementia, Death of parent
Appreciate subverting expected tropes, no miscommunications, but lord it was slow. Needed more plot
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Complicated
I loved so much about this book. The story and the characters are so beautifully written. It’s one I know I will come back to. I loved Archie’s story (Earl’s Trip), but this exceeds it. One of my favourites of 2025. 12/10. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️