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mixtercharlie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.5
This was a wonderful and fun engaging story. I laughed and tensed for the characters and loved that we got an omniscient view of the characters. Was hoping to read more of this author and now I definitely will!
juniperbranches's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you take Shakespeare’s 12th night, The importance of being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, and shake it up with a Victorian steampunk setting, and you get All men of genius. Violet is an extremely bright young scientist determined to go to the best mechanical and scientific school in London, Illyria. The only problem is that only male students are accepted. Violet quickly devises a plot to switch places with her twin brother, Ashton, to get the education she craves. Hijinks and tomfoolery ensue. This was great! The 12th night is a classic for a reason, and the author breathes new life into it. It was a fun little YA palate cleanser and I adored it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Racism, Classism, Violence, Sexism, Medical content, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting
shanellewrites's review
4.0
The last quarter was fantastic. Absolutely hilarious. I could barely keep from guffawing as I was reading it in the library and other public places.
I was very disappointed with the first 3/4, to be frank. It isn't written very well, and I found it a bit tedious. I also intensely disliked how the author switches from viewpoint to another in the same scene without even a paragraph break or marker to help the reader know the view has changed. I have no problem reading from different perspectives, but they should not be blended together like that. It only makes for confusion. Also, I know this is not the fault of the author's, but the copy editing was extremely poor (something I've noticed with many Tor books).
HOWEVER, I ended up enjoying this book tremendously. The characters are so fun, and there were just so many moments I could not help but laugh at the situations our protagonist finds herself in. (Awkward moment with the Duke? AWESOME!) Oh. My. Loved it. A plot like this involving cross dressing has the potential to be highly overdone and end up not being funny at all, but Rosen executed it beautifully. It was not overdone or overly mined to shove humor down the reader's throat. It was genuinely and effortlessly put together in a way that the humor appears almost accidental. (In other words, the author is not forcing it.) Just awesome.
I was very disappointed with the first 3/4, to be frank. It isn't written very well, and I found it a bit tedious. I also intensely disliked how the author switches from viewpoint to another in the same scene without even a paragraph break or marker to help the reader know the view has changed. I have no problem reading from different perspectives, but they should not be blended together like that. It only makes for confusion. Also, I know this is not the fault of the author's, but the copy editing was extremely poor (something I've noticed with many Tor books).
HOWEVER, I ended up enjoying this book tremendously. The characters are so fun, and there were just so many moments I could not help but laugh at the situations our protagonist finds herself in. (Awkward moment with the Duke? AWESOME!) Oh. My. Loved it. A plot like this involving cross dressing has the potential to be highly overdone and end up not being funny at all, but Rosen executed it beautifully. It was not overdone or overly mined to shove humor down the reader's throat. It was genuinely and effortlessly put together in a way that the humor appears almost accidental. (In other words, the author is not forcing it.) Just awesome.
lisawreading's review
5.0
LOVED this book. A delightful mix of steampunk and Shakespeare, with action, adventure and romance thrown in as well.
gloame's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this, although I should preface by saying that I listened to the audio book, read by Emily Gray. She's one of my absolute favorite narrators, so it's possible that my opinion was colored slightly by the quality of the audio book.
That being said, I really enjoyed many aspects of this book. Violet was a solid character, as were Cecily, Jack, and Ashton. Themes of sexism were handled well by the author; I was impressed with how the female characters were treated throughout. Nicely done!
There are some first-time-author flaws (bursts of exposition towards the end and clumsy POV changes), but overall it was an enjoyable read/listen.
That being said, I really enjoyed many aspects of this book. Violet was a solid character, as were Cecily, Jack, and Ashton. Themes of sexism were handled well by the author; I was impressed with how the female characters were treated throughout. Nicely done!
There are some first-time-author flaws (bursts of exposition towards the end and clumsy POV changes), but overall it was an enjoyable read/listen.
sierraseawitch's review
3.0
A fantastic idea with less than stellar execution. The story is what keeps this review from being 2 stars, because despite the uneven writing style and structure I just HAD to know what happened next.
geekbrocade's review
2.0
I wanted to give this 3 stars because it ended well (even though it was a bit rushed). However, it took forever to get into the book even though it was the sort of plot I really like. I just wasn't pulled into Violet's story.
vanessa_issa's review
4.0
Reading Challenge 2017 - A Steampunk novel
Foi um dos itens que mais gostei do desafio, pois me levou a uma leitura que normalmente não teria chamado a minha atenção, mas que gostei bastante!
"Steampunk é uma ficção científica ou especulativa, que ficou conhecida no final dos anos 80 e início dos 90. Trata de obras ambientadas no passado, no qual os paradigmas tecnológicos modernos ocorreram mais cedo do que na realidade, mas foram obtidos por meio da ciência já disponível naquela época - como, por exemplo, computadores de madeira e aviões movidos a vapor."
Esse livro também pode ser considerado como uma obra feminista, já que toda a trama gira em torno da luta de Violet para realizar o sonho de estudar na faculdade de Illyria, onde apenas garotos eram aceitos.
Para poder se candidatar, ela finge ser Ashton, seu irmão gêmeo, e assume a identidade dele por completo. Encara o desafio e demonstra ser um ótimo aluno, dedicando-se bastante aos seus projetos e invenções. Enquanto isso, o irmão passa um tempo em Londres, dando total cobertura para que ela possa estudar sem que o pai saiba o que está acontecendo.
No meio disso, há também a discussão sobre a troca de gêneros e como isso é visto pela sociedade. O tempo todo há a preocupação de que alguém poderia descobrir seu segredo e puni-la pelas mentiras.
"Society was not forgiving of trespasses like gender reversal. Society was only forgiving of reversals of fortune, and then only when the rich became poor, because that made excellent gossip. To have the poor become rich was rather distressing, and to have a woman become a man was perverse."
O lado romântico da história é bem interessante também. No caso de Violet, ela não tinha a intenção de trocar sua orientação sexual. Ela apenas se vestia de menino para poder estudar, mas continuava sentindo atração por homens. Jamais pensou que se apaixonaria pelo duque Ernest, que acreditava trocar cartas com Violet e apenas conversar com "Ashton" pela faculdade. E também não podia prever que Cecily - prima do duque, única garota que tinha permissão para frequentar as aulas - também iria se apaixonar por ela, sem nem desconfiar que ela era uma menina, na verdade. Violet só queria estudar e ser uma cientista, nada mais havia sido planejado.
O final, embora possa ser um pouco previsível, me agradou bastante. É um livro longo, com bastante detalhes, mas que flui rapidamente quando você entra no ritmo da história.
Foi um dos itens que mais gostei do desafio, pois me levou a uma leitura que normalmente não teria chamado a minha atenção, mas que gostei bastante!
"Steampunk é uma ficção científica ou especulativa, que ficou conhecida no final dos anos 80 e início dos 90. Trata de obras ambientadas no passado, no qual os paradigmas tecnológicos modernos ocorreram mais cedo do que na realidade, mas foram obtidos por meio da ciência já disponível naquela época - como, por exemplo, computadores de madeira e aviões movidos a vapor."
Esse livro também pode ser considerado como uma obra feminista, já que toda a trama gira em torno da luta de Violet para realizar o sonho de estudar na faculdade de Illyria, onde apenas garotos eram aceitos.
Para poder se candidatar, ela finge ser Ashton, seu irmão gêmeo, e assume a identidade dele por completo. Encara o desafio e demonstra ser um ótimo aluno, dedicando-se bastante aos seus projetos e invenções. Enquanto isso, o irmão passa um tempo em Londres, dando total cobertura para que ela possa estudar sem que o pai saiba o que está acontecendo.
No meio disso, há também a discussão sobre a troca de gêneros e como isso é visto pela sociedade. O tempo todo há a preocupação de que alguém poderia descobrir seu segredo e puni-la pelas mentiras.
"Society was not forgiving of trespasses like gender reversal. Society was only forgiving of reversals of fortune, and then only when the rich became poor, because that made excellent gossip. To have the poor become rich was rather distressing, and to have a woman become a man was perverse."
O lado romântico da história é bem interessante também. No caso de Violet, ela não tinha a intenção de trocar sua orientação sexual. Ela apenas se vestia de menino para poder estudar, mas continuava sentindo atração por homens. Jamais pensou que se apaixonaria pelo duque Ernest, que acreditava trocar cartas com Violet e apenas conversar com "Ashton" pela faculdade. E também não podia prever que Cecily - prima do duque, única garota que tinha permissão para frequentar as aulas - também iria se apaixonar por ela, sem nem desconfiar que ela era uma menina, na verdade. Violet só queria estudar e ser uma cientista, nada mais havia sido planejado.
O final, embora possa ser um pouco previsível, me agradou bastante. É um livro longo, com bastante detalhes, mas que flui rapidamente quando você entra no ritmo da história.
troglodata's review
1.0
I found this to be, unfortunately, incredibly boring and the primary romantic relationship was kind of icky and eyebrow-raising.
mikig's review
2.0
I did finish the book but kept thinking as I read it that the author was trying too hard to get every possible variation of person, gender or issue covered. The characters, even the primaries did not come alive and the writing seemed awkward much of the time. It is good story idea that needed a better writer to make it compelling. I did find myself put off by the casual mutilation of animals in several parts of the story. The whole story felt like a market-driven mish-mash.