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clarabooksit's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, Classism, Death, Violence, Alcoholism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide
rachtmh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wickedly funny and very much a page turner. I barely wanted to put this book down!
The characters are brilliant, the plot is explosive, the representation is great, and the ending is pleasing.
You do need to be able to pay attention whilst reading to make the most of the ‘accent’ and language used in the writing/conversation.
I was pleased how the book turned out for most of the characters and didn’t feel like there were any loop holes or obvious loose threads.
Overall very funny and enjoyable.
The characters are brilliant, the plot is explosive, the representation is great, and the ending is pleasing.
You do need to be able to pay attention whilst reading to make the most of the ‘accent’ and language used in the writing/conversation.
I was pleased how the book turned out for most of the characters and didn’t feel like there were any loop holes or obvious loose threads.
Overall very funny and enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Classism, Grief, Death, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Cursing, Gun violence, and Violence
Representation: Infertility, LGBTQIA+, mental and physical illness.basil_touche's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'll just say right off the bat that I found this book extremely disappointing.
At first I was really into the victorian style of writing and a story involving magical female bodyguards with a sapphic romance on the side. But then the book dropped the bodyguarding aspect less than 100 pages into it and insteadfocuses on the characters starting a drug ring to catch a murderer. The blurb for this focused solely on the bodyguarding aspect and I wouldn't minded the change had it actually turned out to be anything interesting, but it just wasn't. I was expecting some deep governmental conspiracy that links in with the classism that the book features (I will give the book that it handles that well), not a narrative that doesn't really deliver anything.
Around five chapters focused on just the romance andthe building of the drug producing laboratory, it was a repetitive cycle of working on in the lab, luncheon, flirting and resting. It was just so dragged out and unnecessary. All this meant that the ending was extremely rushed and we aren't even given a motive for the antagonist. All the characters are rather one dimensional as well, that by the end of it I didn't care about any of them or if the romance between the protagonist and the rich half-troll clanner worked out in the end.
It's a real shame as I love the idea of a fantasy book set in a victorian setting with the period appropriate writing style but this book just did not fullfill anything for me. Waste of time.
At first I was really into the victorian style of writing and a story involving magical female bodyguards with a sapphic romance on the side. But then the book dropped the bodyguarding aspect less than 100 pages into it and instead
Around five chapters focused on just the romance and
It's a real shame as I love the idea of a fantasy book set in a victorian setting with the period appropriate writing style but this book just did not fullfill anything for me. Waste of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death, Classism, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide and Sexual content
the_lesbrarian's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Suicide, Death, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Grief
Minor: Classism and Animal death
foxwish's review against another edition
The second I put this book down I realised I didn't care about the characters and I had no interest in what happens next in the story.
The chapter titles seem like they're trying to be funny but come across as pretentious. The author's commitment to the very unique narrative voice is impressive, but attempting to understanding Delly and all the made up slang made reading this book a chore. The pacing is dreadful too, which doesn't help.
The classism is done in an interesting way and the queernorm society was intriguing at least.
The chapter titles seem like they're trying to be funny but come across as pretentious. The author's commitment to the very unique narrative voice is impressive, but attempting to understanding Delly and all the made up slang made reading this book a chore. The pacing is dreadful too, which doesn't help.
The classism is done in an interesting way and the queernorm society was intriguing at least.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Classism
lim's review
I wanted to love this but... How could a story with magic, murder plots, and badass queer women be that boring? I went into it expecting a fun (or at least interesting) historical fantasy with a sapphic bodyguard romance, but every page was a struggle to get through. The weird made-up words and old-timey speech the MC used made it unbearable. Around 30%, I realized how much more I had left and just couldn't do it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Gore, Addiction, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
ptaradactyl's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-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
3.5
It was an interesting and fun adventure, although very uneven between the romance and the mystery and action. But the dialect and speaking style was just not my thing. I was very tired of hearing about “gulls” till it was done
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Addiction
cozyscones's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Abandonment, Drug use, Child death, and Addiction
Moderate: Suicide, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Cursing
relin's review
I really enjoyed the characters but struggled with the pacing and writing style around this point where I noticed I was setting it down frequently. Picking it back up again got harder each time, but I had to read the ending to see what happened. I did skip ahead so I could have that conclusion even though I was missing some key parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Addiction, Abandonment, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
There is also attemptednytephoenyx's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have mixed feelings about The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry.
I picked it up because it looked light and funny, and it was amusing, but not so much funny. It’s a book largely written in a fantasy-style slang and takes some adjusting. The first third of the book requires slow, deliberate reading until the reader learns what some of Delly’s slang, the world-specific and magic-specific terminology, and what things are just verbal mannerisms. If I’d been listening to the audiobook, I think this would have gone more smoothly as I could rely on the narrator’s tone for some interpretation in the early parts. As it was, it ended up as more of a slow read than I would have liked, and that put a damper on he whole thing.
Normally I’d complain about the romance in a fantasy book, but I think this one was well balanced. The book’s description was a little different on my edition, and it made clear that Delly was set to get householded (married) to someone wealthy… or at least have a good romp and acquire some expensive gifts she could pawn. I really didn’t think the romance was too much, altogether. Fantasy was the day job, romance was the night job. Really, like most of our normal lives. And Winn was likable enough, not swooning or distracting.
The fantasy elements of this book was fascinatingly constructed. It is equal parts alchemy and magic, a good combination that at times made things seem just slightly fantasy-steampunk. Dialect choices aside (which weren’t bad once I figured them out, but I’m in enough of a slump that it was a chore) I thought the world was pretty good. Even the supporting cast was interesting.
It does feel like there’s more story here, almost as though C.M. Waggoner has a sequel in mind, or at least other stories in this world. The whole plot with a fine lady and assassins mentioned in the book description only takes up a small part of the novel, with the larger story based around vengeance, justice, and busting up a drug ring. It’s all still interesting, just not quite what I expected.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I am on the fence. Some days I liked the book, some days I didn’t. I think when I was able to sit down and read it for longer spurts, it fared better. Story-wise, I recommend it to folks who like books like Just One Damned Thing After Another (which I do!) so I don’t regret picked it up. Just know that it’s a bit more than it appears.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Vomit, Drug use, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Classism