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theodorawhitly's review
adventurous
funny
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Death
ehmannky's review
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
What a little treat of a book! I loved the strong voice of the Delly as a narrator. It was such a fun read, and I was delighted that it was a stealth sequel to Unnatural Magic, which I adored. A little meandering at times, but overall a really solid and fun book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
gotem's review
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm sorry, I tried. I love books about ruthless ladies and guides and magic. Unfortunately this books did not meet what the title (or honestly even book description) said.
The most ruthless lady was Winn's landlady. Everyone else was really just mean at best, annoying at worst.
I couldn't make heads or tails of some of the plots and world-building aspects of the book. What is the currency and value of goods? why can 50 gold pieces cover 6 months of rent and a place for your addict mother but also only cover a 2 weeks stay in rehab? And also be an acceptable amount for two weeks' worth of work but also not be a substantial amount of money for most of the hired party members to actually care about? Actually, what is the class system and marriage system here, why does a woman need an all-female group to guard her before her wedding if gay marriage is also well and good here? An actual guide to this world would have been much appreciated.
Lastly, the magic was over, rarely to be brought up again, after the first 40% of the book. And also complicated - are people innately born with magic or not? Do you need training or not? Are glyphs (???) required or not? Why are oaths so arbitrary?
To be completely fair, the first hundred or so pages of this are entertaining and fast-paced. There's murder, attempted murder, magic, badass ladies, and a quirky upper-class marriage etiquette to bring it all together. But then it all dropped rather quickly into what felt more like a daily diary of a novice detective and their various assistants.
After the 5th chapter of "wake up, clean, have tea, have lunch, buy clothes and spend money after establishing how much the MC does NOT want to spend money, eat, go to sleep", I finally conceded defeat and put the book down.
I wanted to like this book. It is campy, makes fun of itself (see page 189 for some adorable meta-humor), and has a clearly complex cast of characters. The realistic approach to drug addiction and poverty helped bring the character's surroundings to life.
But the thought of picking up the book to slough through even one more chapter of grown women playing junior detective slash new drug dealers on the block (which, in my opinion, is where the entire book lost the plot) filled me with dread.
The most ruthless lady was Winn's landlady. Everyone else was really just mean at best, annoying at worst.
I couldn't make heads or tails of some of the plots and world-building aspects of the book. What is the currency and value of goods? why can 50 gold pieces cover 6 months of rent and a place for your addict mother but also only cover a 2 weeks stay in rehab? And also be an acceptable amount for two weeks' worth of work but also not be a substantial amount of money for most of the hired party members to actually care about? Actually, what is the class system and marriage system here, why does a woman need an all-female group to guard her before her wedding if gay marriage is also well and good here? An actual guide to this world would have been much appreciated.
Lastly, the magic was over, rarely to be brought up again, after the first 40% of the book. And also complicated - are people innately born with magic or not? Do you need training or not? Are glyphs (???) required or not? Why are oaths so arbitrary?
To be completely fair, the first hundred or so pages of this are entertaining and fast-paced. There's murder, attempted murder, magic, badass ladies, and a quirky upper-class marriage etiquette to bring it all together. But then it all dropped rather quickly into what felt more like a daily diary of a novice detective and their various assistants.
After the 5th chapter of "wake up, clean, have tea, have lunch, buy clothes and spend money after establishing how much the MC does NOT want to spend money, eat, go to sleep", I finally conceded defeat and put the book down.
I wanted to like this book. It is campy, makes fun of itself (see page 189 for some adorable meta-humor), and has a clearly complex cast of characters. The realistic approach to drug addiction and poverty helped bring the character's surroundings to life.
But the thought of picking up the book to slough through even one more chapter of grown women playing junior detective slash
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Drug abuse
popquizliz's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Drug abuse
mcbenzie's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.25
A delightful tale of class-crossed love, weird magic and convincingly horrible necromancy, all with a great sense of humour, a plot with personal but high stakes that doesn’t rely on the impending end of the world, and a protagonist you’ll love much more than she loves herself.
The style takes a while to get used to and the vernacular while fun probably outstays it’s welcome outside of the dialogue, but it grows on you and by the end I loved even that. Oh, and the undead mouse is genius.
Didn’t realise here was a book before this, but it’s not a sequel, they just share a world, so diving in here is fine. I will definitely be reading Unnatural Magic, though.
The style takes a while to get used to and the vernacular while fun probably outstays it’s welcome outside of the dialogue, but it grows on you and by the end I loved even that. Oh, and the undead mouse is genius.
Didn’t realise here was a book before this, but it’s not a sequel, they just share a world, so diving in here is fine. I will definitely be reading Unnatural Magic, though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death
Minor: Suicide and Animal cruelty
jamestcprince's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Drug abuse
nytephoenyx'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
ellenigrace's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, and Death
_teoeo'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Well, guess this book was okay. The first few chapters I quite liked it, eventually I got a bit bored and started to skim the pages. Also have to say that the english was pretty hard to understand for a non-nativ English speaker. My favorite character was Winn and I also enjoyed reading about Buttons. Also, Delly was an interesting character to read about and I was a fan of the criticism of classisim that was portrayed through the plot and interactions/dialogues. Don't know what to think about the romance plot though, I hoped for a slow burn but it was the total opposite.
All in all it was an okay read.
All in all it was an okay read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Classism
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
rachellyeah's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Blood, Gore, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Classism, Cursing, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, and Alcoholism
Minor: Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, and Kidnapping