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lbelow's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
4.5
This is one of my favourite books. The prose seems overly flowery at first until you realize that it isn't how everyone talks/thinks, it's how Delly does. By then, you're well and truly hooked into a rollicking ride filled with romance, mystery, a little light crime, a broken mother-daughter relationship not too far to fix, and a whole cast of strong female characters. This is always a fun read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Child death, and Addiction
Minor: 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
katrinepoetry's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Be prepared to be transported to an alternative world Victorian in style and with a dash of D&D thrown into the mix. The style writing style takes a little time to get used to, but once it is you will love it for its quirks and unique insults!
Meanwhile, the characters are rough, calculated and, most of all, lovable. It got a little bit of danger, a little bit of adventure, and a good dose of arguing. Not to mention a skeleton mouse which makes unpleasant gong sounds!
All in all, a fun fantasy story with twists and turns you'll not see coming.
Meanwhile, the characters are rough, calculated and, most of all, lovable. It got a little bit of danger, a little bit of adventure, and a good dose of arguing. Not to mention a skeleton mouse which makes unpleasant gong sounds!
All in all, a fun fantasy story with twists and turns you'll not see coming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, and Violence
wishbea'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
snickahz's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
This book would have been so much more enjoyable if it didn't have the purity culture stuff. The writing was fun. The story interesting. But the romance was boring and meandering. The main character spends 9/10 beating herself up about the relationship. And her love interest refuses to even kiss without being married.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
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
hinoki's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
I really liked the "voice" of this book, although it took some time getting into.
I liked the world and the magic system. They didn't get to into depth, but for me, that's a good thing.
I wish the other characters (beside the MC) felt more "real." This could have been a great ensemble cast, but none of the other characters really stood out, including the love interest.
I can predict that a lot of other reviewers didn't like this book because of the romance, but I feel like this isn't a /romance/ book. It's more of an adventure book where there is a romance.
I liked the world and the magic system. They didn't get to into depth, but for me, that's a good thing.
I wish the other characters (beside the MC) felt more "real." This could have been a great ensemble cast, but none of the other characters really stood out, including the love interest.
I can predict that a lot of other reviewers didn't like this book because of the romance, but I feel like this isn't a /romance/ book. It's more of an adventure book where there is a romance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Addiction
savvylikethat's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved it. It was endearing and sweet and clever and well written and had intrigue but not the high levels of tension and stress. I loved the way it showed the true lack of difference between the social classes and Winns reframing of what Dell thought made her garbage. I loved the characters and all their quirks. The whole buttons thing was delightful and reminiscent of Pratchett. Loved it 🥰
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
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