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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
While Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater was a fun and easy story with some dark bits, it didn't grab me just as well as Half a Soul or Small Miracles did.
Maybe it's because this book is more about pursuing romance / marriage, instead of finding it kinda accidentally along the roadside, and me not being a romance fan. Maybe it was the different tone, but I found it less charming and more ... I don't even know how to phrase it.
Half a Soul has the horrible treatment in workhouses, dying kids and all, it made you think about those things and reflect on the past, it did smoothly got into the story as well though.
In this book we get the horrible way servants were treated and worked to death, but it somehow felt a bit more telling than showing in a way? Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing the perspective from the other side of the pretty regency houses. So it wasn't the inclusion of the topic at all, rather the way it written? Or as I said just the more romancy side of the story that didn't mash as well with it. So it might be purely my personal taste than anything wrong with the book.
Now this Al sounds so much more negative than I meant it to be. It is still a fun book with an adorably weird Fae and loveable side characters. I don't in any way regret reading it, and still happily give it four out of five stars! It's just not the same "10 stars aren't even enough" level of the two previous books I read by the author.
Maybe it's because this book is more about pursuing romance / marriage, instead of finding it kinda accidentally along the roadside, and me not being a romance fan. Maybe it was the different tone, but I found it less charming and more ... I don't even know how to phrase it.
Half a Soul has the horrible treatment in workhouses, dying kids and all, it made you think about those things and reflect on the past, it did smoothly got into the story as well though.
In this book we get the horrible way servants were treated and worked to death, but it somehow felt a bit more telling than showing in a way? Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing the perspective from the other side of the pretty regency houses. So it wasn't the inclusion of the topic at all, rather the way it written? Or as I said just the more romancy side of the story that didn't mash as well with it. So it might be purely my personal taste than anything wrong with the book.
Now this Al sounds so much more negative than I meant it to be. It is still a fun book with an adorably weird Fae and loveable side characters. I don't in any way regret reading it, and still happily give it four out of five stars! It's just not the same "10 stars aren't even enough" level of the two previous books I read by the author.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Super cute!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
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:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's a little slow but is charming and by half way Effie's and Blackthorn's plans to get Benedict to fall in love with her are imploding. Blackthorn was a whimsical Fae side character in the first book and here he gets to shine.
So Effie is a maid and Ben is the Lord's younger brother. She fancies herself in love with him after he pays her a wee bit of notice before he realized she was actually a maid and not a lady.
The story revolves around class prejudices in English society which were much more extreme a couple hundred years ago. I'm not usually drawn to romances about smashing class glass ceilings, because for me, they are usually too political for romance. Yet somehow this story remains sweet and light even when the lord and lady of the house are being complete d*ck heads.
And magic being used to solve problems is never as straight forward as you would expect it to be. 2+2=4 is never how magic adds up.
And I quite enjoyed that unpredictability.
Effie does win her love but... (sorry no spoilers)
And the ending was so lovely and romantic, that I forgave the slow first half of the story. I ended the book with a smile and a happy sigh.
Safety is fine.
So Effie is a maid and Ben is the Lord's younger brother. She fancies herself in love with him after he pays her a wee bit of notice before he realized she was actually a maid and not a lady.
The story revolves around class prejudices in English society which were much more extreme a couple hundred years ago. I'm not usually drawn to romances about smashing class glass ceilings, because for me, they are usually too political for romance. Yet somehow this story remains sweet and light even when the lord and lady of the house are being complete d*ck heads.
And magic being used to solve problems is never as straight forward as you would expect it to be. 2+2=4 is never how magic adds up.
And I quite enjoyed that unpredictability.
Effie does win her love but... (sorry no spoilers)
And the ending was so lovely and romantic, that I forgave the slow first half of the story. I ended the book with a smile and a happy sigh.
Safety is fine.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
adventurous
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
There are some heavy parallels to Howls Moving Castle here.
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Justice for the maids.