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bookishreadsandme's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
3.5
Privilege is set in 18th century France and is based around the book publishing industry at that time and censorship. Before a book was allowed to be printed and distributed it had to be given permission by the King to be published. Books that were deemed to be illegal were sold in a kind of black market, and were published outside of France then smuggled back in. If you were caught doing this you would be tortured or even sentenced to death.
To begin with, I found the pacing quite slow and the plot slightly confusing until it finally took off and it began to make more sense and I learnt more about the main characters. I really took to Delphine and I admired her intelligence and strength. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the villainous French censor featured and was chasing after her and Chancery. I would have loved him to have been more involved in the story to build up the tension and unease.
I did find the mystery aspect of the story was a bit weak for me. I don’t know if it was perhaps because I had worked out who the secret author was pretty much from the start. It ended up not being a big shock for me at the reveal.
I found the most fascinating parts were centred around the freedom of speech, illegal book trade and censorship. Especially since I didn’t know much about it until I read this!
I did enjoy Privilege, it’s well written, immersive and it made me think about how and why books are published during the present day. How come people from marginalised backgrounds don’t get their voices heard as much as people with a more privileged background? A highly thought provoking read.
otterlybookish's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
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