Reviews

Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

Only show reviews with written explanations

rice83's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

kelseyydawnn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense 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

5.0

meggie82461's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3 stars...

“Much that I despise,” he said hoarsely, “and all that I desire, meets in you. And it frustrates me beyond reason.”

So, I have very mixed feelings here. I was really looking forward to this one. I didn’t have the problems with #2 that some others did. And honestly, I didn’t have the problems with this one as some others did… but it was just so frickin’ LONG. I liked the story. I liked the ending, to a point. But it could have gotten there so much faster than it did.

The background of these novels is all pretty simple. All the female protagonists in the series are suffragists (to varying degrees). Hattie is probably the least political-leaning so far, but that is because she doesn't have to be. She comes from money and status. The fact that she cares at all is notable. In England, during this time, The Married Woman's Property Act makes women property of their husbands. Since you had to have property to vote, and women WERE property (and thus couldn't own property), they couldn't vote. But repealing the Act was about more than just the vote: what could a woman do if she found herself in an abusive marriage? At it's core, that is what Hattie's story leans into: what becomes of a woman during this time period that was ostensibly just passed from one man (her father) to another (her husband)? There are a lot of ways things could go, even for a privileged lady like Hattie. In some ways, she was even more at risk because of how woefully unprepared she was for the real world.

Sounds intriguing, right? And for awhile, it was. I have seen other reviewers say Hattie was spoiled and yes, she absolutely was. However, she was raised to be exactly that way in a time that wanted her to be ONLY exactly as she was meant to be. And, over the course of the novel, she did display a lot of character growth. Truthfully, I liked her. She was sheltered, spoiled, and entitled, but again, there was never really a chance for her to be any different. And yes, it raises a very important question: why are we punishing women for turning out exactly as they were meant to?

There were some details I appreciated. I very much liked the way Hattie's learning disabilities (dyslexia and ADHD, it sounded like) was presented. As someone with ADHD myself, I would be surprised if the author doesn't have personal experience with the disorder. I also appreciated that female supporting characters like Aoife were multidimensional, as they should be in a book about suffragists. I am even interested in workers' rights and found that part of it interesting, if not a bit tedious at times. But for how long the story felt, it is quite amazing how underdeveloped some plot points were. And what about all the people in the mining communities, that weren't supposed to be just nameless faces? What became of them, since we were supposed to care about them? Another example: Hattie verbalized to Lucian how she fantasized being kidnapped and ravished by a pirate, probably because of the lack of control she had in her own life & because nobody could judge her if she didn't have a choice. That was a very interesting declaration and I would have loved follow-up but nope, none. Then we get to the inevitable 80% conflict, and while this is rarely done to my liking, it really bombed here. Bro just really thought "Eh, I don't feel like explaining myself now, maybe I will later. I am sure nothing unfortunate will happen between now and then."

...

What I will do is give the story credit for subverting the whole "misunderstood the train ticket on the dresser" trope. I appreciated the ending, and found it to be the final proof of Hattie's growth. And I will argue with anyone who thinks Hattie had any chance to be anything other than the spoiled young girl she was. But, the story felt way too long, which makes the lack of closure in some areas even more unforgivable. I wanted to love it, but I definitely did not.