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friends2lovers's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
EDIT: Now that I’ve read Brazen and the Beast, I have to lower my rating. Originally, I assumed bad narration had obscured good writing. But now I think Eyre was doing the best she could with mediocre writing.
I bought this audiobook while it was on sale at Libro.fm a year ago. Since then I've tried to get into it several times and was so bothered by Justine Eyre's narration that I kept giving up. I started it again the weekend before last during a long drive and was finally able to tolerate Eyre when I sped up the audio a bit. I didn’t like her deep voice for the male characters and some of her intonation felt awkward to me. Listening to the audio had a substantial enough effect on my enjoyment of the book that I feel I should mention it upfront. This is only the third romance novel I’ve read in audio; The Perks of Loving a Scoundrel by Jennifer McQuiston was similarly difficult to get into, which makes me wonder if I need to stay away from audio versions of romance. At the very least, in the future I’m going to be much more selective in what I choose to listen to in the genre.
So, about the book - it was pretty good! Setting up the plot and filling in characters’ backstories took up a large chunk of the front half, which meant the pacing was quite slow. Hopefully now that she’s properly introduced the Bareknuckle Bastards the next two books will move faster. In theory, I like the premise of the hero using the heroine in a revenge scheme but then falling in love with her so he can’t follow through with his plan because she'll be hurt. However, I thought Devil’s motivations for exacting revenge were weak and a little confusing. (Devil has a conversation with Ewan early in the book that’s meant to provide some context, but it was difficult to follow since Eyre doesn’t use distinct voices.) Devil and Felicity didn’t have much chemistry, but they had some cute moments. Neither of them are the kind of memorable characters that I will want to revisit.
I listened to an interview with Sarah MacLean on the Heaving Bosoms podcast where she talks about how the idea for this series came about and how it’s different from her earlier work. The gist is that she wanted to depict the lives of the 99% rather than focus so much on the aristocracy. The series is supposed to show the seedier side of London and “is very much about paying homage to the working class.” First of all, none of the main characters are of the working class. The heroine is the daughter of an Earl (or a Marquess?) and the hero is a wealthy crime boss. Devil may have been working class in his past, but now he’s a ‘self-made’ capitalist. Second of all, MacLean depicts a sugar-coated version of gritty London that made me crave other authors. Mainly Kerrigan Byrne, who in my opinion does dark and dangerous much better in her Victorian Rebels series.
2.5 stars. Wicked and the Wallflower was my first Sarah MacLean read and I found it a bit underwhelming. I’m intrigued and curious enough about the other two brothers that I’m planning to read the whole trilogy. I hope to get a better sense of MacLean’s authorial voice and connect with her writing better without the distraction of bad audiobook narration.
STATS
genre: historical romance
setting: Victorian Era, London, England
book length: 431 pages, 117k words
format: Libro.fm audiobook, own
steam: 2
I bought this audiobook while it was on sale at Libro.fm a year ago. Since then I've tried to get into it several times and was so bothered by Justine Eyre's narration that I kept giving up. I started it again the weekend before last during a long drive and was finally able to tolerate Eyre when I sped up the audio a bit. I didn’t like her deep voice for the male characters and some of her intonation felt awkward to me. Listening to the audio had a substantial enough effect on my enjoyment of the book that I feel I should mention it upfront. This is only the third romance novel I’ve read in audio; The Perks of Loving a Scoundrel by Jennifer McQuiston was similarly difficult to get into, which makes me wonder if I need to stay away from audio versions of romance. At the very least, in the future I’m going to be much more selective in what I choose to listen to in the genre.
So, about the book - it was pretty good! Setting up the plot and filling in characters’ backstories took up a large chunk of the front half, which meant the pacing was quite slow. Hopefully now that she’s properly introduced the Bareknuckle Bastards the next two books will move faster. In theory, I like the premise of the hero using the heroine in a revenge scheme but then falling in love with her so he can’t follow through with his plan because she'll be hurt. However, I thought Devil’s motivations for exacting revenge were weak and a little confusing. (Devil has a conversation with Ewan early in the book that’s meant to provide some context, but it was difficult to follow since Eyre doesn’t use distinct voices.) Devil and Felicity didn’t have much chemistry, but they had some cute moments. Neither of them are the kind of memorable characters that I will want to revisit.
I listened to an interview with Sarah MacLean on the Heaving Bosoms podcast where she talks about how the idea for this series came about and how it’s different from her earlier work. The gist is that she wanted to depict the lives of the 99% rather than focus so much on the aristocracy. The series is supposed to show the seedier side of London and “is very much about paying homage to the working class.” First of all, none of the main characters are of the working class. The heroine is the daughter of an Earl (or a Marquess?) and the hero is a wealthy crime boss. Devil may have been working class in his past, but now he’s a ‘self-made’ capitalist. Second of all, MacLean depicts a sugar-coated version of gritty London that made me crave other authors. Mainly Kerrigan Byrne, who in my opinion does dark and dangerous much better in her Victorian Rebels series.
2.5 stars. Wicked and the Wallflower was my first Sarah MacLean read and I found it a bit underwhelming. I’m intrigued and curious enough about the other two brothers that I’m planning to read the whole trilogy. I hope to get a better sense of MacLean’s authorial voice and connect with her writing better without the distraction of bad audiobook narration.
STATS
genre: historical romance
setting: Victorian Era, London, England
book length: 431 pages, 117k words
format: Libro.fm audiobook, own
steam: 2
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
inuy21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Infidelity, and Misogyny
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