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ellakostka's review against another edition
2.0
★★☆☆☆ 2/5
first off i just want to say how much i LOVED the casual queer representation. i would have liked to see a w|w character though...
unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations for it. the plot was kind of all over the place, and there were a lot of loose ends that were never tied up.
full review to come.
(arc provided by netgallery and Feiwel Friends. all thoughts and opinions are my own)
first off i just want to say how much i LOVED the casual queer representation. i would have liked to see a w|w character though...
unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations for it. the plot was kind of all over the place, and there were a lot of loose ends that were never tied up.
full review to come.
(arc provided by netgallery and Feiwel Friends. all thoughts and opinions are my own)
clairetrellahill's review against another edition
I’m not sure what this book was trying to say. It did not land for me.
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
The premise intrigued me: a society of women who, denied power in their own right, manage to guide events by marrying the "right" men. The society recruits promising women, sorting them into different categories, Mothers, Wives, Gossips and Spinsters, training them to help make society better. What grabbed me most was not the action or the machinations of the Society but that Elsie has second thoughts.
Those thoughts include questioning how the Society operates: who are these women to decide what is best? or to manipulate the lives of men in such elaborate ways (the dates are hysterical)? Her evolution throughout the book felt real, organically coming with her growing up rather than being something simply added to make the plot move forward. Additional points for realistic representation of gender, sexuality and body image.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.
Those thoughts include questioning how the Society operates: who are these women to decide what is best? or to manipulate the lives of men in such elaborate ways (the dates are hysterical)? Her evolution throughout the book felt real, organically coming with her growing up rather than being something simply added to make the plot move forward. Additional points for realistic representation of gender, sexuality and body image.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.
royalgreen's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
This was a cover buy (how could I not? gorgeous cover) and I was intrigued by the idea. I do think this book is plagued by a little bit of "tell" rather than "show" and a bit too much dialogue. Especially in the first half of the book, I wanted more descriptions and adjectives, but that tends to be the type of prose I enjoy.
The book picked up after the second half and some more major plot things happened and rocked the boat. It went from being sort of low stakes, to higher stakes, and that's when I got more /into/ the book.
Some of the dialogue gets a little preachy, and its not that I disagree with anything the characters said. Again, it falls into the category of telling not showing, and I think more of the character's motivations could have been shown through actions rather than words all the time.
This was a cover buy (how could I not? gorgeous cover) and I was intrigued by the idea. I do think this book is plagued by a little bit of "tell" rather than "show" and a bit too much dialogue. Especially in the first half of the book, I wanted more descriptions and adjectives, but that tends to be the type of prose I enjoy.
The book picked up after the second half and some more major plot things happened and rocked the boat. It went from being sort of low stakes, to higher stakes, and that's when I got more /into/ the book.
Some of the dialogue gets a little preachy, and its not that I disagree with anything the characters said. Again, it falls into the category of telling not showing, and I think more of the character's motivations could have been shown through actions rather than words all the time.
mcarter18's review against another edition
3.0
This book needed to be like 600 pages to be as exciting as the synopsis promised.
julieannasbooks's review against another edition
3.0
⭐⭐⭐.25
A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions takes place in 1926 and follows Elsie, who is dropped off in a city with four other girls. They have all been trained together by The Society to become wives of powerful men. But when they find out their next target is earmarked for Presidency, they have a chance to become the most powerful woman in The Society.
A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions has been on my TBR for a while, so I’m happy I finally got to read it as part of the Turn the Page Bookstagram tour. I wasn’t sure what to expect from such a unique concept for a historical fiction novel, and while the synopsis led me to different expectations, I enjoyed what this book turned out to be and all of the messages shared along the way.
At first, I was expecting a competitive aspect to this book. But it didn’t turn out to be that way for the most part and I really liked that. Instead, there was a lot of focus on the Society’s values and the importance of women having a voice and being able to contribute their own opinions and that having an impact.
I also really liked the conversations between the characters in the book. In a time where women were recently given the right to vote, but still had many more limitations, there were a lot of really nuanced discussions about women’s roles in society and all of the different ways women can strive to make a difference in these communities. I also really liked how these conversations were intersectional in nature – I think it’s important to demonstrate that these conversations did happen throughout history and that they are present in historical fiction novels.
The one thing that I really grappled with while reading A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions was the pacing. After the main mission was revealed, I felt like things really slowed down in the middle before they make a sharp turn and pick up at the end. And while I found that the middle of the book is where a lot of the book’s themes come in, I do wish that it moved in the same way that the beginning did.
Regardless, A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions was a great read overall and it’s reminded me to read more YA historical fiction again! I’m looking forward to seeing what Boekweg publishes in the future.
CW:
Spoiler
Body shaming, death of a childYou can find more of my reviews here: www.julieannasbooks.com
danyell919's review against another edition
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book but overall I enjoyed it. I especially liked Elsie, Bea, and Mira, they were terrific characters.
bbennett128's review against another edition
1.0
[1.5 Stars]
Look, I think the main message here is (for the most part) good. I just think the execution really botched this whole experience. This book still needs a lot more revisions and editing.
To start off, I think that the representation of different ethnicities, sexual identities, and body types was decent, but not casual. Every time there was a poc character (which there were really only black characters, no other ethnicities were present) it felt like the author was patting herself on the back. Like "look here, I've added representation and it's good". But no poc character was fleshed out or really on-page at all, and all the main characters were white. The author only gave a lame one-sentence excuse for this and moved on.
Also, the Society as a whole is very undeveloped. How do they know that 18-year-old Andrew will be President? How is the Society so pervasive and all women seem to know about it, yet they still stay in the shadows? I had to suspend my disbelief a lot about that whole thing.
The book pushes the idea of sisterhood and friendship a lot but Elsie is a horrendous friend. I can see how Boekweg was trying to show Elsie's ambition, but she continuously sabotages her friends with zero consequences. Even when she knows that her friend, Bea, genuinely wants Andrew and that she doesn't, Elsie still swoops in and messes stuff up?? It was so bizarre and everyone just kept forgiving her for it. Either she shouldn't have been doing that or there should have been more discussion around what had happened.
Speaking of bizarre, what even was that Patch storyline? I hated it the whole time and it was never explained. Who was he working for? What was he taking notes/photos etc for? Why did we need this instalove side-plot just for her to forget he even exists by the end? Why did he burn a house down? The questions go on and on and on.
Furthermore, the writing was clunky, the atmosphere was nonexistent, the characters were underdeveloped, and the author inserted pages of forced monologue that took away from the story. I think there's a lot of potential here but, as it stands, it really dropped the ball.
Look, I think the main message here is (for the most part) good. I just think the execution really botched this whole experience. This book still needs a lot more revisions and editing.
To start off, I think that the representation of different ethnicities, sexual identities, and body types was decent, but not casual. Every time there was a poc character (which there were really only black characters, no other ethnicities were present) it felt like the author was patting herself on the back. Like "look here, I've added representation and it's good". But no poc character was fleshed out or really on-page at all, and all the main characters were white. The author only gave a lame one-sentence excuse for this and moved on.
Also, the Society as a whole is very undeveloped. How do they know that 18-year-old Andrew will be President? How is the Society so pervasive and all women seem to know about it, yet they still stay in the shadows? I had to suspend my disbelief a lot about that whole thing.
The book pushes the idea of sisterhood and friendship a lot but Elsie is a horrendous friend. I can see how Boekweg was trying to show Elsie's ambition, but she continuously sabotages her friends with zero consequences. Even when she knows that her friend, Bea, genuinely wants Andrew and that she doesn't, Elsie still swoops in and messes stuff up?? It was so bizarre and everyone just kept forgiving her for it. Either she shouldn't have been doing that or there should have been more discussion around what had happened.
Speaking of bizarre, what even was that Patch storyline? I hated it the whole time and it was never explained. Who was he working for? What was he taking notes/photos etc for? Why did we need this instalove side-plot just for her to forget he even exists by the end? Why did he burn a house down? The questions go on and on and on.
Furthermore, the writing was clunky, the atmosphere was nonexistent, the characters were underdeveloped, and the author inserted pages of forced monologue that took away from the story. I think there's a lot of potential here but, as it stands, it really dropped the ball.
cedardleland's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The writing was fun but there were a few things that ruined it for me. There were a couple points where the framing of this book went directly against the main messaging in disturbing ways, and the main character just did the exact same bad thing five times even to the end of the book and never learned her lesson even though she was sad and sorry every time afterward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, and Child death