I love pretty much any book with good trans representation, but on top of that this really is a good romance novel! I had fun with the characters and was rooting for them the whole time. I found the beginning more interesting than the end, but then again I do also love (this type of) drama.

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shadereads's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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lignjahal's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

4.0/5

It’s a cute little queer historical romance that will keep you engaged with solid writing and good characters.
My only cons are the length being just a bit too long and the writing sometimes being a bit too modern for the period, but these are only minor complaints.

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kato_goldacker's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Friends to lovers slow-burn with good Trans Representation.

Recommend for Bridgerton Fans
(go to end for conclusion)

Loved it. When I found this one I knew I had to read it simply because it is exactly what I wanted.
Alexis Hall has some really beautiful writing and ways of describing things, as well as the ability to spark inspiration or thought with the way he puts things. This had a lot of inspiring, beautiful lines and romantic, soft, yearning moments that I really enjoyed, I marked a lot of parts in this book. Hall did a great job with writing a relatable trans character, too.

I did feel that, overall in its execution it’s not a masterpiece of a book, as I still felt like some things were perhaps missing or too simple. I also wasn’t always entirely sure about the pace of the book, I would call it a slow-burn romance, which I liked, but it did change pace a bit later. I don’t think it’s extraordinary story-writing or anything -generally I felt like there were things missing for me to make it a GREAT book, but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Depth, the feeling of a more detailedly thought-through plot / story, most likely.

Still, I loved it, and I’m so happy there’s a book with this story.
The characters were lovely and the playful, intimate and teasing interactions and the yearning and pining between Gracewood and Viola were really fun to read.
I’m also really happy we got a bit of spicy/intimate scenes, which I think is great seeing trans characters nicely represented in.

I don’t think you always need an absolutely great story with a unique plot that wasn’t ever written before. Popular tropes can still be enjoyable, and I don’t think it’s necessary to have an entirely period-accurate representation in every LGBTQIA+ novel, especially since -some people argue- it can be nice for us to have something simple, cheesy and stereotypical for once too, just like there’s tons of (non-LGBTQIA+) straight fiction like that.

Conclusion
So I’d say, if you’re not looking for a terribly original storyline but for a happy, hopelessly romantic, historical friends to lovers slow-burn, featuring good and positive trans representation, you will really like this.

About Triggers
I put all from this list I think are (briefly) in the book,
Of course it is for yourself to know but I just need to say I didn’t find this much triggering, even though I am quite sensitive to a lot of those. If drug use is really triggering for you it might be a different thing, for me it is mainly violence related as well as any sexual abuse or transphobia related ones, but I was mostly fine reading this and, despite containing all of those listed triggers, I found this was book that still felt light.

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kelisabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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twistykris's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I'm so glad that this historical fiction book exists. I think it did a great job of showcasing queerness, transness, and disability in a thoughtful, emotional way. We love to see a happy trans woman live her happily ever after with a childhood friend-turned-lover! I also loved how Viola being trans wasn't a major source of conflict in the book. Viola is who she is and it was a relief to see her friends and loved ones accept and love her for it and it was so lovely to bask in her joy.

Admittedly, I don't read much historical fiction, so I did struggle with the dialogue and certain terms used (thanks, Kindle, for allowing me to pull up a dictionary so easily haha). There were also a couple pacing issues, as halfway through the book, things seemed to die down significantly, and I started to lose the joy I was feeling. I can appreciate a slow-burn, but a slow-burn plus the intricacies of relations between men and women in the 1800s was just agonizingly drawn out at times. However, I acknowledge that that's probably a Me thing, as I'm not used to historical fiction and “proper” regency era romance books.
Also the wild event that happens at 90% of the way into the book felt sort of thrown in? But the epilogue was so sweet and made me tear up.

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scoobygirl93's review against another edition

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4.5

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