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cleotheo's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Drug use
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Homophobia, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Slavery
happysami's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Slavery and Racism
binevolentbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, and Sexual violence
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Slavery
dropout's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Minor: Bullying, Rape, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Grief
jackiepreston's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Homophobia, Death, Racism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Slavery
argentum_princeps's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Slavery, Racism, and Misogyny
__sophie__'s review against another edition
Graphic: Alcohol and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual violence
Minor: Slavery
maggies's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Homophobia, Slavery, and Racism
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story has a quick, biting wit akin to Georgiana's own subversive, barbed remarks. Several funny asides made me laugh aloud. Also, letter banter is the BEST banter, and this one delivers in that category 100%. I was unconvinced of the central romance plot til the correspondence started up halfway through, and then I suddenly found myself on board. It was that high quality.
While reading, my stress level was high, even though I knew all the bad decisions and situations were building up to a lesson to be learned. It comes at a steep price for many characters involved. The emphasis on needing to be cool or seem above everyone else made me cringe, with side helpings of peer pressure and harassment, bullying and exclusionary tactics. Add in quick judgments and nasty put-downs to make oneself feel superior. It offers a deep view of the root causes of the characters' behaviors. For example, our protagonist Georgiana is spinning out in bitter rebellion after being abandoned by cold, distant parents. She seeks affection and belonging at any cost.
There are several content warnings of note for this story: sexual assault on-page and other incidents that occur off-page with physical and psychological harm explored, gaslighting and victim-blaming following claims of assault, racism and slavery, homophobia/lesbophobia, domestic abuse, toxic relationships, a lot of alcohol and other substance abuse, and parental neglect. The author takes a worthy stand on the proper response to assault claims and offers a glimpse into a diverse regency world hampered by prejudice but not whitewashed or offering queer characters as mere sidekicks. It's an interesting book that manages to be difficult to read at some points, uproariously funny at others, sometimes reflective and other times barreling forward. It was a compelling read, and I am curious to see what the author does next.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, and Animal cruelty
casc8a's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Slavery