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mxsallybend's review
5.0
I am a newcomer to Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse but, based on the strength of Poison or Protect (the first Delightfully Deadly novella), it is somewhere I intend to spend a great deal of time in the future.
This was a book that captured me from the first page. The language of the telling, full of wit and whimsy, is absolutely spectacular. It was clear, early on, that this was to be more of a romance and novel of manners than I had anticipated, but I was smiling too much to second-guess myself. Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, is a character of darkness and mystery who immediately captured my attention. I took a little longer to warm up to Captain Gavin Ruthven, who seemed a bit too calm and perfectly polite, but the more I understood of his character, the more I found myself being drawn into the potential for a relationship.
And, let’s be honest – vampire and werewolves, airships and assassins aside – this is a book where relationships are the primary attraction. The romance lurking beneath the mystery is a slow-burning one, taking a long time to get to anything even approaching familiarity, but the characters are so strong and so deep that you don’t begrudge them that time. And when sparks do ultimately fly, the language so exquisitely captures all aspects of Lady Villentia that you have to admire how perfectly Gail Carriger pulls it off.
Then the tingling exploded and she was soaring. Splintering and fracturing and spinning as if drunk on champagne and dancing a waltz and perfectly executing a killing blow . . . all at the same time.
The primary attraction for me, however, is the nature of that romance. Gavin is a man without much romantic experience, but what he does know is that he prefers to be the submissive partner in a female-led relationship. Preshea is a cold, jaded woman, hurt too many times by the arrogant, violent, controlling men, leaving Gavin the challenge of breaking through, showing her that love can be different, and teaching her to take the same lead in romance that she does in society, culture, and the art of assassination. As he tells her (and I love this line):
“For me, it is about your pleasure. I dinna know the right way of saying it, but I wish it to be for you. This, me, everything.”
Everything about this book just worked for me. The narrative is delightful, the dialogue razor sharp, and the action – for there is a assassination attempt and a daring rescue – is thrilling. For a book I entered into with entirely unrealistic expectations, this was a sheer reading pleasure.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2019/09/05/book-review-poison-or-protect-by-gail-carriger/
This was a book that captured me from the first page. The language of the telling, full of wit and whimsy, is absolutely spectacular. It was clear, early on, that this was to be more of a romance and novel of manners than I had anticipated, but I was smiling too much to second-guess myself. Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, is a character of darkness and mystery who immediately captured my attention. I took a little longer to warm up to Captain Gavin Ruthven, who seemed a bit too calm and perfectly polite, but the more I understood of his character, the more I found myself being drawn into the potential for a relationship.
And, let’s be honest – vampire and werewolves, airships and assassins aside – this is a book where relationships are the primary attraction. The romance lurking beneath the mystery is a slow-burning one, taking a long time to get to anything even approaching familiarity, but the characters are so strong and so deep that you don’t begrudge them that time. And when sparks do ultimately fly, the language so exquisitely captures all aspects of Lady Villentia that you have to admire how perfectly Gail Carriger pulls it off.
Then the tingling exploded and she was soaring. Splintering and fracturing and spinning as if drunk on champagne and dancing a waltz and perfectly executing a killing blow . . . all at the same time.
The primary attraction for me, however, is the nature of that romance. Gavin is a man without much romantic experience, but what he does know is that he prefers to be the submissive partner in a female-led relationship. Preshea is a cold, jaded woman, hurt too many times by the arrogant, violent, controlling men, leaving Gavin the challenge of breaking through, showing her that love can be different, and teaching her to take the same lead in romance that she does in society, culture, and the art of assassination. As he tells her (and I love this line):
“For me, it is about your pleasure. I dinna know the right way of saying it, but I wish it to be for you. This, me, everything.”
Everything about this book just worked for me. The narrative is delightful, the dialogue razor sharp, and the action – for there is a assassination attempt and a daring rescue – is thrilling. For a book I entered into with entirely unrealistic expectations, this was a sheer reading pleasure.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2019/09/05/book-review-poison-or-protect-by-gail-carriger/
amibunk's review against another edition
3.0
This book was not my favorite. While I adore Gail Carriger's typical steampunk and espionage novels, this story was more romance/bodice-ripper than anything. And while I enjoy the occasional scorchingly hot bedroom scene, I felt in this case the sex ratio was too high when compared with the lamentable lack of action and suspense. All sex and no real plot makes me a sad girl.
nevclue's review
3.0
Romance novella set in Carriger's steampunk/supernatural world. There's not really much of either in this. It's a sweet romance between a spy/assassin and soldier who are both trying to protect a duke at a house party.
bookhoarding's review
5.0
The Mourning Star is on a mission when she is thrown into the path of a hunky hero she doesn't need. This light short is a perfect snack to nibble on as we wait for the next Gail Carriger book to be released. With appearances by familiar characters, and effortless mockery of Victorian manner, we get wrapped up in another wonderful story set in an alternate universe we all so wish we could be a part of.
moonpie's review against another edition
2.0
I've read a book set in this world before (almost 10 years ago) and found it middling, and honestly, I still find it middling. Poison or Protect doesn't contain as many LOOK THIS IS STEAMPUNK OKAY descriptions as the one I read in 2012, maybe because this is a novella and there's not a lot of space for that. However, there are also fewer explanations, period, and I am sure I missed some subtleties while half-remembering the basics of Carriger's universe. Gotta give it up for consistency, though: there is STILL a vampire who speaks half-italicized, and it's STILL very annoying. At least the main character doesn't completely write off all other women in this one.
As seems to be my habit now, I picked up a book and didn't realize it was a romance until I was already reading it. And romance was... okay? It didn't really ring true and I couldn't really figure out the attraction, maybe because. Also, once the romance kicked in, the intrigue that took up the first part of the book was basically brushed off for the rest of the story. Why even bother with the mystery part of it? Weird.
As seems to be my habit now, I picked up a book and didn't realize it was a romance until I was already reading it. And romance was... okay? It didn't really ring true and I couldn't really figure out the attraction, maybe because
Spoiler
the dude the protagonist hooked up with seemed to have no discernible personality besides being large and Scottishdaffz's review
3.0
I don't usually read books that are firmly in the Romance genre, but I made an exception for Gail Carriger because I love her work and I love the universe her books are set in. I think the fact that I'm not a huge fan of this genre as a whole did affect my rating, but it's still a fun and entertaining novella in my opinion.
Preshea isn't the most memorable character in Carriger's other series, but she was really well written in this novella. It rounded her out a lot and made me like her more than I did before. I also liked Gavin, and their romance was sweet.
I just felt like once the first half of the book was over, it went into a very smutty direction for a very long time. I was a lot more interested in the actual plot outside the romance than I probably should have been, and was waiting to return to that. It didn't have the most satisfying conclusion, but I'm aware that my focus was on the wrong thing.
I'd recommend this for people that like romance but also mostly if you're already familiar with Carriger's world, because I think some of the references to the supernatural larger universe would be confusing for people that just want a period romance. Still, even if you haven't read any of her other works you can give this one a try.
Preshea isn't the most memorable character in Carriger's other series, but she was really well written in this novella. It rounded her out a lot and made me like her more than I did before. I also liked Gavin, and their romance was sweet.
I just felt like once the first half of the book was over, it went into a very smutty direction for a very long time. I was a lot more interested in the actual plot outside the romance than I probably should have been, and was waiting to return to that. It didn't have the most satisfying conclusion, but I'm aware that my focus was on the wrong thing.
I'd recommend this for people that like romance but also mostly if you're already familiar with Carriger's world, because I think some of the references to the supernatural larger universe would be confusing for people that just want a period romance. Still, even if you haven't read any of her other works you can give this one a try.