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Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
12 reviews
sweetchocolatez's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Drug use, Gun violence, and Cursing
buttermellow's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
emmacartlidge's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
writteninmagic's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
The premise drew me at the beginning. At times, the story was humorous with the narrator's comments. There was also a cast of predominately female pirates and thieves. The dialogue between the characters involved discussing attempted assassinations, weapons, and various exploits in casual conversations while drinking tea. Cecilia mentioning how she wanted to escape everything else that was going on and read some books instead was relatable.
The overuse of humor in the writing dragged down the story for me. The circumstances the main characters find themselves in get resolved quickly, so it didn't feel like there were real stakes involved for them. The characters also didn't really develop throughout the story, except maybe Cecilia's decision at the end. Of course, being a historical fiction book, it had to mention how tight and constricting corsets were—really, it's neither an original nor an accurate comment.
There were also some questionable scenes, like when Ned kept giving more wine to Cecilia to get her drunk, when it was her first time drinking, just because he thought it would be funny.... Another example was where three characters were dismissive of another character's outrage at being lied to about a serious problem.
Overall, the story had entertaining and silly moments, but there wasn't much substance to it. The writing also played off some serious offenses as being silly and harmless.
The overuse of humor in the writing dragged down the story for me. The circumstances the main characters find themselves in get resolved quickly, so it didn't feel like there were real stakes involved for them. The characters also didn't really develop throughout the story, except maybe Cecilia's decision at the end. Of course, being a historical fiction book, it had to mention how tight and constricting corsets were—really, it's neither an original nor an accurate comment.
There were also some questionable scenes, like when Ned kept giving more wine to Cecilia to get her drunk, when it was her first time drinking, just because he thought it would be funny.... Another example was where three characters were dismissive of another character's outrage at being lied to about a serious problem.
Overall, the story had entertaining and silly moments, but there wasn't much substance to it. The writing also played off some serious offenses as being silly and harmless.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Misogyny
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
It took me quite a bit to get into this book (maybe like 75 pages) because the premise is so wacky and writing style is so different than what I’ve read before. But this ridiculously fantastical historical romance was such a fun trip that had me smiling the whole time. I adored the characters and their whimsy and sass. This story was fun and fluffy and yet my brain had to work to understand the satire and writing style, so it was an interesting mix. I definitely want to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
rhi_'s review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement
tors_tomes's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death
buildingtaste's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a 2020s novel with an excellent conceit must be deeply in want of better execution. I feel bad giving this such a low rating, as it is probably one of the better conceived 2020s novels of the ones I've tried, but once again, after the elevator pitch is over, the book collapses like an under-baked teacake. And under-baked is the overarching theme: we are given rather thin sketches of the titular society, a teeming cast of characters, an intergenerational revenge plot nodding heavily to the Brontes, and a requisite romance. All of them are glossed over in favour of comic asides which, after a few repetitions of (and that was rather a funny bit there, er, wasn't it?) seems more like an author's lack of faith in their own prose than a stylistic choice.
Most egregious here, though, is something I can't blame Holton for, because it seems to be more a convention of the historical fantasy-romance genre than anything: Cecilia is just the least interesting person in the bunch. And we have to stick with her a good 80% of the time. When your heroine sums up her role in the story with a glib "I'm afraid I've done nothing to advance the plot," and it's true, a good editor should perk up and recommend doing something about that. Cecilia, despite her bog-standard spunk, finds herself constantly outpaced and outsmarted, by the titular society, by the love interest, and by her villainous father. Not once does she get to be heroic on her own terms, and she's so baldly horny for Ned that her internal refrain of "well-I-never" gets dull.
So. Janky start. But I think the world of Wisteria has some real promise--I'd be interested in reading a short fiction anthology delving more into the lore of historical Lady Scoundrels and the senior ladies.
Most egregious here, though, is something I can't blame Holton for, because it seems to be more a convention of the historical fantasy-romance genre than anything: Cecilia is just the least interesting person in the bunch. And we have to stick with her a good 80% of the time. When your heroine sums up her role in the story with a glib "I'm afraid I've done nothing to advance the plot," and it's true, a good editor should perk up and recommend doing something about that. Cecilia, despite her bog-standard spunk, finds herself constantly outpaced and outsmarted, by the titular society, by the love interest, and by her villainous father. Not once does she get to be heroic on her own terms, and she's so baldly horny for Ned that her internal refrain of "well-I-never" gets dull.
So. Janky start. But I think the world of Wisteria has some real promise--I'd be interested in reading a short fiction anthology delving more into the lore of historical Lady Scoundrels and the senior ladies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Sexism
A teenaged character and young adult character have a sexual relationship. It is played for comedy, with the younger character repeatedly lying about her age and the adult acting distraught about the revelation. Characters drink on several occasions and a character gets drunk without real consent or awareness that alcohol will intoxicate her; this character vomits while drunk. The backstory of a character involves being abandoned by his parents. The lower class characters are usually fearful, superstitious, and deemed foolish. Most characters are kidnapped and imprisoned. The backstory of multiple characters involve their mothers being murdered in front of them. The main character's aunt is controlling and overbearing. Alcohol and cocaine pastilles are used by characters. A verbal spar of two characters involves multiple fatphobic remarks. Most characters have and use guns with murderous intent, though no one dies from a gunshot in the text. There is cousin marriage. The villain's primary motivation is named as misogyny. There is a chapter dedicated to a sex scene (Chapter 20).saeruh's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
5.0
I think this might be my favorite book of 2022. I loved the audiobook version, the narrator had the PERFECT way of using tone to make things seem gossipy but also deadpan, both of which fit the story so well. I cannot believe I was swooning over a man named Ned. So funny and so enjoyable to read. Basically a different version of Howl’s Moving Castle where posh British women have banded together to become pirates who have flying houses. All of the side characters/plots were so interesting (my favorite was Tom and Jane storyline where she led him around while he thought he had some semblance of control lol). The romance was so good, had me blushing and cheesing and giggling and kicking my feet. Such good banter between them and the chemistry was off the charts. I love a good man-is-obsessed-with-his-girl trope with a bit of insta love on his side. This also works so well for me specifically since I JUST read both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and both stories/the writers of them and their family discussed pretty often in this. If you’re afraid that you’ll miss out on some jokes you don’t want to read those books before this, you can def just read a quick summary and you’ll understand the references.
My only problem was that the end felt like a little weird. I personally thought it could have ended at the 80-85% mark since the story seemed pretty wrapped up by then.
My only problem was that the end felt like a little weird. I personally thought it could have ended at the 80-85% mark since the story seemed pretty wrapped up by then.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Sexual content
hrtlss_grl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Mental illness, and Blood
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Drug use