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mariahmmm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
3.0
Cecilia Bassingthwaite, lady pirate, has finally had her first assassination attempt from a charming rake. Thus starts a wild and unhinged adventure of flying houses, double-crossing agents, a slow-burn romance, and a battle royale (literally) - all while maintaining the decorum and quality of an English lady.
What a chaotic story! Nothing makes sense, and that is part of the book's charm. Filled with quirky characters with a strange set of morals and values, this was mostly a fun epic adventure. The book was a 4/5 until the (literal) climax of the slow-burn romance, with the experienced Ned seemingly taking advantage of naive Cecilia that left a sour taste.
What a chaotic story! Nothing makes sense, and that is part of the book's charm. Filled with quirky characters with a strange set of morals and values, this was mostly a fun epic adventure. The book was a 4/5 until the (literal) climax of the slow-burn romance, with the experienced Ned seemingly taking advantage of naive Cecilia that left a sour taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Infidelity, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, Drug use, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Abandonment
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
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
It is violence that best overcomes hate, vengeance that most certainly heals injury, and a good cup of tea that soothes the most anguished soul
Fun. Lighthearted. Witty. Trope-y.
All in the best ways of course. Flying houses, pirates, badass (but still proper) ladies, and a fun romance to boot. Sometimes all you need is a fun book that takes you on a wild ride, and yep. That’s this.
All in the best ways of course. Flying houses, pirates, badass (but still proper) ladies, and a fun romance to boot. Sometimes all you need is a fun book that takes you on a wild ride, and yep. That’s this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
theredheadprotagonist'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
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
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I loved the first half, was a bit bored in the middle and the ending was fine.
The premise was interesting and I liked the characters. The whole flipped-patriarchy thing was interesting at first but wasn't explained and justified enough for my liking. (Especially because of the time it seems to be set in.) You definitely need your suspension of disbelieve for this books but I think it can be a fun time if you manage to do that. It was a great simple summer book but no literary masterpiece.
The best thing for me personally was the relationship between Cecilia and Ned. I really liked their dynamic of being soo into each other but also trying to kill the other. But the smut scene was weird and I didn't like it. This was one of those books I didn't think would have a smut scene and it just doesn't work in the context imo. It seemed like a huge switch in character and I hate the whole "trying to stay modest" bit that Cecilia did. The backstory was interesting but I wish we got a bit more. Morvath was a villainous patriarchal villain to the point of actually being a caricature that seems almost non threatening even though he is constantly described as being dangerous. His motives are basically just "my mum doesn't love me so now I hate all women"!?
The society was basically all powerful and everything always went in their favour. They are always in control. Even when the battle broke out and the readers are supposed to be scared for them (like Cecilia is) everyone gets out fine. Or gets hurt really badly but someone still can pretend to be fine and it isn't brought up for the rest of the book. There are no stakes because you know that the main characters are going to be fine anyways. Also I wish they were a bit more in favour of murder. For supposed pirates they were quite harmless. The whole "being really proper but also badass" was interesting for sure but I just wish that at least when we get a book about "villains"(I use that term very lightly for obvious reasons) they would be able to actually defend themselves against the bad guys - and by that I don't only mean kick them and maybe sometimes stab someone in the arm..
But for what it was I think it was interesting. I have to say that Cecilias happy ending definitely would be my perfect happy ending as well (20,000 books!!) so I get it and I'm happy for her! I'm not sure if I will read any of the following books in the series though.
The premise was interesting and I liked the characters. The whole flipped-patriarchy thing was interesting at first but wasn't explained and justified enough for my liking. (Especially because of the time it seems to be set in.) You definitely need your suspension of disbelieve for this books but I think it can be a fun time if you manage to do that. It was a great simple summer book but no literary masterpiece.
The society was basically all powerful and everything always went in their favour. They are always in control. Even when the battle broke out and the readers are supposed to be scared for them (like Cecilia is) everyone gets out fine. Or gets hurt really badly but someone still can pretend to be fine and it isn't brought up for the rest of the book. There are no stakes because you know that the main characters are going to be fine anyways. Also I wish they were a bit more in favour of murder. For supposed pirates they were quite harmless. The whole "being really proper but also badass" was interesting for sure but I just wish that at least when we get a book about "villains"(I use that term very lightly for obvious reasons) they would be able to actually defend themselves against the bad guys - and by that I don't only mean kick them and maybe sometimes stab someone in the arm..
But for what it was I think it was interesting. I have to say that Cecilias happy ending definitely would be my perfect happy ending as well (20,000 books!!) so I get it and I'm happy for her! I'm not sure if I will read any of the following books in the series though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Gun violence, Sexism, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Incest, and Infidelity
clairew97's review against another edition
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Body shaming, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
soph22's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Misogyny, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
skudiklier's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
It took me a bit to get into this, and tbh a lot of it felt so weirdly dissonant that it was hard for me to be super invested. But on the other hand, the romance was well-done and the ~tension~ was high with that. I ended up reading the second half of the book all in one day, so I must have been at least somewhat engaged.
I wasn't sure if I was going to read the next book in the series, but then I found out the author is autistic and the main character(s) of the second and third books are autistic as well. So now I want to if only for that reason--I haven't read a lot of romances with autistic MCs, so I'm excited!
I wasn't sure if I was going to read the next book in the series, but then I found out the author is autistic and the main character(s) of the second and third books are autistic as well. So now I want to if only for that reason--I haven't read a lot of romances with autistic MCs, so I'm excited!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
louisegraveyard's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Drug use