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desdowns's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
If the ladies of Pride and Prejudice became rogue pirates captaining magical flying houses, this is how I imagine they would turn out. The writing is always witty and often hilarious. It’s a coming-of-age story, a steamy insta-romance, a critique of the patriarchy, an exploration of generational trauma, and a love letter to female familial relationships. Lady scoundrels certainly have all the fun.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Drug use
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).bannedfrombookclub's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fun with occasionally jarring changes in tone, and towards the end the plot starts to lurch around like one of the flying pirate houses but I'd still recommend it to anyone who thinks they might fit into the centre wedge of a 3-way Venn diagram of Lisa Kleypas, Diana Wynn-Jones, and Terry Pratchett fans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Thank you, Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing, for sending this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is based on Cecilia Bassingwaite and she is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief and a pirate. She is apart of Wisteria Society crime sorority, she files around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Yes, she may have a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, he happens to be under a direct order to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possess a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. However, both men make the same mistake. Never underestimate a woman. When Moravth needs stopping, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her – hopefully proving once and for all, that she’s as much as a scoundrel as the rest of them. This book is a romance historical fiction.
Okay, if you are wanting a pirate, action-packed feminist book, don’t read this book. It’s a romance book with a bit of action. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy this book, I just didn’t expect it to be all romance and a bit of action. I wanted it the other way around. When I first read the blurb of the book, I was like it’s gonna be bad ass girls fighting men and it’s gonna be great. But then Ned comes in all insta love and it’s just a romance novel. I liked Cecilia, she was great and was all for fighting men, but it just didn’t happen. I liked her back story and thought it could have gone more into her back story and Ned’s. I think this book would have been better if it was a slow burn which is sort of was from Cecilia’s point of view but not from Ned’s. I liked the multiple POVs during this book.
I just was expecting more and wanting more from this book and it just never happened. Hopefully the next book in this series is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Sexism, and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
becksusername's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexism, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, and Alcohol
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
liz_k007'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
I LOVED this book. It reminded me a lot of Gail Carriger's Finishing School series, one of my all-time favorites.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcohol
maublew's review
adventurous
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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder and Sexism
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
aromarrie's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
such a gentle romance mixed with an action-packed adventure full of hidden knives and quick wit, i enjoyed this story much more than i ever expected to and am relieved of that fact.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
vaniavela's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.0
A lady pirate society with a gun-wielding heroine and an assassin who's been hired to kill her but he's also a spy?
Cecilia, a first-rate scoundrel and pirate, has a dream: seat at the table of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. When Ned Lightbourne, a skilled pirate and assassin, is hired to assassinate her [by Queen Victoria] and rescue her [by a mysterious man], everything changes. She certainly must kill him first, but.... why does she find it so difficult to do so?
The concept of the story is interesting and I loved the chapter headers; they are incredibly creative. What I liked the most was the hilarious opening. Imagine you’re with your aunt, waiting for your lunch, when someone bangs the door. When you open the door, a [really handsome] salesman tries to sell you a brochure, but you decline. Then he proceeds to climb up your window.
I would have liked to connect with the characters. I found the dialogues pleasant most of the time, and I was able to laugh from time to time.
It did not meet my expectations unfortunately; I don't know what was missing, but it really wasn't what I expected. Despite that, it is a good book and although I do not plan to read the following books, I liked it.
TW: death of a parent, kidnapping, stealing, violence, gun violence, injury, sexual content
Cecilia, a first-rate scoundrel and pirate, has a dream: seat at the table of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. When Ned Lightbourne, a skilled pirate and assassin, is hired to assassinate her [by Queen Victoria] and rescue her [by a mysterious man], everything changes. She certainly must kill him first, but.... why does she find it so difficult to do so?
The concept of the story is interesting and I loved the chapter headers; they are incredibly creative. What I liked the most was the hilarious opening. Imagine you’re with your aunt, waiting for your lunch, when someone bangs the door. When you open the door, a [really handsome] salesman tries to sell you a brochure, but you decline. Then he proceeds to climb up your window.
I would have liked to connect with the characters. I found the dialogues pleasant most of the time, and I was able to laugh from time to time.
It did not meet my expectations unfortunately; I don't know what was missing, but it really wasn't what I expected. Despite that, it is a good book and although I do not plan to read the following books, I liked it.
TW: death of a parent, kidnapping, stealing, violence, gun violence, injury, sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol