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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
This book reminded me of others I've enjoyed as I read further on.
The era did call up Sarah Waters Victorian-set novels. The split narrative had me in mind of The Book of Human Skin (and for the dark subject matter).
From the title and cover, this would appear to be a book about the female fighters who fought for money and prestige in an era when this was a novelty. This does form a good part of the book, but the title has several meanings that are only uncovered the longer you read.
Split mostly between Ruth and Charlotte as narrators, we meet Ruth first. Raised in a fairly brutal and dirt-poor home, a brothel where her plain looks have mostly saved her from all but hard work, Ruth and her sister are spotted one day by a customer. One for her looks and the other for a talent for fighting. And thus begins Ruth's training as a fighter, brawling with other women (and even men) for money (for her benefactor). Even for Ruth though, love may come along.
Charlotte's narrative is introduced later. Scarred from a childhood pox that killed siblings and parents, she and her younger brother are left clawing at each other until he can find a way to marry her off. Struggling against her repressive but wealthy shackles, her life is not her own to make choices with.
A third narrator plays a less ostensible role in the story, with fewer chapters to his name, but does play a vital role in proceedings. George Bowden is a friend of Charlotte's brother from school, a closer friend than either wish to admit to society. And he has Charlotte in his sights.
It took a long time for the stories to begin to come together in any way. I was almost disappointed at first when Ruth's narration first ended to be replaced by a seemingly-insipid Charlotte, but I soon began to see her merit, her struggles and started to root for her. Scenes of female fighting are uncomfortable to read, mainly because I found it hard not to feel each injury and worry for the characters and how just one hit could end it all. Very well done.
The setting and period detail had me in the crowd with the other spectators, in the brothel, in the dark and gloomy rich houses. It was a bit of an eye-opener seeing women fight at this point in history. But I loved how Ruth and Charlotte's stories did come together, and how the long tale resolved itself for all concerned. There are characters you want to boo, there are scenes you can almost smell and wish you couldn't.
There are lots of other characters and plots that Freeman writes into this novel, and it comes together as a thrilling and entertaining whole that I was sad to finish, but glad to see concluded.
I would read more by this writer again. A very readable and different take on the period. A mini-series in the making, I think.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
The era did call up Sarah Waters Victorian-set novels. The split narrative had me in mind of The Book of Human Skin (and for the dark subject matter).
From the title and cover, this would appear to be a book about the female fighters who fought for money and prestige in an era when this was a novelty. This does form a good part of the book, but the title has several meanings that are only uncovered the longer you read.
Split mostly between Ruth and Charlotte as narrators, we meet Ruth first. Raised in a fairly brutal and dirt-poor home, a brothel where her plain looks have mostly saved her from all but hard work, Ruth and her sister are spotted one day by a customer. One for her looks and the other for a talent for fighting. And thus begins Ruth's training as a fighter, brawling with other women (and even men) for money (for her benefactor). Even for Ruth though, love may come along.
Charlotte's narrative is introduced later. Scarred from a childhood pox that killed siblings and parents, she and her younger brother are left clawing at each other until he can find a way to marry her off. Struggling against her repressive but wealthy shackles, her life is not her own to make choices with.
A third narrator plays a less ostensible role in the story, with fewer chapters to his name, but does play a vital role in proceedings. George Bowden is a friend of Charlotte's brother from school, a closer friend than either wish to admit to society. And he has Charlotte in his sights.
It took a long time for the stories to begin to come together in any way. I was almost disappointed at first when Ruth's narration first ended to be replaced by a seemingly-insipid Charlotte, but I soon began to see her merit, her struggles and started to root for her. Scenes of female fighting are uncomfortable to read, mainly because I found it hard not to feel each injury and worry for the characters and how just one hit could end it all. Very well done.
The setting and period detail had me in the crowd with the other spectators, in the brothel, in the dark and gloomy rich houses. It was a bit of an eye-opener seeing women fight at this point in history. But I loved how Ruth and Charlotte's stories did come together, and how the long tale resolved itself for all concerned. There are characters you want to boo, there are scenes you can almost smell and wish you couldn't.
There are lots of other characters and plots that Freeman writes into this novel, and it comes together as a thrilling and entertaining whole that I was sad to finish, but glad to see concluded.
I would read more by this writer again. A very readable and different take on the period. A mini-series in the making, I think.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
owook's review against another edition
4.0
The comparisons to The Crimson Petal and the White are fair. I enjoyed how the shifting viewpoints continually gave new perspective on characters and events.
carolsm10's review against another edition
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
1.0
This book is a big mess. Every character has mentioned or for the name or surname, gets confused who is who, more confused when there are marriages and family bonds so you have more characteres with same surnames. I did understand the story, or the point of it. English is not my native language and because its british maybe it makes it harder for me. For 300 pages I was always confused. It was supossed to be about Ruth, really didnt get this book. Big big mess.
eletricjb's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining, but minus one whole star for the George parts. This should have just been about the women. (Misandry!!)
jenniferreads2's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at about 150 pages. I enjoyed Ruths POV but after that it dragged on with no real story. Plus the writing was too much telling not enough showing. Kind of like reading a bad journal
johanne_hj's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
beltari's review against another edition
4.5
I never read anything related to sports, much less boxing, but this novel took me by surprise. It has really strong female characters, with struggles and defects that turn this book in more than just a boxing story. It's a female empowerment story with a sport as a medium.
kellerko's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first hundred pages, was rather bored and confused by the second hundred and enjoyed the final 200. An interesting story of girls growing up - the pretty one became a prostitute and the one who is more homely became a boxer. I was most struck by how little rights and ability women had to change their future.
bmg20's review against another edition
2.0
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
“I’d like to say that my beginnings were humble, but they weren’t beginnings, because I never really left them but for a short while."
The Fair Fight is told from three separate points of view that details the way of life for three very different individuals in diverse social classes in 18th century Bristol. We’re first given Ruth’s tale which starts this book off with a bang. Born in a brothel, Ruth never had any aspirations of ever rising her station until one day she’s seen fighting her sister and she’s suddenly being trained and thrust into a boxing ring. She becomes near unstoppable and becomes known everywhere as Miss Matchet from The Hatchet. Ruth was quite a compelling and gutsy woman with a gripping story told in lower-class slang and I would have gladly read this book told entirely from her point of view. In fact, I think I actually would have preferred it.
Next, we shift down a few gears and are taken inside the walls of an English boarding school where we are introduced to roommates and friends, George and Perry. Their tale was extremely long and sordid and went on for so long that I quickly lost interest after Ruth’s fascinating tale. We’re then given the story of Perry’s sister, Charlotte. Her story is one chock full of torment at the hands of her brother. After surviving the pox yet being left dreadfully scarred, her scars becomes the sole focus of Perry’s cruelty. It was a vast change from the Perry we see through the “rose-colored” eyes of George. The multiple storylines left things quite convoluted and excessively long and drawn out and none of them quite compared to the fascinating parts of the story centered around Ruth.
When a book is being called the “female Fight Club“, well, those are some mighty big boots to fill. Also, it’s a bit misleading since in all actuality very little of this story truly focused on female pugilists (I felt more focus actually ended up being given to the male fighters when it was all said and done). The majority of the story is comprised of nothing more than Victorian drama and of the way of life in the 18th century. It wasn’t that it was all terribly uninteresting because there were aspects that I did enjoy, the problem was that everything was all so long and drawn out. I understand the need to set the scene, explain everyone’s back-story, but it was so overdone that it threw off the pacing, caused me to get a bit lost in the detail and detracted from my ultimate enjoyment of the story itself. The writing was brilliant at times and I got definite Sarah Waters vibes but while there were parts of this that I thoroughly enjoyed, there were much more that I didn’t.
I received this book free from First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
“I’d like to say that my beginnings were humble, but they weren’t beginnings, because I never really left them but for a short while."
The Fair Fight is told from three separate points of view that details the way of life for three very different individuals in diverse social classes in 18th century Bristol. We’re first given Ruth’s tale which starts this book off with a bang. Born in a brothel, Ruth never had any aspirations of ever rising her station until one day she’s seen fighting her sister and she’s suddenly being trained and thrust into a boxing ring. She becomes near unstoppable and becomes known everywhere as Miss Matchet from The Hatchet. Ruth was quite a compelling and gutsy woman with a gripping story told in lower-class slang and I would have gladly read this book told entirely from her point of view. In fact, I think I actually would have preferred it.
Next, we shift down a few gears and are taken inside the walls of an English boarding school where we are introduced to roommates and friends, George and Perry. Their tale was extremely long and sordid and went on for so long that I quickly lost interest after Ruth’s fascinating tale. We’re then given the story of Perry’s sister, Charlotte. Her story is one chock full of torment at the hands of her brother. After surviving the pox yet being left dreadfully scarred, her scars becomes the sole focus of Perry’s cruelty. It was a vast change from the Perry we see through the “rose-colored” eyes of George. The multiple storylines left things quite convoluted and excessively long and drawn out and none of them quite compared to the fascinating parts of the story centered around Ruth.
When a book is being called the “female Fight Club“, well, those are some mighty big boots to fill. Also, it’s a bit misleading since in all actuality very little of this story truly focused on female pugilists (I felt more focus actually ended up being given to the male fighters when it was all said and done). The majority of the story is comprised of nothing more than Victorian drama and of the way of life in the 18th century. It wasn’t that it was all terribly uninteresting because there were aspects that I did enjoy, the problem was that everything was all so long and drawn out. I understand the need to set the scene, explain everyone’s back-story, but it was so overdone that it threw off the pacing, caused me to get a bit lost in the detail and detracted from my ultimate enjoyment of the story itself. The writing was brilliant at times and I got definite Sarah Waters vibes but while there were parts of this that I thoroughly enjoyed, there were much more that I didn’t.
I received this book free from First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
100pagesaday's review against another edition
2.0
Ruth is born into a brothel, called ‘The Convent’ in 18th century Bristol. Her mother is the hard-fisted Madam of the brothel, her sister Dora is the beauty, trained to take her mom’s place and Ruth is the scrapper with a not-so-fortunate face. Ruth’s future seems bleak until Dora’s regular client; a well off Mr. Dryer, with a love for gambling sees talent in Ruth’s fighting abilities. Mr. Dryer places Ruth in fights the Hatchet Inn where she earns a name for herself until Mr. Dryer places her in a fight at the Fair. Mr. Dryer puts Ruth to the side when the fight goes south and starts training her husband Tom instead; Tom’s prospects seem high, so Mr. Dryer brings them to his fancy house. While at the Dryer’s , an abandoned Ruth finds the friendship of the equally abandoned Mrs. Dryer, Charlotte. Charlotte was scarred with smallpox when she was younger and forced to marry Mr. Dryer, she often hid into the shadows. Charlotte took on the care for Ruth when she was left to starve, and Ruth began to teach Charlotte how to fight.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book, about female boxers. Unfortunately, much of the book strayed from this. The book was written from three different points of view, Ruth, Charlotte and Mr. Dreyer’s childhood friend, George. Beginning with Ruth’s point of view, I was immediately captured by Ruth’s spirit, the atmosphere surrounding the brothel and the beginning of her career in boxing. Then, the point of view switches to George, and I felt duped. George’s story of he and his school mates was interesting, but took away from the female perspective and felt far too long. George’s perspective gave background to Charlotte, Dryer, Ruth and Dora’s histories, but did not do much to move the story along. Charlotte’s story was also interesting, but took a while to get to. I feel that I would have liked the book much better if it was cut down to just Ruth and Charlotte’s perspectives. Also, there did not seem to be any main climax point lending to a weak story arc, I kept waiting for something significant to happen, but it didn't.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book, about female boxers. Unfortunately, much of the book strayed from this. The book was written from three different points of view, Ruth, Charlotte and Mr. Dreyer’s childhood friend, George. Beginning with Ruth’s point of view, I was immediately captured by Ruth’s spirit, the atmosphere surrounding the brothel and the beginning of her career in boxing. Then, the point of view switches to George, and I felt duped. George’s story of he and his school mates was interesting, but took away from the female perspective and felt far too long. George’s perspective gave background to Charlotte, Dryer, Ruth and Dora’s histories, but did not do much to move the story along. Charlotte’s story was also interesting, but took a while to get to. I feel that I would have liked the book much better if it was cut down to just Ruth and Charlotte’s perspectives. Also, there did not seem to be any main climax point lending to a weak story arc, I kept waiting for something significant to happen, but it didn't.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.