Reviews

Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity: Including an account of the unnatural tendencies arising on the over-stimulation of the mind of a lady by Suzanne Moss

cazxxx's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

pandon's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

ogwen's review

5.0

Thea Morell lives and breathes natural history and science. Unfortunately, Thea was born into a time of gowns and petticoats, where the eldest daughter must maintain her social standing, marry well, and secure her family’s future. Maintaining her social standing does not include indulging her curious mind, or her unexpected passion for a lady friend.

Convinced that her eccentricities result from her over-stimulated mind, Thea must choose between love, passion, and duty in this delightfully informative, impeccably researched Sapphic historical fiction.

In this debut novel, Suzanne Moss has delivered everything I look for in sapphic historical fiction ... smart ladies who love ladies, a wee bit of mystery, and characters who fight for love against all odds.

I understand this is the first of three books, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Highly recommend.

zefrien's review

emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

littlestarsandstories's review

5.0

Holy shit I loved this so much more than I thought I would and now I desperately want a sequel because damn I loved it

reginasbread's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

shaishaishai's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kizzia's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

This book will take you on a journey of discovery through Georgian Society at the shoulder of Thea Morell, who captured my heart in half a page and did not let go for the rest of the novel. Extremely well written you will find yourself absorbing botanical facts as well as enjoying utterly delicious sapphic interludes (if you do not like sex scenes in books then this may not be for you) and rooting for Thea to find a way to make it all work.

This is not a book to inhale at speed, even though you'll probably want to. It is a book to sink into and savour, so you experience the world and work that has gone into making it so seamless and real. It covers a lot of ground, both real and metaphorical, but at no point does the text feel laboured or fraught. 

It felt, to me, like the best sort of mix between Jane Austen's observations of life and the breadth of topics in the Memoirs of Lady Trent series, although without the fantastical element. It is a proper slice of Georgian romance, beautiful balanced between the main story and the sub plots, all of which shape the story arc perfectly. The characters are well written and whilst a few may appear at first to be caricatures you'll soon see them grow and round out as the story progresses. Yes, even the ones you'll love to hate.

The ending is bitter sweet but satisfying and there are some wonderful moments when, if you're anything like me, you'll want to punch the air in triumph. I cannot recommend it highly enough and I am extremely happy that Suzanne is already working on the second book in this series.