Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Rakess

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham

17 reviews

beccaand's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

what I want in a Scarlett Peckham novel: complicated female characters, buttoned up heroes, high angst, luscious scenes.

what I got in The Rakess: complicated female characters, buttoned up heroes, high angst, luscious scenes.

Content Warnings

anachronistique's review against another edition

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This is a complicated book: it's darker than the usual romances I read, unafraid to flinch away from some of the logical implications of what would happen in a world ruled by men to a woman like Seraphina. Readers should be aware of the following content warnings:

pregnancy loss, death in childbed, cruelty to animals and animal death, a character being put in an asylum, alcoholism and its effects, and general threats and harassment.

It's not necessarily a fun read!

But I really enjoyed Seraphina and Adam's romance. I enjoyed both of them as characters, and their romance and its twists and turns make a great deal more sense with their perspectives than some of the Third Act Misunderstandings in other romances. And the sex is scorchingly hot. I'm glad I read it and I enjoyed it on the whole, but it wasn't quite the sexy romp the cover promises. Also, YMMV on how you feel about the ending; I personally feel it fits with the characters, and with what Peckham was trying to do with the book as she sets out in her foreword, but others might disagree.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.5

- I adore the premise of THE RAKESS: combining the tropes of the fallen woman and the rake into one woman character.
- This book touches on so many of the ways patriarchal society hurts women and pushes them down. I felt so deeply for Seraphina and was rooting for her to realize that she deserved to be treated with love and respect, just as she calls for other women in her writings.
- SPOILER! The one thing I found odd about this book is that Seraphina knows so much about pregnancy prevention and yet seemed to know nothing about how or where to obtain an abortion, or that it might even be a possibility. Like, it simply was not mentioned at all?

Content Warnings

aqtbenz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

jackiepreston's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

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ontheoffbeat's review against another edition

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fast-paced

1.5

A gender-swapped interpretation of the "rake" trope in this historical romance following a sexually liberated female author and her attraction to a scottish architect and single father.

The author's note and the social movement that the author chose to focus on for this book were both intriguing and garnered my excitement. The movement in question is the early women's equal rights movement that began at the tail end of 18th century going into the 19th century. Pioneers of this movement included Mary Wollstonecraft, author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and the leading inspiration behind the protagonist of The Rakess, Seraphina Arden. Unfortunately, Seraphina did not come close to capturing the fervency of Wollstonecraft. This rakess remained cold, robotic even, throughout the entire novel. If there's one thing that this gender-swapped experiment of the trope proves it's that no matter what gender they are, a rake(ss) is still an ass. Her love interest, a Scottish architect by the name of Adam Anderson, likewise was poorly-written. His trauma from losing his wife and baby in childbirth is not handled carefully and instead came off as quite silly and melodramatic. It reminded me of the character writing of Anthony Bridgerton, whose fears also came off as silly and not the sources of turmoil that they were set out to be. I would hope authors and editors would go through more care in properly exploring the trauma of these characters while also bridging this gap of understanding between the modern audience, who live in a society where modern medicine has solved many health issues that would have been a death sentence two hundred years ago, and the characters of Regency England, who would not have such luxuries in their lifetime. This book also contains one of my least favorite tropes ever.

Any book that mentions that the protagonist is, or could possibly be, infertile usually ends in a surprise pregnancy and it makes me sick!

The best part of this book were the side characters, that is, the remaining members of the Society of Sirens. I would be interested in reading the sequel if it comes. I only say "if" because there is no information anywhere on the status of book 2 in this series therefore I won't be holding my breath.

Overall, The Rakess set its target high but did not hit the mark.

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meggiemine's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.5

“Fucking is rarely inconsequential.”

While reading The Rakess, I did a lot of comparing and contrasting to The Duke I Tempted, which is fresh in my mind since I just read it a couple of weeks ago. Compared to her debut novel, The Rakess is very well done and it’s obvious she’s grown as a writer. There was a lot of angst in this, but thankfully it’s not the annoying kind that results from too many non sequiturs. The characters’ motivations were clear so their actions and the conflict did not feel contrived and nonsensical. The ending got a bit too melodramatic for my taste. I don’t like when a betrayal or misunderstanding is used near the end as it sometimes feels like character growth is thrown out the window in favor of prolonging conflict. But, for the most part, I was pleased with how smoothly the story progressed and how easy it was to follow the character arcs.

Both books were heavy, yet The Rakess was slower, quieter, and more grounded. Whereas The Duke I Tempted was confusing and frustrating, The Rakess was melancholic. It’s because of this melancholy mood that I can’t bring myself to give this a higher rating. Even though I appreciate the book for its boldness and thought-provoking themes, I did not enjoy the journey all that much. I can handle darker elements in a romance as long as they’re providing fuel for the emotional connection between the main characters. However, in The Rakess, the romance was a bit overshadowed by all the despair.

Still, I find myself drawn to Peckham’s heroes (Adam included) who are the perfect foils for her heroines. On Peckham’s website, her signature heroine archetype is described as: unlikeable, alpha, brooding, and tortured. I think one of the reasons The Duke I Tempted does not work for me is that the hero and heroine fit this same archetype. The destructive behavior from both characters was overwhelming and their dynamic felt too unbalanced and precarious. In contrast, Adam and Seraphina balance each other out in a way that makes their suitability believable. While they’re both grappling with trauma and grief, Adam’s not turned to destructive behavior like Sera has, and is capable of providing the support she needs. His steady and reassuring presence in the story provided some much needed relief when things got dark and uncertain.

Overall, I’m glad I gave this a shot, but I definitely have mixed feelings about Scarlett Peckham. I wouldn’t say her books are hit or miss for me because often they’re somewhere in-between those two extremes. I enjoyed this enough that I added the next book, which is yet to be published, on my TBR. I’m very curious to see what happens with Eleanor and Jack.

Some stray thoughts . . .

The Rakess has a much stronger cast of secondary characters than The Duke I Tempted. Seeing how Adam and Sera interacted with their friends and family really helped flesh out their characterization.
The feminist themes are interwoven with the story well. Peckham is aware of and acknowledges the historical setting. She does not ignore the legal and social constraints on the female characters during this time period. Nor does she shy away from depicting the consequences when they attempt to circumvent them.
Sera was allowed to make mistakes, but always recognized them as such and apologized or made amends. I expected her to be one of those “strong female characters'' whose bad behavior is excused or forgiven simply because she’s a woman. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.
Despite the feminist themes and the heroine-centric story, Adam is not emasculated or belittled in order to elevate the heroine. Often times, an author’s approach to a “feminist” romance involves taking the hero down a peg or two, perhaps to symbolize destruction of the patriarchy. Peckham does not resort to that at all.
The narrator, Sienna Francis, was fine. I would listen to her again, but won't be actively seeking her out. I found a review on AudioGals that puts into words what bugged me about Francis: “repetitive intonation.” Every sentence was delivered with the same flat modulation. This was a detractor for me, but not a major one.
In one of the top goodreads reviews, the reviewer criticized the book for a lack of sex positivity, but I personally found it to be refreshing. Peckham depicts all the complexities of sex. Both the hero and heroine have to find a balance between pleasure and risk. The reason I chose the opening quote that I did is because I think it encompasses the underlying theme of vulnerability in the story. For further reading on this topic, I recommend Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent by Katherine Angel. I think about the book often, especially when reading romance—a genre which mirrors, in its portrayal of sex and sexuality, the consent culture that Angel is critiquing.

Series: Society of Sirens #1

Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: Summer 1797 (Georgian era) in Cornwall mostly, then London, England

Hero: Adam Anderson, Scottish, architect, widowed with children

Heroine: Seraphina Arden, daughter of a miner, radical feminist and writer, age 33

Tropes/Themes: bluestocking heroine, hero is a widow and parent, friends with benefits/no strings attached, tortured/traumatic pasts, ruined heroine, MCs are intellectuals/professionals and not of the aristocratic class

Format: audiobook borrowed from Hoopla

Narrator: Sienna Francis

Length: 10h 27m, 370 pg, 100k words

Read Date: February 15, 2022

Heat Index: 4.2🌡️🌡️🌡️🌡️

5 full, moderately explicit sex scenes and 1 fade-to-black scene. Sex acts include a lot of non-penetrative sex (to avoid pregnancy) and one scene with anal play (a rarity in M/F romance).

Content Warnings