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petersenftleben's review against another edition
5.0
ARC won in Goodreads giveaway.
As expected, this was spectacular. I loved Seraphina so much, and not only because she's the antithesis of women of her era. Some of the lines describing her hit so close to my heart, and I can't help but connect with a droll, witty, intelligent heroine who, in the beginning, sees men as good for one thing. Adam is a worthy hero, but Sera is the heart of the book, and her backstory is the deeper of the two. I also really enjoyed a little hint of a failed romance of Marianne's, Adam's sister; I hope we see more of her and her story at some point as well.
As expected, this was spectacular. I loved Seraphina so much, and not only because she's the antithesis of women of her era. Some of the lines describing her hit so close to my heart, and I can't help but connect with a droll, witty, intelligent heroine who, in the beginning, sees men as good for one thing. Adam is a worthy hero, but Sera is the heart of the book, and her backstory is the deeper of the two. I also really enjoyed a little hint of a failed romance of Marianne's, Adam's sister; I hope we see more of her and her story at some point as well.
abrittlebee's review against another edition
3.0
Despite the fact I read a lot of romance, I tend to shy away from the genre’s most popular subclass; historical. This isn’t due to any sort of aversion to historical novels in general. I simply find myself disinterested in many of their more common themes. However, I have been trying to remedy this and seek out historical and regency romances that pique my interest. For The Rakess, my draw was definitely the characters.
In truth, had it not been for the character role reversal, I could see this falling in with the plethora of other historicals that are enjoyable but might not be particularly memorable. The storyline itself isn’t that uncommon. Widow with young children is seduced and tames the promiscuous rake. Yet, it is the gender swap specifically that makes this novel so different and intriguing. Instead of a widow we have a widower, and instead of a rake a rakess. With this simple alteration it changes the dynamic of the novel and puts the heroine, Seraphina, at the forefront as the more charismatic of the two protagonists. It also changes one of the overarching external conflicts to one that many romance readers can understand and relate to, the one for gender and sexual equality. It was a feminist twist I greatly appreciated.
The Rakess is by no means perfect. The story is a little predictable, and Adam, though charming and sweet, is a little bland when compared to his female counterpart. All the same, the good of this book far outweighs the mediocre, making it a joy to read and a definite recommendation.
In truth, had it not been for the character role reversal, I could see this falling in with the plethora of other historicals that are enjoyable but might not be particularly memorable. The storyline itself isn’t that uncommon. Widow with young children is seduced and tames the promiscuous rake. Yet, it is the gender swap specifically that makes this novel so different and intriguing. Instead of a widow we have a widower, and instead of a rake a rakess. With this simple alteration it changes the dynamic of the novel and puts the heroine, Seraphina, at the forefront as the more charismatic of the two protagonists. It also changes one of the overarching external conflicts to one that many romance readers can understand and relate to, the one for gender and sexual equality. It was a feminist twist I greatly appreciated.
The Rakess is by no means perfect. The story is a little predictable, and Adam, though charming and sweet, is a little bland when compared to his female counterpart. All the same, the good of this book far outweighs the mediocre, making it a joy to read and a definite recommendation.
juliakahrss's review against another edition
4.0
seraphina could run me over with a car and i'd say thank you
greylandreviews's review
4.0
4.25 stars
ARC provided by HarperCollins Publishers (Avon) through NetGalley for honest review
I really liked how this story was so different from other Georgian era romances. This book really goes into the double standards between women and men during this time; how men were able be scot-free with sexual encounters and not be shunned, while women were basically treated like they carried a horrible disease and it would spread like wild fire and corrupt all of society.
Following Seraphina's character development through out this book and how she faces her past is very eye opening and so were Adam's own personal struggles as well. Like how Adam was somewhat beta in character and let Sera be her own person. But do have to say the last 25% of this book did seem a little rushed and does end in cliffhanger.
If you want a more diverse historical England set romance, then I really recommend this one.
Trigger Warnings: verbal abuse, animal violence, asylum; mentions of ice bath, death; from child birth, mention of miscarriage, slut shamming, alcoholism, and kidnapping.
ARC provided by HarperCollins Publishers (Avon) through NetGalley for honest review
I really liked how this story was so different from other Georgian era romances. This book really goes into the double standards between women and men during this time; how men were able be scot-free with sexual encounters and not be shunned, while women were basically treated like they carried a horrible disease and it would spread like wild fire and corrupt all of society.
Following Seraphina's character development through out this book and how she faces her past is very eye opening and so were Adam's own personal struggles as well. Like how Adam was somewhat beta in character and let Sera be her own person. But do have to say the last 25% of this book did seem a little rushed and does end in cliffhanger.
If you want a more diverse historical England set romance, then I really recommend this one.
Trigger Warnings: verbal abuse, animal violence, asylum; mentions of ice bath, death; from child birth, mention of miscarriage, slut shamming, alcoholism, and kidnapping.
sbelasco40's review
5.0
Okay first of all, the cover of this book is SO MUCH. But also I think its extreme romance-novel-ness doesn’t reflect how much this book subverts a lot of the more frustrating romance novel cliches. For one thing Seraphina is a complex and flawed heroine who never has to sacrifice any of her complexity to fall in love, which I enjoyed so much. I also honestly enjoyed how moving beyond her traumatic past meant reckoning with her own anger, while her lover had to learn how to convert shame and guilt over his own desire into an understanding of what he could control versus what he couldn’t. Also her friends were so great? I don’t remember reading many other historicals where the friend groups were quite so well rendered, though I don’t know why. Overall: A++ read.
l1nds's review
5.0
I read a book! At something approaching my pre-lockdown pace! If that was the only thing in this books favour I would rate it highly, but wait! There's more! *takes a deep breath* Heroine loosely inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft, hero in the Jamie Fraser mould*, asylum breakout, feminism, non-cringey sex (on the whole, I think?) and some genuinely romantic passages!
*I know that other Scots are available but come on, if Sam Heughan is appropriate why wouldn't you make that your head canon!? Plus something about their early encounters reminded of Jamie and Claire's wedding night!
*I know that other Scots are available but come on, if Sam Heughan is appropriate why wouldn't you make that your head canon!? Plus something about their early encounters reminded of Jamie and Claire's wedding night!
sarahcophagus's review against another edition
4.0
Some weird contrived plot choices and it felt more intense overall than the Charlotte Street books that ended up kind of working for me. I really liked the pacing and length. The characters were all over the map from over the top to dull beyond words. Just kind of uneven with a lot of highs and lows.
timitra's review against another edition
4.0
The Rakess wasn't what I'd expected which isn't a bad thing since I enjoyed it. It's very feminist in nature which I absolutely adored. I loved the main characters, Sera and Adam as well as the secondary characters. I'm very much looking forward to reading their stories. I definitely recommend it.
Copy provided by publisher through Edelweiss
Copy provided by publisher through Edelweiss
thestarlesscasea's review against another edition
3.0
DNF at 53%, but I suffered enough from this book that I'm counting it as a book I finished. I have always been absolutely terrified of unintentional pregnancy. The last thing on God's green earth I want to do while living through a period when we don't even have the basic protections of Roe is read a book with so much terror around pregnancy.
This book is so bizarre because it sounded like it was going to be a sort of triumphant feminist book about a woman who unabashedly lives like a rake. That vibe lives within this story but is almost entirely overshadowed by trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma. The sudden, shocking violence against animals, the deeply concerning alcoholism, and of course SO MUCH MISOGYNY AND OPPRESSION. Obviously history was like this and the world is still largely like this, but this isn't how this book was marketed nor is it what I'm looking for in what I expected to be an escapist romance.
I thought I was going to finish this for a book club tonight, but I am leaning into caring for myself and living for joy instead of doing things out of the sense that I "should" do them, of which I think Miss Seraphina would approve. It's a shame because there are characters and relationship dynamics here that could have really worked for me, but not like this. I can't describe how freeing it is to let this book go without letting it steal any more of my peace.
This book is so bizarre because it sounded like it was going to be a sort of triumphant feminist book about a woman who unabashedly lives like a rake. That vibe lives within this story but is almost entirely overshadowed by trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma. The sudden, shocking violence against animals, the deeply concerning alcoholism, and of course SO MUCH MISOGYNY AND OPPRESSION. Obviously history was like this and the world is still largely like this, but this isn't how this book was marketed nor is it what I'm looking for in what I expected to be an escapist romance.
I thought I was going to finish this for a book club tonight, but I am leaning into caring for myself and living for joy instead of doing things out of the sense that I "should" do them, of which I think Miss Seraphina would approve. It's a shame because there are characters and relationship dynamics here that could have really worked for me, but not like this. I can't describe how freeing it is to let this book go without letting it steal any more of my peace.
fringebookreviews's review against another edition
2.0
It just…sparked no joy. Not even the mushroom dildo up his ass. The bird sacrifice and forced institutionalization helped tho!
Also what the FUCK kind of epilogue was that?? Just when I started to care smh. Like why do I need to be confronted with another shitty man doing another shitty thing to a woman? Even with the premise, this book still felt so centered around men it was exhausting. I love revenge but I don’t think she played many people besides herself. And then to circle back to the epilogue?? The next book isn’t even about that so idk
There’s the one good sex scene but the rest are over SO quickly and it’s all just Seraphina trying to shock the reader I felt like. A lot of this book felt super heavy handed. Idk they climaxed SO FAST like beep beep touch touch SPAPSPSPSPPASP 💥 I have no clue why the author thought multiple of those super quick low detail scenes would be hotter than a few really good ones? Not a clue. Also minus 10million stars for using puss (not pussy) and OOZE.
Also his kids seemed like an afterthought and I wanted more cute moments between them.
Also what the FUCK kind of epilogue was that?? Just when I started to care smh. Like why do I need to be confronted with another shitty man doing another shitty thing to a woman? Even with the premise, this book still felt so centered around men it was exhausting. I love revenge but I don’t think she played many people besides herself. And then to circle back to the epilogue?? The next book isn’t even about that so idk
There’s the one good sex scene but the rest are over SO quickly and it’s all just Seraphina trying to shock the reader I felt like. A lot of this book felt super heavy handed. Idk they climaxed SO FAST like beep beep touch touch SPAPSPSPSPPASP 💥 I have no clue why the author thought multiple of those super quick low detail scenes would be hotter than a few really good ones? Not a clue. Also minus 10million stars for using puss (not pussy) and OOZE.
Also his kids seemed like an afterthought and I wanted more cute moments between them.