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harleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book to be a pretty average book, but I still enjoyed it none the less. It was a SUPER fast read! Which I am very happy about, if this did not read fast I do t think I would have enjoyed it as much. There was the potential for me to be very bored, but due to the pacing of the book that wasn’t really an issue. This was a book I have been wanting for read for many years so I’m glad that I finally got around to it!
hibashakes's review against another edition
2.0
I'm so dissapointed in this book....
I was looking forward to a girl who wanted to break away from society. All I got was a selfish, stuck up, rich brat who tramoled on anyone and bkamed the world for her mistakes....
Why is it so hard for someone to own up to their mistakes....
Anyways, she didn't even break away from the normal convention of women. She broke away from morality.
I'm too annoyed to write an actua, review and I probably won't ejd up writing one...
I recomment this book to anyone who likes a whiny, stupod heroine who so stupidly impulsive that it should be illegal.
I was looking forward to a girl who wanted to break away from society. All I got was a selfish, stuck up, rich brat who tramoled on anyone and bkamed the world for her mistakes....
Why is it so hard for someone to own up to their mistakes....
Anyways, she didn't even break away from the normal convention of women. She broke away from morality.
I'm too annoyed to write an actua, review and I probably won't ejd up writing one...
I recomment this book to anyone who likes a whiny, stupod heroine who so stupidly impulsive that it should be illegal.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Full review at:
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2014/09/fighting-for-womens-rights-mad-wicked.html
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2014/09/fighting-for-womens-rights-mad-wicked.html
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
5.0
Friends, it's time for an admission. It's a rather big one, one that I am hesitant to make because of the connotations it might bring. It's not an admission that many readers, much less bloggers, are willing to outwardly make. Ready?
I am not a big fan of historical books.
Gasp! Okay, there, I said it. And really, it's not that big of a deal, but it did make me wonder - what was I doing being so attracted to A MAD WICKED FOLLY by debut young adult author Sharon Biggs Waller? It's cover has the one big gaping issue that makes me so wary of historical books - incorrect period attire, or just anachronisms in general. It's so hard to get a period correct, at least in my eyes. That giant, poofy anachronous yellow dress on the cover was screaming, "Megan, don't read this book! It'll be all wrong! Look at this ugly yellow polyester gown!"
Thank the heavens I did not listen to my instinct about the cover, because this book is simply amazing, beautiful, powerful, and unique in a sea of dystopian and whiny contemporary novels. It's dystopian of a historical sort, and while the main character does whine, this book made me fall in love with historical novels for the first time in a very, very long time.
Following Vicky, a young artist exiled from her French finishing school for posing nude in her art class (secretly attending with the help of her best friend until discovered by a jealous classmate), we are thrown into a world where women are expected to be mothers and wives and not their own person, where scandal follows you for life, where your worth is determined based on your marriage prospects, and where being outside the box will get you sent away to the darkest parts of England. This is really how things used to be for young women a hundred years ago, mind you. And with Vicky, we are able to see how one girl wakes up from the cloud of being upper middle class and raised with everything she could hope for except freedom and how she bursts forth and realizes that money cannot buy you happiness like freedom can.
It's hard to believe that in 1909, posing nude for an art class of respectful men would risk your entire future. It's hard to believe that your family would disown you for wanting to draw and go to college. Waller navigates this world with graceful prose and tension that by the end left me visibly nervous, shaking where I sat and timid to turn the page and see what happened as Vicky fell further down the rabbit hole of suffragettes, drawing nude policemen, entanglements with a fiance forced upon her as a business arrangement, and above all, applying for art school against the supreme will of her father.
“This is why we all fight so hard. Not just for the vote, but for an equal opportunity in the world. A vote is a voice. I think you underestimate yourself, Queenie. This is your fight, same as it is mine.”
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
This book is feminism for beginners, dropping us into a world where that word is as much a curse word as fuck is today. Going into this you have to put yourself back in time and remember the past before women can vote, before marriage for love was true and universal in the west. And Waller has done amazingly thorough research that puts you right into the time period and refuses to let you go until you've read the last page and left you desperate for more.
Thank you, Ms. Waller, for making me a fan once more of historical fiction, and I hope more people find this book and love it as much as I did. Truly wonderful.
sarahanne8382's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
Vicky has always known she's an artist, but in Edwardian England, there's not much room for a lady from a good family to do something as scandalous as draw undraped figures. In the process of pursuing her art, she meets the suffragettes and a young police officer who makes her see the world in a different light.
I would have loved this when I was 12 or 13, and I think any young teen girl who's into historical fiction or strong young women will like this. For this point in my life, though, it was too long and predictable, so I will admit that I skimmed the last half for good scenes between Vicky and Will.
Vicky has always known she's an artist, but in Edwardian England, there's not much room for a lady from a good family to do something as scandalous as draw undraped figures. In the process of pursuing her art, she meets the suffragettes and a young police officer who makes her see the world in a different light.
I would have loved this when I was 12 or 13, and I think any young teen girl who's into historical fiction or strong young women will like this. For this point in my life, though, it was too long and predictable, so I will admit that I skimmed the last half for good scenes between Vicky and Will.
thelily_library's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
heroineinabook's review against another edition
3.0
Something is missing from this novel. It could have been a lot more and yet, it played it safe. You knew what was going to happen in the very end, because the author made it all painfully clear this is what is going to happen through the entire book. There was no twist. No surprises. Not even a really original thought going into this book given the author's history (she lived in England for nearly a decade and had access to primary sources) and the fairly nice bibliography at the end of the book. The book is just mediocre and a let down, but it gets 3 stars because technically it is well written, even if the storyline seems meh.
The author could have made this really beguiling and filled with wonder, but instead she made it feel tightly corseted and maybe a titch overedited.
Pros
Story was fast paced and read quickly
Plot was pretty well organized and was linear
There was not an abundance of useless characters
When the author was on point about a scene, she got it brilliantly well (but this was more rare than one would hope)
Cons
Use of language: Edwardian England is a class filled society, yet everyone spoke the same: Her parents, Will, the French boys at the atelier, and so forth. She could have least tried to make an effort, but instead, this seems sloppy and lazy.
Colloquialisms: Example: In the beginning, she had her parents say "Oxford University," despite no one actually calls it that. She would often fob Vicky's use of American colloquialisms onto Lucy, Vicky's best friend from America. Considering Vicky and Lucy are not BFFs for first half of the book, this doesn't make sense.
Flavor of the period: Despite her meticulous research, you don't feel like you're in Edwardian England. Something is just off when she tries inject something that would give it a hint of realism, so then it feels stilted.
Character development: Other than Will or Vicky, you don't really get a sense of who these people are. Even Vicky's mother, whom we find out has a connection to Vicky's choice in life, seems to be absently shallow.
The author could have made this really beguiling and filled with wonder, but instead she made it feel tightly corseted and maybe a titch overedited.
Pros
Story was fast paced and read quickly
Plot was pretty well organized and was linear
There was not an abundance of useless characters
When the author was on point about a scene, she got it brilliantly well (but this was more rare than one would hope)
Cons
Use of language: Edwardian England is a class filled society, yet everyone spoke the same: Her parents, Will, the French boys at the atelier, and so forth. She could have least tried to make an effort, but instead, this seems sloppy and lazy.
Colloquialisms: Example: In the beginning, she had her parents say "Oxford University," despite no one actually calls it that. She would often fob Vicky's use of American colloquialisms onto Lucy, Vicky's best friend from America. Considering Vicky and Lucy are not BFFs for first half of the book, this doesn't make sense.
Flavor of the period: Despite her meticulous research, you don't feel like you're in Edwardian England. Something is just off when she tries inject something that would give it a hint of realism, so then it feels stilted.
Character development: Other than Will or Vicky, you don't really get a sense of who these people are. Even Vicky's mother, whom we find out has a connection to Vicky's choice in life, seems to be absently shallow.
sailorkchick's review against another edition
5.0
A Mad, Wicked Folly was a breath of fresh air amid all the YA dystopian novels that are flooding the bookstore shelves. Rather than think forward, this novel brings us back to a time some girls don't fully comprehend. A Mad, Wicked Folly tells us about a young woman during the Edwardian period in England, whose passion for art is pulling her in a very different direction than high society women were able to go at the time. She dreams of earning her own living! *gasp*
Victoria was a delight to follow as she tries to have both society privilege and recognition for her artistic talents. Don't miss out on this fun read.
Victoria was a delight to follow as she tries to have both society privilege and recognition for her artistic talents. Don't miss out on this fun read.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book to put in the hands of an independent and artistic young woman.
Victoria has loads of artistic talent, but she refuses to toe the line and comply with her family's expectations for her. They want her to take her place in upper-class society and be satisfied with a role of wife and mother.
Victoria has other ideas and does her art on the sly. She ruins her reputation when she takes her turn to pose nude for her art class in France where she is enrolled at finishing school. Now she's really finished!
Her parents bring her back to London and restrict her while they try to repair the damage done. Victoria plays along, but can't deny her heart's desire and lifelong goal to attend art college.
The backdrop of women's suffrage during Edwardian times echoes what is happening to Vicky personally as does a love triangle.
Brief explanations of all the themes in the story are placed after the story and bring in a nonfiction perspective.
Great fun and very affirming for girl power.
Victoria has loads of artistic talent, but she refuses to toe the line and comply with her family's expectations for her. They want her to take her place in upper-class society and be satisfied with a role of wife and mother.
Victoria has other ideas and does her art on the sly. She ruins her reputation when she takes her turn to pose nude for her art class in France where she is enrolled at finishing school. Now she's really finished!
Her parents bring her back to London and restrict her while they try to repair the damage done. Victoria plays along, but can't deny her heart's desire and lifelong goal to attend art college.
The backdrop of women's suffrage during Edwardian times echoes what is happening to Vicky personally as does a love triangle.
Brief explanations of all the themes in the story are placed after the story and bring in a nonfiction perspective.
Great fun and very affirming for girl power.