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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Potential spoilers: Another humorous Regency (Georgian?) romance! I love how the main girl is “not a beauty”, as is so typical, but her personality and awkwardness is very charming. They guy is arrogant and those wicked looking eyebrows of his make him appear a villain! Alas, the heroine should be a secret author who modeled her horrible villain in her novel to look just like him! Will this be the scandal of the season?!
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was enjoyable until the ending. I didn't care for the proposal and eventual convincing "hoops" Sylvester had to jump through. By this point I was done with Phoebe and wished he had someone better to give his heart to.
2022 reread: 2.5* rounded up for engaging writing, but the story itself is hovering much closer to 2. The book has the usual Heyer's writing - engaging and fun, but the hero is not very appealing to the modern eyes, although I can see that even just a generation or two ago he would be seen as a great romantic prospect. The heroine is good natured, but childish, which is almost age appropriate - she is barely 19. And while this situation escapes the statutory rape accusation by a technically of 1 year, in the way the relationship is written the shadow of that problem looms large.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
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
Though this is probably my least favorite Georgette Heyer novel, it still deserves no less than 4 stars. Her writing is as wonderful as always, and Sylvester is my new favorite Heyer hero. He's prideful and seemingly arrogant, yet honorable and kind too. Phoebe on the other hand, is both likeable at times and an unreasonable goose.
It's Pride and Prejudice-ish, but also not. Sylvester and Phoebe have so many obstacles to overcome, you wonder how they will ever end up together. Phoebe has been verbally/emotionally abused by her stepmother and Sylvester has dealt with grief. Additionally, Phoebe has modeled the villain in her novel after Sylvester, resulting from a poor first impression of him. When her book soars in popularity, things get interesting.
The book gets off to a slow start but gets stronger as it progresses, save a few dry spots. As with all Heyer books there are hilariously outlandish occurrences, and the cast of secondary characters is always superb... Tom, Edmund, and Sylvester's mother are tops. Though not as humorous as the other Heyer books I've read, it really displays her psychological astuteness.
It's Pride and Prejudice-ish, but also not. Sylvester and Phoebe have so many obstacles to overcome, you wonder how they will ever end up together. Phoebe has been verbally/emotionally abused by her stepmother and Sylvester has dealt with grief. Additionally, Phoebe has modeled the villain in her novel after Sylvester, resulting from a poor first impression of him. When her book soars in popularity, things get interesting.
The book gets off to a slow start but gets stronger as it progresses, save a few dry spots. As with all Heyer books there are hilariously outlandish occurrences, and the cast of secondary characters is always superb... Tom, Edmund, and Sylvester's mother are tops. Though not as humorous as the other Heyer books I've read, it really displays her psychological astuteness.
Sylvester is my first foray into Georgette Heyer. I've read scads of historical romance written in the past 10-15 years. I thought some of it was really quite good. Reading Heyer puts them all to shame. Of course, if you're looking for pornographic Regency Romance, this isn't quite the book for you. Hit up Kindle Unlimited for something more wanton, but I still encourage you to read Sylvester regardless.
May 15, 2025:
I don't know if I was in the wrong headspace for this or what, but I didn't enjoy it as much the second time around. I had forgotten a lot of the plot and was expecting it to be different/funnier? The writing was still great and I love Heyer's savage character depictions, but I think I'll go with a solid 4 now instead of a 4.5.
July 14, 2017:
More like 4.5.
This was insanely good! I wasn't really sure what to expect from a Regency novel written in the 1950s, but this reminded me so much of Pride & Prejudice in the best possible way. Edmund was a riot.
Really the only issue I had was sometimes all the exclamation marks made me think Sylvester was joking with Phoebe when he was actually being a dick.
I don't know if I was in the wrong headspace for this or what, but I didn't enjoy it as much the second time around. I had forgotten a lot of the plot and was expecting it to be different/funnier? The writing was still great and I love Heyer's savage character depictions, but I think I'll go with a solid 4 now instead of a 4.5.
July 14, 2017:
More like 4.5.
This was insanely good! I wasn't really sure what to expect from a Regency novel written in the 1950s, but this reminded me so much of Pride & Prejudice in the best possible way. Edmund was a riot.
Really the only issue I had was sometimes all the exclamation marks made me think Sylvester was joking with Phoebe when he was actually being a dick.