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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Cheery tone and characters, but not much conflict to drive the plot -- and very little period detail aside from the many, many parties and balls.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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:
Yes
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
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:
No
Read's like a nice pep talk from your mum.
funny
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Cute period piece. Historically inaccurate, but I did enjoy the plot development and the sources of conflict. It spoke to the classist and sexist past of the Victorian era in a tongue and cheek way.
funny
lighthearted
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
A perfectly fine, albeit forgettable, quick read. Interesting premise but I feel like the conflict evaporates instantly to give way to the romance and good fortune for all of the characters. And honestly, I wish Diana and Regina got together, because their chemistry and dynamic was so much more developed and interesting! Making this sapphic would've been more interesting in my opinion.
This one was a fun ride. Nothing revolutionary but a good solid historical rom-com. The characters were enjoyable and the mischief was cute
Diana is twenty five, and has been a wealthy widow for a year, living secluded in Twickenham, an hour from Town. To escape poverty, she was married at eighteen to a distant relative older than her father, who died after five years and left her his whole fortune. She has no intention of remarrying after her unhappy marriage, but one day she is inexplicably called on by not one but two fashionable strangers. She finds out that some appalling man has created a Registry of all the rich eligible spinsters and widows, giving their address, particulars, and fortune, so that fortune hunters can hunt them more easily! Diana won't take this ghastly document sitting down, and resolves to do something about it. But her subsequent quest will change her life...
This one wasn't for me. It wants to be proto-feminist fluff, but it's kind of insipid and undercuts its own messages. Every woman ends up married, including Diana with her instalove. There are no queer women - despite the fact that this is supposed to be an unconventional group - and no women who decide to stay single. I also just could never get over my dislike for Maxwell for creating the Registry in the first place. I thought Diana had more chemistry with Regina than with Maxwell, but - no. And the fact that there are NO bad, dubious, ill-intentioned, sketchy, lecherous, etc. people in this story at all - the only bad person is Diana's dead husband - makes it feel very unrealistic and flat.
Others may like this a lot more than me. If you are looking for super-sweet escapist instalove fluff, where the women break a few minor society rules and then all end up in happy marriages, then this may be for you.
This one wasn't for me. It wants to be proto-feminist fluff, but it's kind of insipid and undercuts its own messages. Every woman ends up married, including Diana with her instalove. There are no queer women - despite the fact that this is supposed to be an unconventional group - and no women who decide to stay single. I also just could never get over my dislike for Maxwell for creating the Registry in the first place. I thought Diana had more chemistry with Regina than with Maxwell, but - no. And the fact that there are NO bad, dubious, ill-intentioned, sketchy, lecherous, etc. people in this story at all - the only bad person is Diana's dead husband - makes it feel very unrealistic and flat.
Others may like this a lot more than me. If you are looking for super-sweet escapist instalove fluff, where the women break a few minor society rules and then all end up in happy marriages, then this may be for you.