Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - A Marvellous Light

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

86 reviews

literelli's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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oxfordcommas91's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

I thoroughly enjoyed this magical queer romantasy where both of our male main characters are a bit posh and a bit snarky, and totally falling for each other even when they don’t want to admit it. It’s a little bit Bridgerton meets what I feel like grown up Harry Potter might be like if JK Rowling wasn’t a TERF.

You can really lose yourself in this book and the author’s winding beautiful prose that Marske creates for her readers. It wasn’t a “fast” read for me but that was okay. It was a book I was more than content to take my time with - to really sit and dig my teeth into this one. The payoff was well worth it.

Thoughtful plot and magic system - the author takes good care to make sure that this book doesn’t fall into silly trope territory.

The romance element of this book doesn’t show up for a while, but when it does, you just want to sigh and clutch your heart (and then maybe your pearls because the spice is the sort of detailed and intricate that makes even a grown woman blush just a bit…). But really, I was head over heels for these two British boys who never really found a place to call home until they found each other. Like all other aspects of her book, the romance was beautifully woven and believable.

I am looking forward to reading more by Marske.

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mirandyli's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Pretty mediocre story about two queer white men in historical England dealing with magical realism.

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eucalyptusblond's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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memeraryfiction's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book! It's an enjoyable read if you like fast-paced, relatively light-hearted, queer historical fantasy with diverse, likeable characters and incisive but not-too-heavy social commentary. (And/or sexy content, because this one is spicy! Not usually my thing, but the characters are so likeable I couldn't help but be happy for them.) It's a very exciting debut and beginning of a series; I've already requested the second book from the library. I'm excited to read more from Freya Marske in the future!

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terranstorm's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.75

This one had it all, plot and characters and worldbuilding. I loved the magic system, the sinister house parties, the way the talents of magical women were overlooked, Edwin discovering of his "affinity" with Sutton, the whole other kind of magic women taught themselves in secret. It was all so elegant!

Then I loved Edwin and Robin's dynamic with each other. I truly felt both of their surprise and wonder at each other, the mutual fascination and respect, Robin's bravery and Edwin's precision, and the sheer headiness of the two of them feeling that desire spin out into something bigger and beyond their control (particularly on Edwin's side, when control was a lifelong necessity). Their intimacies with each other, and how that very, VERY new bond spiders through their relationships with all the other characters, somehow touching everything, moving everything. Their entanglement made the plot, in a way that's delicate enough to be hard to explain. I thought the plot events themselves were clever as hell but it was the characters' web of ties that made it all WORK. Exactly the kind of book I desperately want more of.

A brilliantly fun piece of fiction and I can't wait to read the next two books.

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kain47's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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wardenred's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Apparently magic was as inherently fiddly as Latin grammar, and required the same sort of attention to detail even when constructing what Courcey described as a minor object imbuement.

I had such high hopes for this book, but for the most part, it just kind of left me confused. I think it's because of certain structural choices, especially in the beginning. There's this prologue (I don't care it's called Chapter 1 when it is, for all intents and purposes, a prologue) that introduces a character in a stressful, emotionally charged, obviously high-stakes situation, provides a glimpse of his personal history, and makes the reader wonder what happens next. Then it ends, and we get to meet the actual leads in a situation that is a lot more mundane, sort of awkward, and involves lots and lots of telling about the magic system. And apparently the character from the yes-that's-a-prologue is basically just a plot device to build a mystery around. Though of course the mystery is now undermined by the information given away in the definitely-a-prologue-whatever-you-call-it.

Honestly, I feel this beginning did the story a huge disservice. It also kind of undermined Robin and Edwin, the actual protagonists, for a while there. At least for me. Instead of just, you know, meeting them on the page and getting to know them and becoming invested, I felt let down by their presence because they weren't really offering me what the beginning of the book teased. And the structural problems didn't fully stop there, they just became less glaring. But honestly, the balance between the romance and the mystery was rather off at times, and the relationship felt kind of oddly paced, as if the author really, really wanted to rush the slow burn but stopped herself from doing so for some reason. Or, well, that was the vibe for me.

I did really enjoy the worldbuilding, especially the magic system. It's intricate and fascinating and has some great depth. The main characters, once I got over that "let down" feeling, were really fun to follow. I empathized with Robin a lot, and Edwin had some beautiful moments. I overall enjoyed how the "opposites attract" trope was handled here. The journey had its pacing-related hiccups, but the ending still felt well-earned. And the external plot also delivered its share of interesting moments. It was just that, sadly, I had to constantly make an effort to stay in the loop, and I attribute it mainly to the book's structural flaws overlapping with my usual "fix it" attitude. I loved the idea of it, I just kept thinking about ways to tweak the execution.

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jilljilljill's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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itsnotalakeitsanocean's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

After my last disasterous choice in books, this was a great pick-me-up. Perhaps not the most robust of mystery stories, but if you come into this looking for a fun time with incidentally gay leads and a sprinkling of sex scenes you'll be satisfied.

What I liked

(Disclaimer that I am not a history nerd so apart from a few things that raised my eyebrows, I didn't find any glaring faults): The two leads were believable, well-rounded characters both plagued by different forms of inadequacy and lacking what the other has. It was nice to see them come into their own and find love with each other with a nice balance between the romance and the working relationship. I did enjoy a lot of the side characters too, but as below you'll see I wish we got more of them sometimes.
The romance between the two leads was sweet, and I enjoyed a lot of the descriptions of them pining in their minds. It was also refreshing to see that they had a healthy sex life but weren't constantly horny and trying to fuck each other in life or death situations like a lot of romantasy couples seem to do these days.
Despite my complaint below, I like what we get of the magic system and the magic is used in creative ways. I especially liked
Robin trying to get a grip on his foresight so he could control it and the tantalising glimpses of the future we got, and Edwin inheriting Sutton Cottage and him being able to control the house (rushed as his mastery of it was)

What I didn't like

I think the beginning is a tad slow but once the main pair get to the house is when things get interesting.
This definitely feels like a book that's setting up for a series (of which I accidentally started reading the final book of, oops) so although there is a decent amount of worldbuilding and exploration into the magic system, there is a sense that there's something grander that's missing from this installment.
A lot of the women in this book tend to be sidelined which, yes women in this period didn't have the same independence as their modern counterparts, but the only woman that really contributes to the plot
dies so that Edwin can inherit her residence and move the plot on.
From what I can gather the next book semi rectifies this with an f/f pairing which I want to read eventually.
This book does the classic third act misunderstanding which is rectified in a couple of chapters too early for my liking, ESPECIALLY because it was genuinely heart-wrenching to see them part for a valid reason.

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