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freefriday's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
raychelbennet's review against another edition
4.0
Based on what other people have said about this book, I really need to read more Steampunk because I. AM. INTO. IT. Robin Hood air pirates? Ships that fly? An all-female crew? A helmswoman of a FLYING BOAT named Byrdie? I've always appreciated the fashion but apparently I really need to get into the genre, especially when there is a wlw feminist af storyline.
This was a cute, fast read. It was very PG and not particularly slow burn. The characters were really interesting. There was a lot of great world building, character development, and exploration for such a short book. It felt fully realized and was entertaining. My only real complaint is that, for my personal preferences, I wish it had been longer.
This was a cute, fast read. It was very PG and not particularly slow burn. The characters were really interesting. There was a lot of great world building, character development, and exploration for such a short book. It felt fully realized and was entertaining. My only real complaint is that, for my personal preferences, I wish it had been longer.
foolofabookwyrm's review against another edition
3.0
This was a quick and easy read. Old west meets steam punk, the local postmistress and librarian finds herself involved with a dispute between her fiancee, the town sheriff, (who expects her to do nothing more than be a proper lady at home raising babies and keeping him happy) and a female gang leader, Mel "Mirage" Currier, who is determined to get her little sister out of jail before she is hanged for crimes Mel swears she had nothing to do with.
This wasn't a bad story, but I just felt that the entire plot was driven by a need to force a relationship onto Mel and Penelope. I truly love LGBTQA+ literature, and appreciate the representation, but those characteristics need to feel organic. I unfortunately didn't feel that from this novel. This felt like the need to have a f/f main characters was the purpose, and the plot was written around the characters.
This wasn't a bad story, but I just felt that the entire plot was driven by a need to force a relationship onto Mel and Penelope. I truly love LGBTQA+ literature, and appreciate the representation, but those characteristics need to feel organic. I unfortunately didn't feel that from this novel. This felt like the need to have a f/f main characters was the purpose, and the plot was written around the characters.
cdownes's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the cover. Honestly, and sadly, that's not something I can say often about lesbian books, and while we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, it doesn't hurt.
Post Mistress Penelope is quite an interesting character. Full of so much more than she is offered in her life, and circumstances in Fortuna give her a chance to amount to something more than the fiance of the awful Sheriff Wiley.
This is an enjoyable fiction with a baseline of gentle bravery to take the opportunities presented to you and eat the cake.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
Post Mistress Penelope is quite an interesting character. Full of so much more than she is offered in her life, and circumstances in Fortuna give her a chance to amount to something more than the fiance of the awful Sheriff Wiley.
This is an enjoyable fiction with a baseline of gentle bravery to take the opportunities presented to you and eat the cake.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
sarah984's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
3.0
This book was okay. In an alternate old west with airships, a small-town postmistress is kidnapped by a group of lady bandits who aren't exactly what they seem.
The book is quite short and written in simple language that felt like a YA novel. There isn't much actual action until the end, the majority of the book is the main character’s conflicted thoughts and conversations with the bandits. The characters are interesting but mostly pretty shallow in terms of character traits. There's an attempt made to address some real-world topics like racism and domestic abuse, but the treatment is pretty superficial and fluffy due to the short runtime.
It was a fun little diversion, but ultimately forgettable.
The book is quite short and written in simple language that felt like a YA novel. There isn't much actual action until the end, the majority of the book is the main character’s conflicted thoughts and conversations with the bandits. The characters are interesting but mostly pretty shallow in terms of character traits. There's an attempt made to address some real-world topics like racism and domestic abuse, but the treatment is pretty superficial and fluffy due to the short runtime.
It was a fun little diversion, but ultimately forgettable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, and Trafficking
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, and Rape
shereadstales's review against another edition
4.0
Note: I received an advanced readers' copy of this title from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. What follows is said hones review.
The Persephone Star’s protagonist, Penelope, serves as the Postmistress in the small town of Fortuna, and is engaged to the town’s sheriff, Cullen Wiley. The envy of much of the town, Penelope isn’t exactly thrilled with her life. Sure, she loves her work and tries to keep a small library going in the Post Office (which no one ever uses), she doesn’t look forward to her upcoming nuptials. Then, news comes to town of Mirage Currier and her band of women outlaws are coming for Wiley for revenge for the testimony that left one of their gang headed for the gallows. When Penelope is kidnapped by the bandits, her worldview begins to change and she is faced with some tough decisions about her own life as well as the lives of her captors.
I love a good romance, but too many of them focus too much on the relationship back and forth and don’t have another story. The thing that I loved about The Persephone Star is that there was a good balance. The primary story involves a young woman who feels that she is trapped in a bad situation and because the men around her have all of the power, she sees no way out. That is, until she meets the crew of an airship full of outlaws. Through these women, she discovers it is possible for a woman to be in charge of her own fate and to make her own rules. No longer bound by her old ideas, will she be strong enough to break away from the controlling men and write her own future.
I love the characters in this book. I’m a sucker for strong, multi-layered characters, and the members of The Persephone Star are strong, independent women, but they all have their reasons for what they do, and I enjoyed reading about their stories as much as following Penelope’s journey. I was sad to see the book end, and would love to spend more time with these ladies.
The Persephone Star’s protagonist, Penelope, serves as the Postmistress in the small town of Fortuna, and is engaged to the town’s sheriff, Cullen Wiley. The envy of much of the town, Penelope isn’t exactly thrilled with her life. Sure, she loves her work and tries to keep a small library going in the Post Office (which no one ever uses), she doesn’t look forward to her upcoming nuptials. Then, news comes to town of Mirage Currier and her band of women outlaws are coming for Wiley for revenge for the testimony that left one of their gang headed for the gallows. When Penelope is kidnapped by the bandits, her worldview begins to change and she is faced with some tough decisions about her own life as well as the lives of her captors.
I love a good romance, but too many of them focus too much on the relationship back and forth and don’t have another story. The thing that I loved about The Persephone Star is that there was a good balance. The primary story involves a young woman who feels that she is trapped in a bad situation and because the men around her have all of the power, she sees no way out. That is, until she meets the crew of an airship full of outlaws. Through these women, she discovers it is possible for a woman to be in charge of her own fate and to make her own rules. No longer bound by her old ideas, will she be strong enough to break away from the controlling men and write her own future.
I love the characters in this book. I’m a sucker for strong, multi-layered characters, and the members of The Persephone Star are strong, independent women, but they all have their reasons for what they do, and I enjoyed reading about their stories as much as following Penelope’s journey. I was sad to see the book end, and would love to spend more time with these ladies.
dreaming_of_eutony's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Net Galley and Riptide Publishing for a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A fun, fierce and feminist adventure that features found family, found freedom and a queer romance that will set your heart beating faster.
Set in a wild west with steampunk inspired aspects The Persephone Star follows Penelope Moser from her safe and somewhat mind numbing role of postmistress to the deck of the famed airship, The Persephone Star itself, where she comes face to face with the famous outlaw Mirage Currier.
Throughout her unexpected journey our heroine, a book lover at heart and always sharp-minded, finds herself questioning what the men in her life have always told her is the right and lawful thing to do.
The variety of characters in this book is delightful, we meet women from every kind of background and all with a story to tell.
Mirage stole my heart a little with her quick wit, open mindedness and loyalty to her blood and her found family both.
The plot winds along, never particularly rushing or slowing, the first half of the book is mainly the setup and development of intrigue for the unfolding action in the second half.
The writing is straight forwards and evenly paced and while in a few places felt a little too plain it did not take away from the story itself.
We are given a clear sense of the backdrop and type of world our characters live in even though we do not travel far from the main setting of Fortune town.
All in all an easy and quick read with plenty of wild west shoot-out style action scenes and shady double-dealings as well as interesting characters and heart-warming moments.
A fun, fierce and feminist adventure that features found family, found freedom and a queer romance that will set your heart beating faster.
Set in a wild west with steampunk inspired aspects The Persephone Star follows Penelope Moser from her safe and somewhat mind numbing role of postmistress to the deck of the famed airship, The Persephone Star itself, where she comes face to face with the famous outlaw Mirage Currier.
Throughout her unexpected journey our heroine, a book lover at heart and always sharp-minded, finds herself questioning what the men in her life have always told her is the right and lawful thing to do.
The variety of characters in this book is delightful, we meet women from every kind of background and all with a story to tell.
Mirage stole my heart a little with her quick wit, open mindedness and loyalty to her blood and her found family both.
The plot winds along, never particularly rushing or slowing, the first half of the book is mainly the setup and development of intrigue for the unfolding action in the second half.
The writing is straight forwards and evenly paced and while in a few places felt a little too plain it did not take away from the story itself.
We are given a clear sense of the backdrop and type of world our characters live in even though we do not travel far from the main setting of Fortune town.
All in all an easy and quick read with plenty of wild west shoot-out style action scenes and shady double-dealings as well as interesting characters and heart-warming moments.
wc4's review
4.0
**Big thanks to Riptide Publishing for providing me with an ARC for an honest review!**
3.75* How to describe this book: an F/F sky pirate story set in an Wild West type town? Penelope has followed her father as he moved west from New York, establishing banks in the West. She now works as a postmistress and self-installed librarian. Her father has also agreed to her engagement to the town Sheriff. She lives a life where women are supposed to know their place and allow the men to control their lives. Then, she hears news of a bunch of female-only criminals headed by Mirage Currier. They travel in an airship and can be described as sky pirates. The Sheriff's deepest wish is to kill Mirage and her gang. Penelope found herself kidnapped by the gang and starts to know their backstories. And what do you know, she even finds herself liking them!
This type of heroine meets dashing pirate and falls in love story is not uncommon. I've always found them quite fun to read. Who does not want to live vicariously and go on an adventure with a good-looking rake? The setting here is a bit different with the wild, lawless West but with airships. But, if there's one gripe I have, it's that the resolution came too quickly. It would be a good candidate for a sequel though, letting us get to know Mirage and her crew more deeply.
3.75* How to describe this book: an F/F sky pirate story set in an Wild West type town? Penelope has followed her father as he moved west from New York, establishing banks in the West. She now works as a postmistress and self-installed librarian. Her father has also agreed to her engagement to the town Sheriff. She lives a life where women are supposed to know their place and allow the men to control their lives. Then, she hears news of a bunch of female-only criminals headed by Mirage Currier. They travel in an airship and can be described as sky pirates. The Sheriff's deepest wish is to kill Mirage and her gang. Penelope found herself kidnapped by the gang and starts to know their backstories. And what do you know, she even finds herself liking them!
This type of heroine meets dashing pirate and falls in love story is not uncommon. I've always found them quite fun to read. Who does not want to live vicariously and go on an adventure with a good-looking rake? The setting here is a bit different with the wild, lawless West but with airships. But, if there's one gripe I have, it's that the resolution came too quickly. It would be a good candidate for a sequel though, letting us get to know Mirage and her crew more deeply.
corrie's review
3.0
Jamie Sullivan’s The Persephone Star was an okay read, no high flyer but still entertaining. The setting was mostly Wild West, with the Persephone airship as the Steampunk component. Main theme was a gang of wild women, painted as villains by the men in charge, are trying to break out one of their own out of prison before she gets hanged.
There is a lot of male misogyny in this book, keeping true to the time period I guess, but it still irked me that our heroine, Post Mistress Penelope Moser is so passive throughout the book. Only much later, at the edge of disaster, does she find her strength. The evil fiancé and sheriff of Fortuna was of the moustache twirling variety and I don’t understand her misplaced loyalty to him or her father, to be honest, for they did nothing to earn it.
The ship was cool, although I wondered about the science of keeping it in the air all this time. The family like bond between outlaw Mirage Cutter and her small crew of female misfits was sweet. The plot was a bit thin, the drama thick. So in short, The Persephone Star is entertaining if you don’t want to dig too deep.
f/f the romance part is very PG, a few kisses were shared. Penelope is a lady afterall.
Themes: Fortuna, Wild West meets a tiny bit of Streampunk, a kidnapping gone wrong, sky pirates, all men are evil, ‘little librarian’, wrongly accused.
3.4 Stars
* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Riptide Publishing for an honest review.
There is a lot of male misogyny in this book, keeping true to the time period I guess, but it still irked me that our heroine, Post Mistress Penelope Moser is so passive throughout the book. Only much later, at the edge of disaster, does she find her strength. The evil fiancé and sheriff of Fortuna was of the moustache twirling variety and I don’t understand her misplaced loyalty to him or her father, to be honest, for they did nothing to earn it.
The ship was cool, although I wondered about the science of keeping it in the air all this time. The family like bond between outlaw Mirage Cutter and her small crew of female misfits was sweet. The plot was a bit thin, the drama thick. So in short, The Persephone Star is entertaining if you don’t want to dig too deep.
f/f the romance part is very PG, a few kisses were shared. Penelope is a lady afterall.
Themes: Fortuna, Wild West meets a tiny bit of Streampunk, a kidnapping gone wrong, sky pirates, all men are evil, ‘little librarian’, wrongly accused.
3.4 Stars
* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Riptide Publishing for an honest review.
rosalind25e55's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0