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alisoun's review against another edition
adventurous
3.75
This was fun and enjoyable. I loved the concept of the flying houses.
Loved how ned was just so head over heels from first sight. I love insta love from one partner!
I did enjoy the Flowery language lol but it did sometimes get a bit much. I also wanted a bit more 🌶️ if ya know what I mean. Like ONE more scene at the end!
I also wanted a bit more priateing. I would have loved a scene of them stealing some jewels or something from a house like they talked about a lot!
Loved how ned was just so head over heels from first sight. I love insta love from one partner!
I did enjoy the Flowery language lol but it did sometimes get a bit much. I also wanted a bit more 🌶️ if ya know what I mean. Like ONE more scene at the end!
I also wanted a bit more priateing. I would have loved a scene of them stealing some jewels or something from a house like they talked about a lot!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book was not at all what I expected, in a good way! As is my deal, I go in to most books not knowing much, so I was expecting a fairly typical historical romance. I was pleasantly surprised to be immediately thrown into a world of pirates (fancy high society lady pirates), floating/flying houses, and adventure! The romance is there yes, but it's definitely a sub-plot in my opinion. Listening to the audiobook of this I think was crucial because the voices of the characters, especially like the older British ladies was key. It was a romp of a good time and def not a typical read!
Oh also if you're a Bronte fan, their books are referenced like A LOT. A character in the book knew/was related to the Brontes? Having not read any, there seemed to be a lot of jokes that went kind of over my head. Definitely seemed like 'spoilers' for Wuthering Heights in particular.
I did find that there were a couple too many characters though and on audiobook I had a hard time keeping them all straight. So I was confused for honestly a lot of the book and unable to follow the what was going on, but the vibes were impeccable so tbh I didn't mind! I also think the pacing towards the end got a little off cause there's this big climactic scene, but then several more chapters after which seemed to drag on a bit and then kind of another smaller climactic moment.
Definitely recommend this one if you're looking for something historical but different!
3/5 🌶️
Oh also if you're a Bronte fan, their books are referenced like A LOT. A character in the book knew/was related to the Brontes? Having not read any, there seemed to be a lot of jokes that went kind of over my head. Definitely seemed like 'spoilers' for Wuthering Heights in particular.
I did find that there were a couple too many characters though and on audiobook I had a hard time keeping them all straight. So I was confused for honestly a lot of the book and unable to follow the what was going on, but the vibes were impeccable so tbh I didn't mind! I also think the pacing towards the end got a little off cause there's this big climactic scene, but then several more chapters after which seemed to drag on a bit and then kind of another smaller climactic moment.
Definitely recommend this one if you're looking for something historical but different!
3/5 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
This is a lighthearted romp humorously told, with a swig of casual gun violence, occasional swashbuckling, and graphic sex.
In this, the first book in the Dangerous Damsels trilogy, we are introduced to a world of magical realism where aristocratic pirates pilot flying houses that are mounted with canon and guns. Raised to be a ladylike scoundrel, with savvy and decorum, our main character is a young woman who has not yet been accepted into her Society as an adult. This coming of age story deals with a woman facing her evil father, choosing her own path, engaging in the martial art of Polite Conversation, and facing the warring parts of her psyche, both emotional and rational.
Although not especially diverse in its lineup of characters, it is fiercely anti-Patriarchy.
Good fun if not very deep. Pass the popcorn, there's a love.
In this, the first book in the Dangerous Damsels trilogy, we are introduced to a world of magical realism where aristocratic pirates pilot flying houses that are mounted with canon and guns. Raised to be a ladylike scoundrel, with savvy and decorum, our main character is a young woman who has not yet been accepted into her Society as an adult. This coming of age story deals with a woman facing her evil father, choosing her own path, engaging in the martial art of Polite Conversation, and facing the warring parts of her psyche, both emotional and rational.
Although not especially diverse in its lineup of characters, it is fiercely anti-Patriarchy.
Good fun if not very deep. Pass the popcorn, there's a love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Alcohol, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Drug use, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Death, and Sexism
Minor: Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, and Stalking
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Gun violence
desdowns's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
If the ladies of Pride and Prejudice became rogue pirates captaining magical flying houses, this is how I imagine they would turn out. The writing is always witty and often hilarious. It’s a coming-of-age story, a steamy insta-romance, a critique of the patriarchy, an exploration of generational trauma, and a love letter to female familial relationships. Lady scoundrels certainly have all the fun.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Drug use
ginger95's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Holton has a very interesting/quirky style of writing that isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy dry humor and satire this book is for you.
A Victorian romance between a lady pirate and a gentleman assassin, very entertaining!
A Victorian romance between a lady pirate and a gentleman assassin, very entertaining!
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence
overflowingshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
CW: Gun violence; murder; death of parent; sexism
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels is unlike any book I’ve ever read. It’s absurd and over the top, yet I loved every second of reading it! This book combines a fantastic romance with an incredibly unique premise, badass female characters, and razor-sharp wit. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun reading a book in ages!
Cecilia Bassingwaite is the perfect Victorian lady – and also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England in her Aunt’s house, drinking tea, blackmailing friends and acquiring treasures. Sure she has a villainous father and an overbearing aunt, but it’s a pleasant existence. Until Ned Lightbourne, a sometimes assassin/pirate, shows up. Ned is fascinated with Cecilia when he meets her, despite his orders to kill her for one person and capture her for another. One of those people is Captain Morvath, Cecilia’s father and an overall villainous person who intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. When Morvath captures the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with Ned to save the women who raised her and hopefully prove that she’s as much a scoundrel as the rest of them.
The premise of this book is preposterous. I mean, lady pirates who have flying houses instead of boats? An evil villain intent on wiping out a secret society? A handsome pirate/assassin/spy? All that together should feel like too much, but it all works perfectly. The plot is over the top, yet the book leans in and embraces the absurd, so it works perfectly. I was deeply engrossed in the story and couldn’t wait to see what wild and zany twist India Holton would throw in next.
Holton’s writing style is so unique, and I was instantly hooked! The book is very tongue-in-cheek with so many fun asides that add to the humor. I don’t often laugh out loud while reading, but this book made me do that multiple times. The dialogue felt real (despite some of the absurd conversation topics) and flowed rapidly. I also loved the chapter headings – it made this book feel like a play or something you’d see on screen. This book also gave me major The Kingsman vibes with the action and humor!
The characters give this book so much life and heart. I loved all of them. Everyone from our main characters, Cecila and Ned, to the secondary characters, such as Jacobson, felt like fully-fleshed people with their own personalities. Queen Victoria is one of my favorite characters in this book – it was such a fun play on a figure you think you know. Morvath is also such a fun villain. He’s truly an evil character, but his obsession with the Brontës and his bad poetry frequently made me laugh. He’s so over the top and dramatic in his desire to destroy the Wisteria Society, and I loved it. And Miss Darlington was such a fun guardian for Cecilia. She’s overbearing, overly cautious and a bit of a hypochondriac, but she’s also a badass and incredibly caring.
And then we have Ned and Cecilia, our main characters. These two were so good together! I loved how Ned had 20 identities – I feel like more kept coming out of the woodwork! Cecilia was a great, strong female character, and I love how she didn’t let others define her actions in the end. And the romance between them! I got major Mrs. & Mr. Smith vibes from them with the top-notch banter happening during action-packed scenes. This book is also packed with so many good tropes! Holton leans into the tropes in a fun way, making the romance sing.
Also, color me surprised that this book was opened door! The cutesy cover and the rollicking plot convinced me it was going to be closed-door. But this book has not one but two sex scenes – and they were the perfect mixture of sexy and sweet.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels was so fun – an incredibly impressive debut novel! India Holton has such a fresh and unique voice – I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this before, and I cannot wait to see what she writes next! I will be picking up The League of Gentlewomen Witches as soon I can (though I may be holding out on picking it up until a little closer to book three, The Secret Service of Tea and Treason, which comes out in April 2023, as I feel I’m going to want to binge the rest of the books).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism
buildingtaste's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a 2020s novel with an excellent conceit must be deeply in want of better execution. I feel bad giving this such a low rating, as it is probably one of the better conceived 2020s novels of the ones I've tried, but once again, after the elevator pitch is over, the book collapses like an under-baked teacake. And under-baked is the overarching theme: we are given rather thin sketches of the titular society, a teeming cast of characters, an intergenerational revenge plot nodding heavily to the Brontes, and a requisite romance. All of them are glossed over in favour of comic asides which, after a few repetitions of (and that was rather a funny bit there, er, wasn't it?) seems more like an author's lack of faith in their own prose than a stylistic choice.
Most egregious here, though, is something I can't blame Holton for, because it seems to be more a convention of the historical fantasy-romance genre than anything: Cecilia is just the least interesting person in the bunch. And we have to stick with her a good 80% of the time. When your heroine sums up her role in the story with a glib "I'm afraid I've done nothing to advance the plot," and it's true, a good editor should perk up and recommend doing something about that. Cecilia, despite her bog-standard spunk, finds herself constantly outpaced and outsmarted, by the titular society, by the love interest, and by her villainous father. Not once does she get to be heroic on her own terms, and she's so baldly horny for Ned that her internal refrain of "well-I-never" gets dull.
So. Janky start. But I think the world of Wisteria has some real promise--I'd be interested in reading a short fiction anthology delving more into the lore of historical Lady Scoundrels and the senior ladies.
Most egregious here, though, is something I can't blame Holton for, because it seems to be more a convention of the historical fantasy-romance genre than anything: Cecilia is just the least interesting person in the bunch. And we have to stick with her a good 80% of the time. When your heroine sums up her role in the story with a glib "I'm afraid I've done nothing to advance the plot," and it's true, a good editor should perk up and recommend doing something about that. Cecilia, despite her bog-standard spunk, finds herself constantly outpaced and outsmarted, by the titular society, by the love interest, and by her villainous father. Not once does she get to be heroic on her own terms, and she's so baldly horny for Ned that her internal refrain of "well-I-never" gets dull.
So. Janky start. But I think the world of Wisteria has some real promise--I'd be interested in reading a short fiction anthology delving more into the lore of historical Lady Scoundrels and the senior ladies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Sexism
A teenaged character and young adult character have a sexual relationship. It is played for comedy, with the younger character repeatedly lying about her age and the adult acting distraught about the revelation. Characters drink on several occasions and a character gets drunk without real consent or awareness that alcohol will intoxicate her; this character vomits while drunk. The backstory of a character involves being abandoned by his parents. The lower class characters are usually fearful, superstitious, and deemed foolish. Most characters are kidnapped and imprisoned. The backstory of multiple characters involve their mothers being murdered in front of them. The main character's aunt is controlling and overbearing. Alcohol and cocaine pastilles are used by characters. A verbal spar of two characters involves multiple fatphobic remarks. Most characters have and use guns with murderous intent, though no one dies from a gunshot in the text. There is cousin marriage. The villain's primary motivation is named as misogyny. There is a chapter dedicated to a sex scene (Chapter 20).imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, and Blood
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Thank you, Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing, for sending this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is based on Cecilia Bassingwaite and she is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief and a pirate. She is apart of Wisteria Society crime sorority, she files around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Yes, she may have a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, he happens to be under a direct order to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possess a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. However, both men make the same mistake. Never underestimate a woman. When Moravth needs stopping, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her – hopefully proving once and for all, that she’s as much as a scoundrel as the rest of them. This book is a romance historical fiction.
Okay, if you are wanting a pirate, action-packed feminist book, don’t read this book. It’s a romance book with a bit of action. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy this book, I just didn’t expect it to be all romance and a bit of action. I wanted it the other way around. When I first read the blurb of the book, I was like it’s gonna be bad ass girls fighting men and it’s gonna be great. But then Ned comes in all insta love and it’s just a romance novel. I liked Cecilia, she was great and was all for fighting men, but it just didn’t happen. I liked her back story and thought it could have gone more into her back story and Ned’s. I think this book would have been better if it was a slow burn which is sort of was from Cecilia’s point of view but not from Ned’s. I liked the multiple POVs during this book.
I just was expecting more and wanting more from this book and it just never happened. Hopefully the next book in this series is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Sexism, and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol