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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Courtney Milan does it again. These novels are fantastic– creative, romantic, funny, captivating, feminist– everything you could want in a romance novel.
*4.5 stars really.
Fine. I give in. There were things I did not 100% adore about this book because I am a human being with my own tastes, but this book was just plain excellent. I liked the main romantic couple, but I confess that my heart goes to the secondary one. In my opinion it was often the secondary characters and the conflict outside that of the main couple that truly made this book. Not that I can really complain about the main storyline, either. WHAT A GOOD BOOK. I cannot wait for the next in the series!
Fine. I give in. There were things I did not 100% adore about this book because I am a human being with my own tastes, but this book was just plain excellent. I liked the main romantic couple, but I confess that my heart goes to the secondary one. In my opinion it was often the secondary characters and the conflict outside that of the main couple that truly made this book. Not that I can really complain about the main storyline, either. WHAT A GOOD BOOK. I cannot wait for the next in the series!
I've not yet met a Courtney Milan book I didn't like. As usual, she provides excellent romance with believable, nuanced leads and well-drawn subplots bringing in important social issues of the day, and gives a delightfully feminist bent to the whole thing without resorting to anachronism. Not to mention some delightfully humorous conversations, excellently drawn secondary characters, and a plot that manages to stay believable, despite sounding trite and a little outlandish at first. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
themes:
- disability rep
- feminism
- women rescuing themselves 💅🏽
- interracial marriage & racism
- medical trauma & the fight for medical autonomy
- ✨yearning✨
- spice level: 1
vibe:
the perfect blend of fluffy and meaningful.
the tension between being and becoming was done so well and begged for my investment. the women in this story were so courageous, both in their struggle towards the freedom they sought and the beautiful way they supported each other along the way. if more of the romance genre took after Milan, the genre would be 100,000x better.
- disability rep
- feminism
- women rescuing themselves 💅🏽
- interracial marriage & racism
- medical trauma & the fight for medical autonomy
- ✨yearning✨
- spice level: 1
vibe:
the perfect blend of fluffy and meaningful.
the tension between being and becoming was done so well and begged for my investment. the women in this story were so courageous, both in their struggle towards the freedom they sought and the beautiful way they supported each other along the way. if more of the romance genre took after Milan, the genre would be 100,000x better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Misogyny, Racism, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy
Cute. Read this one post book 3, my bad. Was still good, events were a bit mixed up for me reading them out of order but it all fell into place just fine and even set things up for book 4. Really enjoyed the grittiness of the issues of the time. The one thing that has begun to annoy me though is the constant, "sweet heroine-name, pretty heroine-name, brave heroine-name" used over and over as if the author was watching Big Bang Theory and integrated the "soft kitty" song into the book.
Every now and then I try to get into romance novels, because I feel like I should. Here is this whole genre of wildly popular books, written for women, and it's weird that I don't know much about them, and I should give them a shot.
Then I give them a shot, and meh.
This is a cool book, that manages to talk about feminism, and sisterhood, and clever social engineering, and epilepsy (and what it means to have a chronic illness in the 19th century), and classism, AND racism. It got an A+ rating from Smart Bitches Trashy Books, and I see why.
BUT. The primary relationship didn't do anything for me, and I thought the sex was laaame. Bah. Humbug.
This is not my genre.
Then I give them a shot, and meh.
This is a cool book, that manages to talk about feminism, and sisterhood, and clever social engineering, and epilepsy (and what it means to have a chronic illness in the 19th century), and classism, AND racism. It got an A+ rating from Smart Bitches Trashy Books, and I see why.
BUT. The primary relationship didn't do anything for me, and I thought the sex was laaame. Bah. Humbug.
This is not my genre.