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_alyssar_'s review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Classism, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Death
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Sexism
amobrien's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief
macykey's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.25
This is the best one of this series yet! You get information about the rest of the ladies without them being relegated to the background. How Lucian and Hattie’s relationship progressed was so satisfying! Her affections for him grew as she learned more about him and realized he wasn’t 100% what she thought. And Lucian turned out to love more deeply than half of the male love interests in these types of books. The discussion of politics and art were so satisfying and I love how Lucian’s affections grew for Hattie BECAUSE of her intellect. He never diminishes her ADHD or dyslexia and instead almost sees it as the reason for her being smarter than everyone else. And the spice? OH MY LORD. We love to see a woman enjoy having sex just to have it and go deeper into her pleasures and fantasies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Murder and Confinement
izzyf16's review
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Child death, and Suicide
regen20's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This has been by far my favorite of the three currently written. A lovely, engaging story. Knocked down a star because, unfortunately, I was not a fan of the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Alcohol, Classism, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
kb33's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first book in this series was great, but the second two weren’t nearly as good, and this one reminds me why. Hattie is immature - which is exactly how her character should be, considering she’s probably not more than 20, a virgin, and very sheltered by her rich family. I was surprised and disappointed by the direction this book took to get to the end. It felt very overdramatized, and very like Hattie didn’t feel special enough. Which, with the way her marriage started and the way her family treated her, is a fair way to feel, but this trope was tired a few decades ago, and always struck me as very childlike. To conclude, this was a decent book but it wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Sexism
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Violence
_savannahreads_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Gun violence, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, and Misogyny
katiemcgregor's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm struggling to decide where exactly this book missed for me. I was pretty excited for this one but I think it's ended up as my least favorite in the series, thus far.
I think part of the issue is that Dunmore tries to squeeze a lot into this book and the pacing and character exploration suffer because of it. While I appreciate the political aspects of this book I think they also overshadow the main relationship, which needed all the time and development it could get, due to it's rocky start.
Like many others have said, the last three or so chapters also feel like an odd pacing choice. Especially since the events of them are set up early in the book and then completely ignored until they're needed to add what, extra drama? I understand the reasoning behind the choice Hattie makes and I don't even fully disagree with it, but I think this last aspect of the plot felt like it was tacked onto the end of the book.
I don't know, this book was missing something. I didn't hate it, but it felt a little all over the place.
I think part of the issue is that Dunmore tries to squeeze a lot into this book and the pacing and character exploration suffer because of it. While I appreciate the political aspects of this book I think they also overshadow the main relationship, which needed all the time and development it could get, due to it's rocky start.
Like many others have said, the last three or so chapters also feel like an odd pacing choice. Especially since the events of them are set up early in the book and then completely ignored until they're needed to add what, extra drama? I understand the reasoning behind the choice Hattie makes and I don't even fully disagree with it, but I think this last aspect of the plot felt like it was tacked onto the end of the book.
I don't know, this book was missing something. I didn't hate it, but it felt a little all over the place.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Gun violence
meganpbennett's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I was very disappointed in Portrait of a Scotsman: I feel it was a let down for the series. Hattie is tricked into marriage to Lucien Blackstone, and she soon realizes that she's completely at his mercy, thanks to the law that makes her (literally) her husband's property. Realizing this, she tries to run away, and he kidnaps her, dragging her to Scotland against her will. Portrait of a Scotsman also doesn't have a happy ending, though the ending is just shy of hopeful.
The story took what felt like forever to get going, and then wobbled around as it tried to figure out what it wanted to be. Was it a biting social commentary about women in the Victorian Era and how much work went into getting the act amended so that women were not property and how much work went into getting (white, middle and upper class) women the right to vote? Was it a biting social commentary about mine safety? Was it a romance novel, featuring enemies to lovers, with a asshole with a heart of gold who's really a softy deep down? Was it the story of how a young woman learns what she wants out of life?
The story took what felt like forever to get going, and then wobbled around as it tried to figure out what it wanted to be. Was it a biting social commentary about women in the Victorian Era and how much work went into getting the act amended so that women were not property and how much work went into getting (white, middle and upper class) women the right to vote? Was it a biting social commentary about mine safety? Was it a romance novel, featuring enemies to lovers, with a asshole with a heart of gold who's really a softy deep down? Was it the story of how a young woman learns what she wants out of life?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Death
samchase112's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I am so disappointed in this book and how it turned out. I have loved the first two in the trilogy, but I just could not get into this one. The chemistry was not there between Lucian and Hattie, and all the Hades/Persephone adaptation did was make the first 2/3rds of the book really uncomfortable. The mining plot was interesting, but it was taken over by the ten-million other sub-plots happening. Seriously, why there were so many little elements to this story that felt superfluous. Consequently, I was not invested in the story or characters at all, and really just found myself working through it with no enthusiasm. I still want to read Evie Dunmore's next books, but unfortunately was not a fan of this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, and Child death