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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
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
medium-paced
This book is exactly what the title suggests, fabulous. The characters are hilarious, the banter is top notch, the spice is spicy, the plot is modern in the Victorian era which is refreshing. You can't help but love the characters and want to read more even if they are over the top. Reading as Valentine galavants after his errant fiance with her brother and learns more about her and himself along the way is exceptionally entertaining. This is all frivolous fun in all the best places.
I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for a lot of things BUT ONE OF THOSE THINGS IS NOT the idea that a man's asshole would basically ever taste like strawberries. In fact, medical intervention might be required in the case that it did. And that's all I could possibly say about that.
Valentine certainly is a mega pathetic Scrooge McDuck.
First of all, I should never be seriously reviewing or reading a romance novel, being the kind of person who would rather die than listen to a cringy declaration of love or whose face involuntary scrunches up like a lemon when confronted with a sec scene in an audiobook. But I wanted to give this a try because I have enjoyed some a few tongue-and-cheek queer historical romances (mostly by KJ Charles tbh) And I just kind of like Alexis Hall's personality If not always his storytelling sensibilities.
Sometimes I think it's a real shame that I like this author's sense of humor so much...but I can't seem to enjoy his sense of pacing and plot. I don't seem to consider the events and revelations in his narratives to be enough of events to constitute a plot. He tends to Make entire scenes of conversations, which I actually really enjoyed in Boyfriend Material, but which doesn't work for me most of the time.
It's sort of the same way I feel about Neil Gaiman, a dude who loves words so much that He thinks all words are brilliant if you string them together.... I've never ever been able to figure out what's going on with that dude's popularity. S*** now I'm gonna be canceled.
Anyhoooooo.....
I also don't do well with plots that are mainly based on misunderstandings or a character's failure to act. Again, though, For whatever reason Boyfriend Materialis the exception. And Rosaline Palmer, but I didn't feel like that one had the same plot issues as his other books have.
Also, long interludes of "falling in love montage" make me want to jump in a creek full of frogspawn. But I do love the author's sense of humor. He's so.....idk, subtly self-aware, constantly poking fun at the genre or the situation and hanging lanterns/lampshades on tropes and cliches at every possible opportunity. It's so fun and tacky and I love it. It's always been hard for me to actually enjoy characters who do not have the ability to realize the absurdity of their situations.
And one of the things that I enjoy about the author is his use of(what's it called) irony in narration-- you know, that thing of which characters in a story make allusions to things they couldn't possibly know about--which I really enjoyed in the My Lady Jane books. You know having prophetic dreams of popular movie scenes that won't be made for centuries (and probably in another dimension).
Some of his more poetic passages remind me of Sarah Rees Brennan's writing--beautiful but also usually not enough for a person like me who would literally never read a poetry book ever again unless held at gunpoint.
Geez isn't Peggy just absolutely swoonsville? And shockingly capable. Man, if she hadn't been there during that duel.....
Why did they play a word game for 5000000 years so boringggggg
Valentine certainly is a mega pathetic Scrooge McDuck.
First of all, I should never be seriously reviewing or reading a romance novel, being the kind of person who would rather die than listen to a cringy declaration of love or whose face involuntary scrunches up like a lemon when confronted with a sec scene in an audiobook. But I wanted to give this a try because I have enjoyed some a few tongue-and-cheek queer historical romances (mostly by KJ Charles tbh) And I just kind of like Alexis Hall's personality If not always his storytelling sensibilities.
Sometimes I think it's a real shame that I like this author's sense of humor so much...but I can't seem to enjoy his sense of pacing and plot. I don't seem to consider the events and revelations in his narratives to be enough of events to constitute a plot. He tends to Make entire scenes of conversations, which I actually really enjoyed in Boyfriend Material, but which doesn't work for me most of the time.
It's sort of the same way I feel about Neil Gaiman, a dude who loves words so much that He thinks all words are brilliant if you string them together.... I've never ever been able to figure out what's going on with that dude's popularity. S*** now I'm gonna be canceled.
Anyhoooooo.....
I also don't do well with plots that are mainly based on misunderstandings or a character's failure to act. Again, though, For whatever reason Boyfriend Materialis the exception. And Rosaline Palmer, but I didn't feel like that one had the same plot issues as his other books have.
Also, long interludes of "falling in love montage" make me want to jump in a creek full of frogspawn. But I do love the author's sense of humor. He's so.....idk, subtly self-aware, constantly poking fun at the genre or the situation and hanging lanterns/lampshades on tropes and cliches at every possible opportunity. It's so fun and tacky and I love it. It's always been hard for me to actually enjoy characters who do not have the ability to realize the absurdity of their situations.
And one of the things that I enjoy about the author is his use of(what's it called) irony in narration-- you know, that thing of which characters in a story make allusions to things they couldn't possibly know about--which I really enjoyed in the My Lady Jane books. You know having prophetic dreams of popular movie scenes that won't be made for centuries (and probably in another dimension).
Some of his more poetic passages remind me of Sarah Rees Brennan's writing--beautiful but also usually not enough for a person like me who would literally never read a poetry book ever again unless held at gunpoint.
Geez isn't Peggy just absolutely swoonsville? And shockingly capable. Man, if she hadn't been there during that duel.....
Why did they play a word game for 5000000 years so boringggggg
It is June, but I still almost didn’t make it through this book from that ONE SCENE - if you read it you know what I mean.
There is a whole slew of unlikeable characters including Valentine for a good 1/3 of the book and Arabella for every scene she exists in. Around 2/3 of the book, I started feeling for Valentine since it felt like he was getting tortured and gaslit by everyone around him.
The best part of the book was probably Valentine getting reunited with his valet.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This was my first Alexis Hall read and I really enjoyed it! I was worried I wouldn't based on the mediocre reviews I saw when it first came out, but I found it to be very funny, sweet, and overall a great read. I especially loved seeing Valentine discover and understand his sexuality throughout the book. Looking forward to Peggy's story in [b:book #2|60191999|Something Spectacular (Something Fabulous, #2)|Alexis Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1643114983l/60191999._SX50_.jpg|94932130] and I will definitely be checking out Hall's other books!
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes