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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was absolutely ridiculous and absurd and... I loved it. Yes, the characters were unbearable sometimes but in a very fun way. I see how this is not everyone's cup of tea, but this has all the petty drama and theatrics of a Jane Austen novel, but queer, so this is ideal. I also enjoy a book that knows how to just have fun!
I’m in love! With a novel. Specifically, Alexis Hall’s ‘Something Fabulous’! It’s a gay romance, but it is a rollicking romp of a romantic comedy, hilarious and fun! Jokes and artfully arranged scenes come at readers very fast. Yes, yes, its romcom stuff we readers have seen before, but this book takes generic romantic sparring to a new level of hilarity. I recommend not only this novel btw, I also recommend listening to the Audible audiobook narrated by Nicholas Boulton. Boulton gives the novel real heft and lift with spot-on cadences and tonal pitch. In fact, I think the audiobook is better. It’s the kind of romantic comedy I suspect Rock Hudson would have really liked to do!
Not that Doris Day and Hudson did a bad job of making excellent dramedies of hilarious fun, the acting of false-front frenemy sparring in the movies they starred in together. I loved several of the really good romcoms they did. And I loved romcom movies Cary Grant did, especially the one he made with Rosalind Russell, in ‘His Girl Friday’. Or Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in ‘Ball of Fire’. I watched these movies again and again. However, my list of favorite romcoms, whether novels or movies, is extremely short, gentler reader.
I’m truly no fan of most of the books in the Romance genre. I have turned up my nose haughtily, and frankly, in complete disgust, after trying books several friends recommended to me, books I read primarily when I was in middle and high school, and later when I was a young secretary working with other young secretaries. These Romance novels appalled me because they were inane, imbecilic, and witless. The women are fools and the men are cardboard caricatures. Plots are by-the-numbers, but the worst part of them was the writing. Authors strictly hobble these novels with the kind of writing and plots fundamentalist Christians or twelve-year-old protected girls would approve of. Ick ick.
Then there were the other kinds of romcom novels - porn. I discovered porn shared a lot with the novels written for fans of Hallmark movies, oddly - horrible writing, bland shallow characterization, by-the-numbers plots, bizarro-world (reversed universe) Barbie and Ken Dolls. Ick ick.
But I enjoyed ‘Something Fabulously’ enormously!
I have copied the book blurb:
”Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.
It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.
Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.
Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.”
Ok, so I’m a silly female bugger. I liked it. A lot. Don’t judge me.
Not that Doris Day and Hudson did a bad job of making excellent dramedies of hilarious fun, the acting of false-front frenemy sparring in the movies they starred in together. I loved several of the really good romcoms they did. And I loved romcom movies Cary Grant did, especially the one he made with Rosalind Russell, in ‘His Girl Friday’. Or Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in ‘Ball of Fire’. I watched these movies again and again. However, my list of favorite romcoms, whether novels or movies, is extremely short, gentler reader.
I’m truly no fan of most of the books in the Romance genre. I have turned up my nose haughtily, and frankly, in complete disgust, after trying books several friends recommended to me, books I read primarily when I was in middle and high school, and later when I was a young secretary working with other young secretaries. These Romance novels appalled me because they were inane, imbecilic, and witless. The women are fools and the men are cardboard caricatures. Plots are by-the-numbers, but the worst part of them was the writing. Authors strictly hobble these novels with the kind of writing and plots fundamentalist Christians or twelve-year-old protected girls would approve of. Ick ick.
Then there were the other kinds of romcom novels - porn. I discovered porn shared a lot with the novels written for fans of Hallmark movies, oddly - horrible writing, bland shallow characterization, by-the-numbers plots, bizarro-world (reversed universe) Barbie and Ken Dolls. Ick ick.
But I enjoyed ‘Something Fabulously’ enormously!
I have copied the book blurb:
”Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.
It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.
Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.
Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.”
Ok, so I’m a silly female bugger. I liked it. A lot. Don’t judge me.
I initially rated this as 2 stars, but on reflection dropped it down to 1. The entire point of this novel seems to be to ridicule and abuse Valentine for not being what the other characters have decided he ought to be, despite the fact that there is literally nothing wrong with the way he is to begin with. His only real "crime", as others have put it, is being a Regency hero in a decidedly non-Regency world, for which he is expected to apologise endlessly and turn himself inside-out to please people who go out of their way to mock, malign, misunderstand, and physically mistreat him for no good reason.
This would be bad enough, but a significant proportion of those traits that are derided by the narrative are closely linked to Valentine being (canonically) demisexual and (heavily coded as) neurodiverse, meaning much of the “humour” comes across as punching down despite his wealth and other privileges. Much of it is needlessly demeaning and cruel; for example, I found the way Valentine is expected to just magically understand things he has no experience of (then belittled when he does not) and repeatedly accused of being intentionally rude and hurtful (when he genuinely doesn't understand why or how he has caused offense, and is often actively trying to explain or apologise) to be especially painful to read. There’s also the fact that this supposedly demisexual character was totally up for having sex after all of 48 hours running around the countryside with this guy, which is...not generally how that works, actually.
This had the potential to be a hilarious, fabulously queer send-up of the Regency romance genre, and I really wish it had delivered, but it did not. Not good rep, not funny, and more heart-wrenching than the heart-warming romance it was pretending to be. Not recommended.
This would be bad enough, but a significant proportion of those traits that are derided by the narrative are closely linked to Valentine being (canonically) demisexual and (heavily coded as) neurodiverse, meaning much of the “humour” comes across as punching down despite his wealth and other privileges. Much of it is needlessly demeaning and cruel; for example, I found the way Valentine is expected to just magically understand things he has no experience of (then belittled when he does not) and repeatedly accused of being intentionally rude and hurtful (when he genuinely doesn't understand why or how he has caused offense, and is often actively trying to explain or apologise) to be especially painful to read. There’s also the fact that this supposedly demisexual character was totally up for having sex after all of 48 hours running around the countryside with this guy, which is...not generally how that works, actually.
This had the potential to be a hilarious, fabulously queer send-up of the Regency romance genre, and I really wish it had delivered, but it did not. Not good rep, not funny, and more heart-wrenching than the heart-warming romance it was pretending to be. Not recommended.
Woow, I'm really disappointed and did not expect to dislike this SO much. I understand this book was intended to be a ridiculous gay romp, and it was definitely ridiculous, but it was also just plain MEAN. So much behavior was just uncalled for, and the meanness turned me off full stop.
What a hoot of a bodice-ripper this book was - can't wait to read more in this series.
I absolutely adored Boyfriend Material and can’t wait for Husband Material.
This book? Meh. I just didn’t really care for all the characters. I definitely prefer Hall’s contemporary romances over the regency romances.
The duke was fine. Valentine grew on me. He was arrogant, of course, but hey - he was a duke. They’re like that. Plus, he came around which was probably the plan and I really liked that, though he wasn’t always wrong.
Bonny I liked, but even he had a childish moment or two though he was optimistically goofy and I loved that. They eventually got together which was also the plan and that made me happy.
Arabella - honestly, the whole book would have been better without her in it. Sure that would defeat the point of the story, but she didn’t add anything and nothing about her was likable. She was an insufferable, bratty, little, petulant child never contributing more than showing temper tantrums like a 3-year old who didn’t get another piece of cake. (Technically she wasn’t a child - she was Bonny’s twin, but she acted Iike one) She listened to no one, cut people off, ran away at every turn, blah blah blah. I can’t even come up with enough words to describe how much she annoyed me.
Peggy - hardly saw too much of her, but I liked her. Hook her up with someone else, and she has the workings of a really fun character.
So should you read this? Absolutely. Alexis Hall is a great writer who has some terrific stories.
This book? Meh. I just didn’t really care for all the characters. I definitely prefer Hall’s contemporary romances over the regency romances.
The duke was fine. Valentine grew on me. He was arrogant, of course, but hey - he was a duke. They’re like that. Plus, he came around which was probably the plan and I really liked that, though he wasn’t always wrong.
Bonny I liked, but even he had a childish moment or two though he was optimistically goofy and I loved that. They eventually got together which was also the plan and that made me happy.
Arabella - honestly, the whole book would have been better without her in it. Sure that would defeat the point of the story, but she didn’t add anything and nothing about her was likable. She was an insufferable, bratty, little, petulant child never contributing more than showing temper tantrums like a 3-year old who didn’t get another piece of cake. (Technically she wasn’t a child - she was Bonny’s twin, but she acted Iike one) She listened to no one, cut people off, ran away at every turn, blah blah blah. I can’t even come up with enough words to describe how much she annoyed me.
Peggy - hardly saw too much of her, but I liked her. Hook her up with someone else, and she has the workings of a really fun character.
So should you read this? Absolutely. Alexis Hall is a great writer who has some terrific stories.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Love this. Very cute. I laughed so hard throughout the book. Lots of great quotes to highlight.
Took a minute and then it was stressful at times but mostly light and fluffy and I love the diversity of queer representation.