Reviews

The Banishment by Marion Chesney

mcf's review against another edition

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

3.5

lilcaitstephenson's review against another edition

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

4.0

katdid's review against another edition

3.0

I read a LOT of Marion Chesney as a youngster, because even then I loved the Regency period and because her books were available to me at the local libraries. Are they good? Not really, like Heyer Lite (VERY lite) and extremely formulaic: there's always some kind of older (not always wiser) character who either provides a crutch to the heroine (the males) or is a figure of fun (the females); there's usually six somethings (sisters; consecutive inhabitants of a house; etc.); and -- SPOILER! -- the last of them will trump them all and end up marrying a duke!!1! This series has the dependable male figure (servant Barry); the six beautiful sisters; and increasingly high-status marriages. One thing that cracked me up was villainous Judd talking about pulling down the temple at Mannerling, building a ruin, and making John the servant pretend to be a hermit to amuse visitors (and also because John was a bit too uppity) -- I gather that was actually a thing during the period, but the cavalier way it was thrown in was quite funny.

aminowrimo's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bookish_bowes's review against another edition

1.0

This is garbage. Insufferable characters and throwing around suicide like it’s a plot device.

bethanjane21's review against another edition

lighthearted

2.5

helenephoebe's review against another edition

4.0

Review - The concept is an intriguing one, but not one that hasn't been explored before by M.C. Beaton. In a lot of ways Beaton rather confines herself in this genre, writing a lot of quite similar stories. Nevertheless a good read. I did like the main characters in this novel, although the other Beverly sisters came across as very shallow, selfish and materialistic. I hope this changes in the later books (though I have no doubt that it will!)

Genre? - Romance / Historical / Drama

Characters? - Isabella Beverly / Jessica Beverly / Lord Fitzpatrick / Lady Beverly / William Beverly / Abigail Beverly / Rachel Beverly / Mr Judd / Lizzie Beverly / Belinda Beverly

Setting? - Mannerling (England)

Series? - Daughters of Mannerling #1

Recommend? - Yes

Rating - 15/20

calamitymane's review against another edition

5.0

An excellent start to this series. Light, as usual, but not quite fluffy, just the way I like my Regency romances, of which Beaton is a maven.

haewilya's review

4.0

The romance was kinda instalove. I love the darkness though and the heroine's character progression.

calluna_vulgar1s's review

3.0

In all honesty it read as kind of one dimensional. It wasn't poorly written necessarily but it seemed impatient. Like the author has it all in mind and wanted to get to the main points. It was a really short and not altogether unpleasant read. I don't know if I'm interested in reading the books with the other sisters as the plot is super obvious. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯