Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Infamous

Thank you St Martian’s Griffin for an Arc in Exchange for an honest review

This is a witty, smart mix of Bridgerton meets Colette meets Dickinson. I have fallen in love with queer historical romance and Lex Croucher wrote Infamous with such a women empowering voice and tenderness that I found myself squealing when the two main characters finally admit their feelings for each other. With the time that it was set in I did have a hard time with some of the plot line and it was a struggle to listen to at times, but overall was fantastic.

The narration was amazing and I had a wonderful time listening to this book!

Cw
Sexism
Sa
Domestic violence
Alcohol
Drugs
Toxic relationship
Infidelity
Gaslighting
Misogyny
Sexual harassment

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yikeslou's review against another edition

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funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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enchantedsleeper's review against another edition

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hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

This was a light and enjoyable read, with some reassuringly fanficcy tropes. The main character is a lot like Lizzie Bennett meets Jo March, if Lizzie/Jo were bi and SUPER DENSE about it. But she and her romantic interest are a lovely combo. Albert was also a joy and a really nice

supportive beard to Rose :D

I wouldn't have minded lots more of him. The only thing that bothered me was

that Eddie didn't fight for ownership of her novel at the end, considering that she had part of the manuscript and could prove it was by her! Even if Nash never went on to publish another novel, he still got the credit and acclaim. And everything was a Done Deal extremely quickly, somehow. I also wanted to know exactly what happened with Henry...

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flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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fictionalportal's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A fun read for the most part, though the protagonist Eddie is very difficult to stick with after a point. It's worth mentioning a few major content warnings, since the tone of the book shifts very abruptly in the third act. Spoilers below.

The way Eddie speak to her love interest, Rose, is rather lacking in empathy and a touch manipulative at times, which makes it hard to get into their relationship at first. This dynamic does shift over the course of the book, fortunately. Early on, Eddie often says things like "You don't feel this way, do you?" rather than asking a straightforward question. I understand that she's relatively young, but her voice read more consistently like a sixteen year old than a twenty-two year old in terms of emotional maturity.

Massive content warning for multiple instances of non-consensual sexual advances and attempted sexual assault. There's also a very confusing sequence fueled by hallucinogenic mushrooms that really ruined the last part of the book for me. In short, the main character is coerced into doing shrooms, and then it's unclear whether she hallucinates being assaulted or if she's actually assaulted. Then she hallucinates the man who tried to assault her shooting someone who interfered during the incident. Tonally, it didn't fit at all with the rest of the book, and honestly it was a very upsetting turn for an otherwise very lighthearted and fun story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book up until the last 80 or so pages, including the lackluster epilogue. The book is very well written, the dialogue is compelling, and the characters have really strong voices, but it seemed like the author ran out of ideas for plot and needed to contrive a way to raise the stakes at the end. While there was character- and plot-based setup for the events that occurred in those last 80 pages, it didn't feel necessary to go that direction, and it really tarnished an otherwise very enjoyable read for me.

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