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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
The romance bored me but what I did find fascinating were the different rivalries, feuds and jealousies playing out in the background between the married society women. So much detail and world building was in this book (it’s Georgette Heyer after all) so despite the unremarkable romance and extremely rushed ending, this was still a decent read
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
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 stars. A wonderful read. Told with a lot of humour, perhaps a few many too details, but nevertheless an entertaining read. Frederica is a top heroine taking responsibility for her brothers and sisters. She thinks of everyone but herself. Along comes the Marquis of Averstoke who tends to think of nobody but himself. However he finds himself being largely entertained by Jessamy and Felix - Frederica's two younger brothers. They do get into scrapes. They have him doing their bidding. As we go along Averstoke develops and grows and so does his admiration and appreciation of Frederica. Not even a kiss in sight, just what Felix calls a cuddle! (An arm around a shoulder. Yet its a very enjoyable romance.
I probably never would have picked out this book for myself (Look at the cover! It's clearly some goopy romance.), but I got it for Christmas and it came with high recommendation (from a guy, no less), so I gave it a shot. It turns out to be the kind of goopy romance I like, the Jane Austen-esque variety where the men don't rip their shirts off so much as parade around in period outfits being polite. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
A solid romance for people who like Austin. I really enjoyed it.
Imagine an old Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn movie that’s set in Jane Austen’s time. This was my first Georgette Heyer book, and it was delightful. Great characters, zany plots, good pacing, and the dialogue is positively sparkling, darling. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. Bonus points earned for all of the ridiculous slang that I honestly cannot tell whether or not it’s real (rumgumption! pea-goose! frippery!).
4.5 stars rounded down, only because the beginning was a little slow.
4.5 stars rounded down, only because the beginning was a little slow.
This is my second Georgette Heyer read and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Spoiler
Seeing Alverstroke fall in love with Frederica and give up all of his rules for her was adorable! Also, I loved how he slowly grew fond of Jessamy and Felix as well!
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
First read 01/2025
This was my second Georgette Heyer book, so naturally I must compare it to The Grand Sophy, and unfortunately I found it a little wanting. Sophy was so willing to get involved in everyone else's problems, not just arranging marriages but also breaking engagements, as well as trying to fix people's familial issues, that there was a delightful array of subplots that kept on rearing their heads at pace. By comparison, Frederica doesn't have quite enough material to pad out the length, particularly around the middle, and so began to feel a bit tiresome.
Once again, it ended as soon as the couple admitted their love to each other (and promptly got engaged). I can't help but think of the hard-won delights at the end of Pride and Prejudice, in which Lizzy and Darcy both know that they're just waiting for Darcy to pop the question, and getting along splendidly. Heyer concludes her novels as though she thinks her protagonists would have nothing to do together, if they didn't have the will-they-won't-they energy to sustain them. I think she's right, but a part of me wants to see this miserable shit-stirrer and his blathering wife raising her younger brothers at his country estate. I believe Heyer wrote some (unsuccessful) murder mysteries? Perhaps she could have taken a leaf from P.D. James' book, and written her very own Death Comes to Pemberley. But no matter.
Heyer remains a very funny novelist, if not necessarily a sympathetic one, and while the book doesn't have much substance it is very good fun. She has graciously kept her rabid antisemitism out of this one, and if it has more incest than ever, at least none of the couples are too closely related. (Look, it's historical. Let her have this one.)
This was my second Georgette Heyer book, so naturally I must compare it to The Grand Sophy, and unfortunately I found it a little wanting. Sophy was so willing to get involved in everyone else's problems, not just arranging marriages but also breaking engagements, as well as trying to fix people's familial issues, that there was a delightful array of subplots that kept on rearing their heads at pace. By comparison, Frederica doesn't have quite enough material to pad out the length, particularly around the middle, and so began to feel a bit tiresome.
Once again, it ended as soon as the couple admitted their love to each other (and promptly got engaged). I can't help but think of the hard-won delights at the end of Pride and Prejudice, in which Lizzy and Darcy both know that they're just waiting for Darcy to pop the question, and getting along splendidly. Heyer concludes her novels as though she thinks her protagonists would have nothing to do together, if they didn't have the will-they-won't-they energy to sustain them. I think she's right, but a part of me wants to see this miserable shit-stirrer and his blathering wife raising her younger brothers at his country estate. I believe Heyer wrote some (unsuccessful) murder mysteries? Perhaps she could have taken a leaf from P.D. James' book, and written her very own Death Comes to Pemberley. But no matter.
Heyer remains a very funny novelist, if not necessarily a sympathetic one, and while the book doesn't have much substance it is very good fun. She has graciously kept her rabid antisemitism out of this one, and if it has more incest than ever, at least none of the couples are too closely related. (Look, it's historical. Let her have this one.)