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A review by alexampersand
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee
4.5
I can't believe how quickly I zoomed through this book, which I think is a testament to both the readability and my enjoyment of it.
At first I thought I was going to hate it; in the first 50 pages Adrian's constant inner monologue about everybody hating him and following up almost all dialogue with a rebuttal just grew tedious - and yes, I know the point was to drive home his anxiety, but it just felt like being hit over the head repeatedly.
Luckily once we settled into the story, either the constant mentions got toned down a bit, or else it felt like Adrian was worrying about things that felt more fleshed out, because it stopped bothering me once he and Henry set sail to Portugal.
And from then on it was just an absolute joy to read. At that point I started feeling like the intrusive thoughts and anxiety that Adrian felt were being really well handled, and there was one scene in particular between the three siblings where Felicity and Henry are talking to Adrian about not curing his "illness", but rather learning to deal with it, that almost brought me to tears.
I also really liked the fantastical elements, and I liked that this one kept a much more ambiguous stance about whether any of this was real or just purely imagined as a metaphor for mental illness.
I thought the epilogue was a little cheesy for my liking, but I guess it was a nice way to send off the siblings and the series.
Overall apart from a heavyhanded opening I thought this was fantastic!
At first I thought I was going to hate it; in the first 50 pages Adrian's constant inner monologue about everybody hating him and following up almost all dialogue with a rebuttal just grew tedious - and yes, I know the point was to drive home his anxiety, but it just felt like being hit over the head repeatedly.
Luckily once we settled into the story, either the constant mentions got toned down a bit, or else it felt like Adrian was worrying about things that felt more fleshed out, because it stopped bothering me once he and Henry set sail to Portugal.
And from then on it was just an absolute joy to read. At that point I started feeling like the intrusive thoughts and anxiety that Adrian felt were being really well handled, and there was one scene in particular between the three siblings where Felicity and Henry are talking to Adrian about not curing his "illness", but rather learning to deal with it, that almost brought me to tears.
I also really liked the fantastical elements, and I liked that this one kept a much more ambiguous stance about whether any of this was real or just purely imagined as a metaphor for mental illness.
I thought the epilogue was a little cheesy for my liking, but I guess it was a nice way to send off the siblings and the series.
Overall apart from a heavyhanded opening I thought this was fantastic!