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A review by mackle13
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
2.5
This is actually the second time I've read this book.
I had neglected to mark is as read on Goodreads or Storygraph previously, and found myself wondering whether I'd actually read it or just thought I had - because nothing of the story really stuck with me. So I thought, hey, let's give it a go and find out...
So I read the opening, and it seemed familiar. But I was still thinking, well, there might have been a preview at the end of the previous book? Because it's familiar, but still not really ringing that "oh, yes, I've definitely read this and remember what happened now!" bell.
So I read a little more and was like, ok, maybe I didn't read this...
And then I would remember things happening, little bits and pieces, but it still never really congealed into a solid "Oh, yes, I definitely remember this now".
All this to say - by the end of the book I'd realized that, yes, I had definitely read this before and clearly remembered very, very little. That's how much of an impression it made on me...
Which isn't necessarily to say it's a bad book, but it wasn't all that great, either. It definitely dragged in places. And I found Felicity kind of tedious by the end.
For me, the best of this story was actually Joanna knocking Felicity down a few pegs.
See, Felicity has a whole lot of "not like other girls" going on. The kind of sort of tomboy who looks down on girly girls, and has a falling out with Joanna for wanting to be part of society and liking dresses and parties... and Joanna is finally like, you're not better or smarter than me just because I like dresses and frills and you don't.
And Joanna is still smart and daring and caring and brave, all wrapped up in frills and lace.
And, look... I'm going to admit. I went through my "not like other girls" phase. I feel like a lot of burgeoning bookworm/nerds do, and it's often a sort of defensive thing, really, because we feel bad about ourselves, so we make ourselves feel better by putting down other people...
But it's not a good way to be, and the best part of this book was when it got called down and Felicity learned something and grew a little.
(Ok, aside from that, the actual best part was the scant parts were Monty and Percy were involved, because they're still delightful. And, yes, I did want to smack their heads together several times in the first book, so there's that.)
Anyway -
The worst part of this book is that it drags and it's so repetitive. There are only so many times I can hear Felicity's same speech to bolster herself up before it's like, yes, we get it. Move on.
One other thing I liked about Felicity was her being ace, and being generally comfortable with this part of herself. What I didn't like was the way other characters treated this, as a sort of challenge as opposed to just being part of who she is.
Overall, I didn't really buy the pseudo-relationship with Sim and Felicity. There's a fair deal of flirting from Sim's part, but it felt awkward and out of place, especially since they were often at odds, and not in the cute, bantering kind of way.
Also in the negative, a lot - and I mean <i>a lot</i> of this book could be solved by people talking.
If Sim had told Felicityabout what she was doing, and looking for, and why she wanted Joanna's mother's map and that she was protecting the dragons , and if Felicity had actually talked to Joanna about her feelings when she felt they were growing apart , and if people had just generally talked about what they were doing and why, then most of this book would happen differently.
And, yes, there's the whole "well, that's the plot", but it could've been a different plot...
Also, I'm a big fantasy fan, but I was a bit whiplashed when all of a suddenthere are dragons? Like, why not just make it a natural sea creature that people would use for medicines and remedies? Like, we literally have people killing real creatures every day for stupid reason and collections. Why dragons all of a sudden?
But reading the write-up of the next story, it seems like fantasy/supernatural is gonna be part of this series hardcore now. Maybe?
***
Anyway - I do remember enjoying the first story, and wished I could've liked this one as much... but I was also a little hesitant because I don't have a great track record, in general, of series where the POV keeps changing for every book. If I enjoyed the first book, and enjoy the later books less, I invariably just find myself wishing we were back with the people who made the first book so much fun.
And, in this case, Felicity just didn't stand up as well in her own story as she did in the first.
This is actually the second time I've read this book.
I had neglected to mark is as read on Goodreads or Storygraph previously, and found myself wondering whether I'd actually read it or just thought I had - because nothing of the story really stuck with me. So I thought, hey, let's give it a go and find out...
So I read the opening, and it seemed familiar. But I was still thinking, well, there might have been a preview at the end of the previous book? Because it's familiar, but still not really ringing that "oh, yes, I've definitely read this and remember what happened now!" bell.
So I read a little more and was like, ok, maybe I didn't read this...
And then I would remember things happening, little bits and pieces, but it still never really congealed into a solid "Oh, yes, I definitely remember this now".
All this to say - by the end of the book I'd realized that, yes, I had definitely read this before and clearly remembered very, very little. That's how much of an impression it made on me...
Which isn't necessarily to say it's a bad book, but it wasn't all that great, either. It definitely dragged in places. And I found Felicity kind of tedious by the end.
For me, the best of this story was actually Joanna knocking Felicity down a few pegs.
See, Felicity has a whole lot of "not like other girls" going on. The kind of sort of tomboy who looks down on girly girls, and has a falling out with Joanna for wanting to be part of society and liking dresses and parties... and Joanna is finally like, you're not better or smarter than me just because I like dresses and frills and you don't.
And Joanna is still smart and daring and caring and brave, all wrapped up in frills and lace.
And, look... I'm going to admit. I went through my "not like other girls" phase. I feel like a lot of burgeoning bookworm/nerds do, and it's often a sort of defensive thing, really, because we feel bad about ourselves, so we make ourselves feel better by putting down other people...
But it's not a good way to be, and the best part of this book was when it got called down and Felicity learned something and grew a little.
(Ok, aside from that, the actual best part was the scant parts were Monty and Percy were involved, because they're still delightful. And, yes, I did want to smack their heads together several times in the first book, so there's that.)
Anyway -
The worst part of this book is that it drags and it's so repetitive. There are only so many times I can hear Felicity's same speech to bolster herself up before it's like, yes, we get it. Move on.
One other thing I liked about Felicity was her being ace, and being generally comfortable with this part of herself. What I didn't like was the way other characters treated this, as a sort of challenge as opposed to just being part of who she is.
Overall, I didn't really buy the pseudo-relationship with Sim and Felicity. There's a fair deal of flirting from Sim's part, but it felt awkward and out of place, especially since they were often at odds, and not in the cute, bantering kind of way.
Also in the negative, a lot - and I mean <i>a lot</i> of this book could be solved by people talking.
If Sim had told Felicity
And, yes, there's the whole "well, that's the plot", but it could've been a different plot...
Also, I'm a big fantasy fan, but I was a bit whiplashed when all of a sudden
But reading the write-up of the next story, it seems like fantasy/supernatural is gonna be part of this series hardcore now. Maybe?
***
Anyway - I do remember enjoying the first story, and wished I could've liked this one as much... but I was also a little hesitant because I don't have a great track record, in general, of series where the POV keeps changing for every book. If I enjoyed the first book, and enjoy the later books less, I invariably just find myself wishing we were back with the people who made the first book so much fun.
And, in this case, Felicity just didn't stand up as well in her own story as she did in the first.