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A review by rorikae
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
'The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels' by India Holton has a fun premise and some tongue in cheek moments but ultimately is too predictable and populated by characters that I found hard to care about.
The story centers on Cecilia Bassingwaite, a young lady who is working to become a member of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. Brought up by her aunt and amidst the society's collection of eccentric women, Cecilia has plans to deal with the cruel father who murdered her mother and wants to take down the Society as a whole. But Cecilia's plans are disrupted by Ned Lightbourne, a dashing assassin who has been tasked to kill Cecilia but falls for her instead.
I wanted to love this book. The premise is the perfect brand of kooky that I love in a story with its flying houses, a society of women pirates, and just enough magic to pull it all together. The writing is fun in many places when Holton plays on assumptions about Victorian society and utilizes the absurdity of her premise. The problem is that the story isn't much more than that. There is a plot but it felt relatively basic and it was populated by characters that were interesting but only so far as their more absurdist traits. The love story at the heart of the book was a little bit too instalovey for my personal taste though I did appreciate that the characters were forced together so that they had to build a relationship even if Ned's feelings were too instant. There never feels as if there are real stakes to the story and I felt that everything worked itself out as one would guess from the setup. There is a 'twist' but it is only due to the main character not seeing things through in a way that was frustrating and made the twist quite obvious.
I think with a little bit more time, Holton could be an author that I would return to again. If you go into this story mostly just expecting some fun banter and ridiculousness, it is enjoyable but don't expect much more from it. I want to like it so much more than I did.
The story centers on Cecilia Bassingwaite, a young lady who is working to become a member of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. Brought up by her aunt and amidst the society's collection of eccentric women, Cecilia has plans to deal with the cruel father who murdered her mother and wants to take down the Society as a whole. But Cecilia's plans are disrupted by Ned Lightbourne, a dashing assassin who has been tasked to kill Cecilia but falls for her instead.
I wanted to love this book. The premise is the perfect brand of kooky that I love in a story with its flying houses, a society of women pirates, and just enough magic to pull it all together. The writing is fun in many places when Holton plays on assumptions about Victorian society and utilizes the absurdity of her premise. The problem is that the story isn't much more than that. There is a plot but it felt relatively basic and it was populated by characters that were interesting but only so far as their more absurdist traits. The love story at the heart of the book was a little bit too instalovey for my personal taste though I did appreciate that the characters were forced together so that they had to build a relationship even if Ned's feelings were too instant. There never feels as if there are real stakes to the story and I felt that everything worked itself out as one would guess from the setup. There is a 'twist' but it is only due to the main character not seeing things through in a way that was frustrating and made the twist quite obvious.
I think with a little bit more time, Holton could be an author that I would return to again. If you go into this story mostly just expecting some fun banter and ridiculousness, it is enjoyable but don't expect much more from it. I want to like it so much more than I did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence