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A review by pammie823
A Wager at Midnight by Vanessa Riley
emotional
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
I am glad I stuck with this series and got to A Wager at Midnight because this was a substantially better book than the previous novel.
Scarlett Wilcox wants to be able to live a life of scientific freedom. Freedom to attend lectures, do medical research and publish her findings. But in Regency England, that is not an option for a woman, especially a Black woman. So Scarlett dresses in men's clothing and uses her deceased twin's name to attend lectures and conduct research. When she is at a lecture, she's recognized by Stephen Carew, her family's longtime doctor, and he immediately freaks out. This leads to all sorts of potentially scandalous situations but also causes him to see Scarlett in a new light, as an equal and someone he could potentially marry. But things get complicated when Stephen introduces Scarlett to his community, a community of immigrants that has never felt welcoming to Scarlett and her family and when Scarlett realizes that Stephen has been part of keeping a terrible Wilcox family secret, she's not sure what will come next.
I did not like the first book of this series because it was trying to do way too much. This book definitely cut down on the side quests and focused more on the main storyline, which made this a more enjoyable read. I liked Scarlett as a character– she spends this novel trying to figure out where she fits in a world that doesn't want her to be herself. A world where her twin died but she lived, a world where she's forbidden from practicing her vocation because of her gender, a world where the Black community in London doesn't want to associate with her family because there is sickle cell anemia in their genes. She's got a lot going on and I really felt for her as she tried to figure out what she wanted from life.
Stephen was a (mostly) lovable oaf. It takes him a looooong time to see what's right in front of his face. And it takes him even longer to stand up for what he actually wants, not just what he thinks the aunties want him to do.
As with the first book, the story I was still most interested in was Kathrine and Torrence's. Especially because thesecret baby is not so secret anymore . I am very excited for the next book in this series because it's going to be Katherine that has some explaining to do. She never gave Torrence a chance to be who she needed him to be. She left and didn't say a word when he would have done anything for her. It's not often that a book has a heroine grovel but I think Vanessa Riley might be writing one and I can't wait.
Scarlett Wilcox wants to be able to live a life of scientific freedom. Freedom to attend lectures, do medical research and publish her findings. But in Regency England, that is not an option for a woman, especially a Black woman. So Scarlett dresses in men's clothing and uses her deceased twin's name to attend lectures and conduct research. When she is at a lecture, she's recognized by Stephen Carew, her family's longtime doctor, and he immediately freaks out. This leads to all sorts of potentially scandalous situations but also causes him to see Scarlett in a new light, as an equal and someone he could potentially marry. But things get complicated when Stephen introduces Scarlett to his community, a community of immigrants that has never felt welcoming to Scarlett and her family and when Scarlett realizes that Stephen has been part of keeping a terrible Wilcox family secret, she's not sure what will come next.
I did not like the first book of this series because it was trying to do way too much. This book definitely cut down on the side quests and focused more on the main storyline, which made this a more enjoyable read. I liked Scarlett as a character– she spends this novel trying to figure out where she fits in a world that doesn't want her to be herself. A world where her twin died but she lived, a world where she's forbidden from practicing her vocation because of her gender, a world where the Black community in London doesn't want to associate with her family because there is sickle cell anemia in their genes. She's got a lot going on and I really felt for her as she tried to figure out what she wanted from life.
Stephen was a (mostly) lovable oaf. It takes him a looooong time to see what's right in front of his face. And it takes him even longer to stand up for what he actually wants, not just what he thinks the aunties want him to do.
As with the first book, the story I was still most interested in was Kathrine and Torrence's. Especially because the