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A review by andipants
Hamilton's Battalion: A Trio of Romances by Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, Rose Lerner
5.0
Confession: I haven't seen Hamilton. I haven't listened to the soundtrack. I have no idea what the plot of it is, other than that it involves the Founding Fathers being played by people of color and hip-hop. So if there's tying in or inspiration or homage or anything like that going on here, I'm not aware. That said, this was plenty wonderful on its own. [Insert several heart-eyes emojis & incoherent squeeing here.]
Rose Lerner's Promised Land is the only m/f pairing here, and it starts with one of my favorite historical tropes, a woman dressing as a man to go off and do badass stuff. Both MCs are Jewish, which is a refreshing change of pace from your garden variety historical, and I liked that they both have very different approaches to religious observance (he's super letter-of-the-law strict, while she's more of the it's-the-thought-that-counts mindset) while both still being totally committed to their beliefs and culture. There was a lot of serious emotional growth here, especially for a novella, which was great. I will say, I was a little uncomfortable that Nathan's mother (who never appears in the story but is discussed often as a source of conflict) seems to be a wholly one-dimensional walking Jewish mother stereotype, but the rest of the characterization was quite good.
Courtney Milan's The Pursuit Of... is an interracial m/m pairing between Henry, a "frivolous" Brit sent away to the army by his disapproving father in hopes that he'll die heroically, and John, a former slave who who doesn't give much of a shit what he's fighting for except to get safely home to his sister and make sure she's okay. Both characters are a delight, and the way the story deals with race is tough and nuanced, though the heavy stuff is balanced by some fun and sometimes downright silly dialogue. If I have one complaint, it's that said dialogue makes absolutely no attempt at historical authenticity; I've noticed this tendency to some extent in CM's regencies, but it's absolutely blatant here. That said, it's still fun, and goddamn if I didn't feel patriotic, seeing Henry waxing rhapsodic about the ideals this country was founded on, and how even though we've always fallen short, it's still absolutely worth trying to do better and move toward them as much as we can.
And finally, Alyssa Cole's That Could Be Enough rounds out the collection with a lovely relationship between two very different and equally wonderful black women. Mercy's quiet, unassuming demeanor hides a sensitive, artistic soul, but she's been badly hurt and has coped by pushing aside her dreams and making do with a life serving others. Andromeda is bold and self-possessed; she knows the obstacles she faces and has no intention of letting them stop her. Both of these characters are fantastic, and the relationship between them is sweet and satisfying, especially watching Mercy come out of her shell and learning to trust and dream again. And Cole's powers of historical detail (to which anybody who's read her Loyal League series can testify) are on full display, even within the novella's space confines. She paints a brief but vivid picture of a diverse early 19th century community and shines light on some corners history has traditionally overlooked.
All in all, each of these stories is lovely on its own, and together they paint a picture of the America that has always been there -- the queer, racially and religiously diverse people that history has ignored but who have been living and loving here along with everyone else from the very start. That's my America, and I am absolutely here for it.
Rose Lerner's Promised Land is the only m/f pairing here, and it starts with one of my favorite historical tropes, a woman dressing as a man to go off and do badass stuff. Both MCs are Jewish, which is a refreshing change of pace from your garden variety historical, and I liked that they both have very different approaches to religious observance (he's super letter-of-the-law strict, while she's more of the it's-the-thought-that-counts mindset) while both still being totally committed to their beliefs and culture. There was a lot of serious emotional growth here, especially for a novella, which was great. I will say, I was a little uncomfortable that Nathan's mother (who never appears in the story but is discussed often as a source of conflict) seems to be a wholly one-dimensional walking Jewish mother stereotype, but the rest of the characterization was quite good.
Courtney Milan's The Pursuit Of... is an interracial m/m pairing between Henry, a "frivolous" Brit sent away to the army by his disapproving father in hopes that he'll die heroically, and John, a former slave who who doesn't give much of a shit what he's fighting for except to get safely home to his sister and make sure she's okay. Both characters are a delight, and the way the story deals with race is tough and nuanced, though the heavy stuff is balanced by some fun and sometimes downright silly dialogue. If I have one complaint, it's that said dialogue makes absolutely no attempt at historical authenticity; I've noticed this tendency to some extent in CM's regencies, but it's absolutely blatant here. That said, it's still fun, and goddamn if I didn't feel patriotic, seeing Henry waxing rhapsodic about the ideals this country was founded on, and how even though we've always fallen short, it's still absolutely worth trying to do better and move toward them as much as we can.
And finally, Alyssa Cole's That Could Be Enough rounds out the collection with a lovely relationship between two very different and equally wonderful black women. Mercy's quiet, unassuming demeanor hides a sensitive, artistic soul, but she's been badly hurt and has coped by pushing aside her dreams and making do with a life serving others. Andromeda is bold and self-possessed; she knows the obstacles she faces and has no intention of letting them stop her. Both of these characters are fantastic, and the relationship between them is sweet and satisfying, especially watching Mercy come out of her shell and learning to trust and dream again. And Cole's powers of historical detail (to which anybody who's read her Loyal League series can testify) are on full display, even within the novella's space confines. She paints a brief but vivid picture of a diverse early 19th century community and shines light on some corners history has traditionally overlooked.
All in all, each of these stories is lovely on its own, and together they paint a picture of the America that has always been there -- the queer, racially and religiously diverse people that history has ignored but who have been living and loving here along with everyone else from the very start. That's my America, and I am absolutely here for it.