A review by nmcannon
Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Alexis Hall is a repeat winner in my sapphic book club, to the point I’m reading his work on my own. Something Spectacular was sitting so lonely on that library shelf….

Peggy Delancey is happy being a side character. She’s funny, supportive, and easygoing. She’s also desperately in love with the aromantic Arabella, exhausted from the critical mass of Tarleton shenanigans, and having thoughts about, maybe, someday soon…growing up?

The Something Fabulous universe is modern day with a Regency coat of paint. It reminded me a lot of dirtbag medievalism, but like, British Regency edition version. The Tarletons’ world is humorous, slapstick, and sexy. The characters are who they are, with brash confidence and no apologies. If you’re familiar with Hall’s other historical fictions, Something Fabulous is the middle point on the fantastical spectrum between A Lady for a Duke and Mortal Follies.

Speaking of middles, Something Spectacular is all about middles. Orfeo and Peggy describe themselves as “a little of this; a little of that.” It’s literally the middle book of a planned trilogy. The characters discuss sex enough for an erotica, but there’s no intimate scenes until the very end. The cast has sympathetic traits and go on sympathetic coming-of-age journeys, but they’re also a bunch of rich, poetry-hating assholes. My experience was middling, and I’m rating it 3 stars, the exact middle of the spectrum.

The problem with middles, this book made me realize, is they leave storytelling out. Despite opening the book with Arabella grappling with her aromanticism, her journey is pretty much entirely off page. Peggy’s major arc is to remove her “secondary character mindset,” saying she’s too good at supporting others while ignoring or putting off her own goals. However, in this book, she’s actually…kind of crap at giving a shit about others? Maybe she performed people-pleasing and drastic favors in Something Fabulous, and it’s my mistake to not read the first installment before jumping into the second. As is, Peggy was Yet Another character who claims to be not just supportive, but overly supportive of those around her, but there’s little evidence of the helpful, pleasing impulse on page. Even at the beginning, when her flaw is theoretically at its worst, the most she does is agree to a party. The narrative also shoves a serious consequence of ignoring friends to the next book. Orfeo felt the most complete as a character and with the most complete arc, but things ended in an odd backwards note.

This review may sound like mostly criticism, but I enjoyed Something Spectacular, for the cheese of it all. Sometimes, one wants goo and mess from a historical New Adult novel. If I see Something Fabulous in the library, I’ll pick it up.

Dirtbag medievalism defined here: https://avidly.lareviewofbooks.org/2021/07/14/dirtbag-medievalism/