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A review by shema
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
5.0
Unpopular opinion, but I actually enjoyed this more than Gentleman's Guide.
What I appreciated about this YA book is that it totally deconstructs the 'Not Like Other Girls' trope and the 'Women Are Catty' trope that am so sick of seeing in YA books and media in general that they both need to die in a fire. Felicity starts out the story believing she has to put down other women for enjoying 'girlish' things, because how else will she be taken seriously? But her childhood friend Joanna calls her out and points out that just because she likes fancy dresses, doesn't make her any lesser than. And instead of being catty, the two ladies repair their friendship that broke apart when they were younger, and I absolutely loved that.
There was also a Muslim lady pirate whom I appreciated. Especially since the pirates were mostly people of color which is more historically accurate than what you see in a lot of media about pirates.
This book is fun, has an adventure, has an enjoyable main lady character who goes through major character development and has little to no interest in a romantic relationship, and it has the ladies coming together to try and defeat the 18th Century patriarchy the best they can. That's enough to keep me satisfied.
What I appreciated about this YA book is that it totally deconstructs the 'Not Like Other Girls' trope and the 'Women Are Catty' trope that am so sick of seeing in YA books and media in general that they both need to die in a fire. Felicity starts out the story believing she has to put down other women for enjoying 'girlish' things, because how else will she be taken seriously? But her childhood friend Joanna calls her out and points out that just because she likes fancy dresses, doesn't make her any lesser than. And instead of being catty, the two ladies repair their friendship that broke apart when they were younger, and I absolutely loved that.
There was also a Muslim lady pirate whom I appreciated. Especially since the pirates were mostly people of color which is more historically accurate than what you see in a lot of media about pirates.
This book is fun, has an adventure, has an enjoyable main lady character who goes through major character development and has little to no interest in a romantic relationship, and it has the ladies coming together to try and defeat the 18th Century patriarchy the best they can. That's enough to keep me satisfied.