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A review by lizshayne
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I can never decide whether these books get tagged fantasy or not. Magical realish, maybe? IDK. But there's no obvious acceptance of magic, just every so often something completely impossible happens...sort of.
But I digress.
The problem with reading a well-written account of a mental illness with which you are achingly familiar is that you spend a lot of time alternately yelling at the character and wincing. Sometimes it's deeply reassuring to see other people struggling and sometimes it's deeply painful to watch someone go through a thing you have been through and have come out the other side on. This was both. (Also I got...super-lucky that my anxiety only really appears in pregnancy and post-partum circumstances so the "will this last forever" for me as actually "no, it won't".) But Lee has a way with her characters and she writes mental illness from such a place of compassion. Also, and I love her so much for this, this is not a story of one conversation and a cure. Adrian doesn't suddenly realize that he's anxious because of one heartfelt conversation, hehas a near death experience where he realizes life is worth living, he gets medical help from some kind of drug that makes it easier to handle things, and it takes him AGES to get there and, even then, what we see is his coping mechanisms rather than his cure . Especially after the romance novel's approach of "one real conversation with your beloved is all it takes to start making real changes", Lee's approach feels better.
(I don't think I'm a hypocrite—but who even knows—although I do recognize that I feel very differently about stories that make reconciliation look easier than it is and stories that make living with mental illness look easier than it is. There's a lot to unpack there, but let's leave that knapsack zipped for now.)
It helps that all three of the Montague siblings are absolutely exquisite.
But I digress.
The problem with reading a well-written account of a mental illness with which you are achingly familiar is that you spend a lot of time alternately yelling at the character and wincing. Sometimes it's deeply reassuring to see other people struggling and sometimes it's deeply painful to watch someone go through a thing you have been through and have come out the other side on. This was both. (Also I got...super-lucky that my anxiety only really appears in pregnancy and post-partum circumstances so the "will this last forever" for me as actually "no, it won't".) But Lee has a way with her characters and she writes mental illness from such a place of compassion. Also, and I love her so much for this, this is not a story of one conversation and a cure. Adrian doesn't suddenly realize that he's anxious because of one heartfelt conversation, he
(I don't think I'm a hypocrite—but who even knows—although I do recognize that I feel very differently about stories that make reconciliation look easier than it is and stories that make living with mental illness look easier than it is. There's a lot to unpack there, but let's leave that knapsack zipped for now.)
It helps that all three of the Montague siblings are absolutely exquisite.