A review by intonewrealms
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee

adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I totally forgot about Monty and Felicity’s baby brother, so I didn’t realise this book was going to be about him. It was therefore a lot less queer than the other two books as he is the token straight brother, however we still get to see our faves, and I do love Adrian now! He’s aware both of the privilege he has meaning he has the opportunity to fight for reform in public, and also that things like the opinions of strangers don’t logically matter, but that doesn’t lessen his anxiety at all. If you are not in a great place at the moment I would not recommend picking up this book until you are. The anxiety representation was very real and painful, much like the representation of queerness and epilepsy, it is also explored how this is not understood in the period. Adrian feels his mother made his struggles “weather, not climate”, but he no longer believes he has anyone who can understand how he feels. There were so many resonant moments, but I do have to say that this was the strength of the book, and I feel it certainly was nowhere near the level of the first book, and I’d probably also rate it slightly lower than the second.
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