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A review by writteninmagic
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
The premise drew me at the beginning. At times, the story was humorous with the narrator's comments. There was also a cast of predominately female pirates and thieves. The dialogue between the characters involved discussing attempted assassinations, weapons, and various exploits in casual conversations while drinking tea. Cecilia mentioning how she wanted to escape everything else that was going on and read some books instead was relatable.
The overuse of humor in the writing dragged down the story for me. The circumstances the main characters find themselves in get resolved quickly, so it didn't feel like there were real stakes involved for them. The characters also didn't really develop throughout the story, except maybe Cecilia's decision at the end. Of course, being a historical fiction book, it had to mention how tight and constricting corsets were—really, it's neither an original nor an accurate comment.
There were also some questionable scenes, like when Ned kept giving more wine to Cecilia to get her drunk, when it was her first time drinking, just because he thought it would be funny.... Another example was where three characters were dismissive of another character's outrage at being lied to about a serious problem.
Overall, the story had entertaining and silly moments, but there wasn't much substance to it. The writing also played off some serious offenses as being silly and harmless.
The overuse of humor in the writing dragged down the story for me. The circumstances the main characters find themselves in get resolved quickly, so it didn't feel like there were real stakes involved for them. The characters also didn't really develop throughout the story, except maybe Cecilia's decision at the end. Of course, being a historical fiction book, it had to mention how tight and constricting corsets were—really, it's neither an original nor an accurate comment.
There were also some questionable scenes, like when Ned kept giving more wine to Cecilia to get her drunk, when it was her first time drinking, just because he thought it would be funny.... Another example was where three characters were dismissive of another character's outrage at being lied to about a serious problem.
Overall, the story had entertaining and silly moments, but there wasn't much substance to it. The writing also played off some serious offenses as being silly and harmless.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Misogyny