Take a photo of a barcode or cover
greymalkin 's review for:
Of Noble Family
by Mary Robinette Kowal
Finally read the last book in this series.
While I did appreciate the historical details and the embrace of another culture and race, seeing it all through the lens of oblivious Jane was so frustrating. While it was great that the other characters called out her racism and appropriation, it is always disappointing to me when the non-white characters have to do the heavy lifting and "teach the white people the error of their ways". And despite being mostly awful and keeping none of their promises except toward the very end, they still somehow helped them and trusted them with the huge secret.
I wish the book had instead followed Melody and Alastair. That would have been delightful. Melody's deft handling Lord Verbury would have been amazing.
I would have appreciated knowing more about Sarah and Frank's wife, whom Jane never seems to actually meet. Instead I got endless details about the other white characters and the male characters. Sigh. How are they in a house for months and yet Frank's sister Milly the "upstairs maid" never actually gets any "onscreen time"? But SO MANY scenes with Mrs. Pridemore?
While I did appreciate the historical details and the embrace of another culture and race, seeing it all through the lens of oblivious Jane was so frustrating. While it was great that the other characters called out her racism and appropriation, it is always disappointing to me when the non-white characters have to do the heavy lifting and "teach the white people the error of their ways". And despite being mostly awful and keeping none of their promises except toward the very end, they still somehow helped them and trusted them with the huge secret.
I wish the book had instead followed Melody and Alastair. That would have been delightful. Melody's deft handling Lord Verbury would have been amazing.
I would have appreciated knowing more about Sarah and Frank's wife, whom Jane never seems to actually meet. Instead I got endless details about the other white characters and the male characters. Sigh. How are they in a house for months and yet Frank's sister Milly the "upstairs maid" never actually gets any "onscreen time"? But SO MANY scenes with Mrs. Pridemore?