A review by internalnonsense
Infamous by Lex Croucher

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

2.5

 
This story is more than a rote romance, taking its time to explore the complexity of our protagonist, Ed’s character and her ambitions outside of love, but will quickly lose its ground and take things too far, creating an overall unlikeable protagonist and contrived conflicts. 

Ed’s a young woman in Regency society, needing to find her place in life but still holding on to her idyllic childhood with her best friend Rose. Rose, however, is ready to move forward, and begins seriously looking for a husband. Ed does not react well, but cannot deter Rose from her future. Ed, instead, finds herself acquainted to her favorite poet, Nash. When he expresses an interest in her, Ed’s previous fantasies of being a writer take on a reality, as Nash could open a whole new world for her. So as Rose becomes engaged, Ed does her best to get closer to Nash. Tensions rise, scandals threaten, and Ed has to confront exactly how she feels about Rose. 

The central conflict of this story is ambition vs values (values being propriety, then self-respect and love).  While spirited and funny, Ed’s very short-sighted and self-involved, which is perhaps appropriate for a sheltered, upper class Regency girl. It’s not a bad place to start a story, but Ed’s growth one step forward, two steps back. It reaches a point where you have to ask ‘what does Rose see in her?’. However, I appreciate a flawed protagonist more than a perfect one, and much of the time I understand Ed’s inconsistency. She’s been trapped her whole life and she sees a way out, so she ignores the red flags along the way. 

Rose, the primary love interest, is a complete contrast to Ed. She’s figured herself out entirely, is steady, a good judge of character, and kind. Honestly, her biggest flaw is (her love for Ed) is lack of ambition; she starts the story giving up, settling into the easiest life available to her. I think the story would have improved with a Rose POV; a break from Ed’s stuttering character development and a better understanding of Rose’s own motivation. What drives her out except Ed being stupid? Rose also had known she was a lesbian at an early age, and was of Chinese descent, in Regency England. There was a lot of depth to her character we did not explore through Ed’s eyes. 

Nash, the rival love/antagonist is initially a well-realized manipulator.  Older and married, his interest in Ed is incredibly inappropriate, but we also sense the opportunity Ed does in him—the connections to creatives, editors, an alternative society, and he has just enough vulnerability and charm to see why his friends and Ed put up with him. His escalating poor behavior coinciding with his moves on Ed is the primary drive of the story. However, I feel the author doesn’t trust that we’ll see him as the villain, so continues to pile on his crimes, which in turn makes Ed’s judgement seem steadily worse and worse. The finale depends on Ed making a choice, effectively, between Nash and Rose, but the weights are so absurdly stacked against Nash it’s almost insulting to Rose that Ed would even consider him. 

The prose is well-written with a consistent voice and a lot of humor. Sometimes, especially during banter, character’s would blend together, but, honestly, that sameness helped characterize Nash’s crowd. It’s not a plot-heavy story, which is fine, but when it decides to have a plot it’s kind of out of nowhere and discordant with the larger story. Obviously, there’s strong LGBTQ+ rep—Ed is probably bi, Rose is confidently a lesbian, and there are other characters across the rainbow. Ed herself I read as a little non-binary, as she found herself drawn to more masc ways of presenting herself and resisted a more feminine nickname, but I wouldn’t say that was clearly explored at all. 

Overall, it was sometimes fun, often times frustration, and occasionally genuinely compelling moments. 

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