A review by isalavinia
From Wallflower to Countess by Janice Preston

3.0

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

This is one of those cases where the rating is quite literal: 2 stars means it's okay, 3 stars means it's good, and this book was in the middle of these two.

From Wallflower to Countess is very readable. I read it all in one go!
It doesn't have any excessive drama, and it's entertaining.
We're skilfully shown (not told! so that's good!) what makes these characters who they are, from the main characters to the secondary ones.
You didn't get villains who did things just to be evil, they had their reasons and these reasons made sense.
Of the "good" characters there was none I didn't like.

While the crux of the story kept me reading and it made sense, it also kept me feeling as if these people needed to wake up and realise that it was irrelevant what they chose to do or not to do, because the situation was already happening and they were turning into a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. Mind you, this is addressed in the book!

The thing is, I never felt strongly about any of it, save for Felicity's sister, her mother's fate, Charles, and little Millie.

And while Felicity's sister's story was concluded, the others were just left dangling.
What happened to her mother and her odious new husband?
What happened with the annoying Charles?
Who did that despicable thing to poor Millie?

It just felt unfinished, even if the main plot was resolved.

Still, it's an entertaining read, especially for a cosy afternoon :)