Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

22 reviews

thedulcineaeffect's review

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't think I was entirely in the mood for this book when I read it but I still found it enjoyable. I admittedly ended up skimming a lot of it partially because of the medical content, but also because I

I'm really glad this is a book that challenges the "Not Like Other Girls" attitude without forcing Felicity to become more feminine than she is comfortable with, instead simply learning to understand girls can be intelligent and feminine and learning to support her more feminine friends. 

I'm also really happy for Felicity being aroace rep, struggling with society's expectations for her to marry and bear children, but not being forced into a relationship at the end of the book.

Spoiler

That said I hope Sim gets to come back in future installments with a girlfriend of her own. I won't deny she and Felicity had some chemistry, but I'm glad that no side resented the other after discovering their orientations were incompatible and they were still able to be friends. I think that takes skill to pull off and the author landed it well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Gun violence, Addiction, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Slavery, Animal death, and Acephobia/Arophobia

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Violence, Addiction, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal death, Slavery, and Death of parent

blewballoon's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed the first book in the series (The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue) even though I found Monty insufferable at the beginning. Percy and Felicity really carried the interest for me until Monty had some character growth. I had a feeling I would love this book from loving Felicity in the last book, and the audiobook was narrated by one of my favorite narrators Moira Quirk. It was a recipe for success and it was delicious. I loved it from the first few sentences, and I never stopped. There are a few less set pieces and side characters in this one compared to the first book, but I didn't mind and it helped keep the narrative moving more quickly I think. I loved seeing Monty and Percy again. I loved the new characters we met. I loved the ace representation. Perfect book for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Sexism, Addiction, and Drug abuse

cataglyphis's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Blood, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Addiction, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Slavery

leonormsousa's review

adventurous funny inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical content, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Stalking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

water_violin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Addiction, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

daryn's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Gore

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Death of parent

thesupermassive's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Blood

Minor: Addiction and Acephobia/Arophobia

elerireads's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was good fun. Witty writing, adventure and lots of things to say about feminism. I liked the exploration of there not being just one way to be a strong woman, and how stern it was about feminists looking down on women who like feminine things. It was just an all-round nice character arc of some very different women learning from each other. I also liked the message about the futility of trying to make yourself good enough and acceptable enough to men to be allowed to follow a traditionally male path through a system designed by men for men, and the necessity to blaze your own trail instead. Also nice to have an ace main character who's relatively unbothered by it all and just wants to get on with exploring the world and becoming a doctor. 

Spoiler

One thing that did bug me a bit was that the brother comes in and saves them at the end. For a novel that's been overtly and explicitly feminist, placing massive emphasis on female autonomy, having men swoop in and save them like damsels in distress left a very bitter taste.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Medical trauma, and Animal cruelty

abookandaspotoftea's review

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

 I preface this review by stating that I am not typically driven to write a review in rage, but this book and the author have received so much praise despite being extremely problematic. I appreciate that the author centered an ace (or asexual) lead character. I also understand that this book is a historical fantasy and should be treated with a grain of salt.

Things that I loathe about this book:

• the normalization of white feminism
• the overt racism and Islamophobia
• the colonization fangirling

To @Mackenzi Lee and those who praised this book:

• Removing a person's ḥijāb without consent is a gross violation and should NEVER be normalized.
• Casually dropping the "N" word is NEVER okay. Also, get it through your daft head: the immediate assumption that black people are thieves and criminals is NOT okay. A half-hearted apology does not make up for this ridiculous shit. Stop using this as a trope.
• The idea that it is okay to plunder another nation for its resources is NOT okay. And sit your white feminist ass down with your holier-than-thou attitude that colonizers will use these looted resources to "heal" the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Addiction, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexism, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, and Misogyny