Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

30 reviews

goodnessgraceous's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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katrinepoetry's review

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Be prepared to be transported to an alternative world Victorian in style and with a dash of D&D thrown into the mix. The style writing style takes a little time to get used to, but once it is you will love it for its quirks and unique insults!

Meanwhile, the characters are rough, calculated and, most of all, lovable. It got a little bit of danger, a little bit of adventure, and a good dose of arguing. Not to mention a skeleton mouse which makes unpleasant gong sounds!

All in all, a fun fantasy story with twists and turns you'll not see coming.
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willowd's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

(Note: I haven't read the first book!) 
Is this book amazing? No. But was it fun? Certainly. 
A bit heavy on the accents, so if that bothers you, skip it. I recommend listening over reading this story, due to the accent & grammar. If you're a non-native speaker, some of Delly's made up words might be more challenging. I found the dialogue very enjoyable to listen to. Oh also - the chapter titles are delightful.

I found the second half a bit drawn out - but I truly warmed up to the old lady and her mouse. The pacing of the second half could have been tweaked, or used another twist.

Now, somehow my book club thought this was marketed as sapphic (Idk where, because I didn't see anything like that? I dunno, I didn't look super hard!) and I want to be clear that it's not. The main character is clearly bi/pan. The main couple is two ladies, but there is sexual content that is not sapphic, and there is no wlw sexual content. However, the sexual encounters the MC has before are fairly glossed over, and honestly, as someone who doesn't love romance novels, was fine by me. I've read too many books with sudden love nonsense! With everything else going on, it sounded too exhausting for a romp. 
I think this author has promise, especially in the realm of audiobook. Maybe even a play? I look forward to her next work, and hope that it gets marketed accurately!
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theodorawhitly's review

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adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

I did enjoy it a lot!
Very entertaining read, loveable and memorable characters.
The plot is quite simple, there are no any mind-blowing plot twists or big reveals, but it definitely has its charm. 
My only gripe is that romance felt a bit flat. There was no proper build-up, ad even though I like both characters individually, nothing really compelled me to root for them as a couple. I loved sapphic representation though.
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ehmannky's review

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funny hopeful 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

4.5

What a little treat of a book! I loved the strong voice of the Delly as a narrator. It was such a fun read, and I was delighted that it was a stealth sequel to Unnatural Magic, which I adored. A little meandering at times, but overall a really solid and fun book!
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gotem's review

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adventurous funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I'm sorry, I tried. I love books about ruthless ladies and guides and magic.  Unfortunately this books did not meet what the title (or honestly even book description) said.

The most ruthless lady was Winn's landlady. Everyone else was really just mean at best, annoying at worst. 

I couldn't make heads or tails of some of the plots and world-building aspects of the book. What is the currency and value of goods? why can 50 gold pieces cover 6 months of rent and a place for your addict mother but also only cover a 2 weeks stay in rehab? And also be an acceptable amount for two weeks' worth of work but also not be a substantial amount of money for most of the hired party members to actually care about? Actually, what is the class system and marriage system here, why does a woman need an all-female group to guard her before her wedding if gay marriage is also well and good here? An actual guide to this world would have been much appreciated. 

Lastly, the magic was over, rarely to be brought up again, after the first 40% of the book. And also complicated - are people innately born with magic or not? Do you need training or not? Are glyphs (???) required or not? Why are oaths so arbitrary?

To be completely fair, the first hundred or so pages of this are entertaining and fast-paced. There's murder, attempted murder, magic, badass ladies, and a quirky upper-class marriage etiquette to bring it all together. But then it all dropped rather quickly into what felt more like a daily diary of a novice detective and their various assistants. 

After the 5th chapter of "wake up, clean, have tea, have lunch, buy clothes and spend money after establishing how much the MC does NOT want to spend money, eat, go to sleep", I finally conceded defeat and put the book down. 

I wanted to like this book. It is campy, makes fun of itself (see page 189 for some adorable meta-humor), and has a clearly complex cast of characters. The realistic approach to drug addiction and poverty helped bring the character's surroundings to life. 

But the thought of picking up the book to slough through even one more chapter of grown women playing junior detective slash
new drug dealers on the block (which, in my opinion, is where the entire book lost the plot)
filled me with dread.
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popquizliz's review

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

3.75

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mcbenzie's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A delightful tale of class-crossed love, weird magic and convincingly horrible necromancy, all with a great sense of humour, a plot with personal but high stakes that doesn’t rely on the impending end of the world, and a protagonist you’ll love much more than she loves herself.

The style takes a while to get used to and the vernacular while fun probably outstays it’s welcome outside of the dialogue, but it grows on you and by the end I loved even that. Oh, and the undead mouse is genius.

Didn’t realise here was a book before this, but it’s not a sequel, they just share a world, so diving in here is fine. I will definitely be reading Unnatural Magic, though.
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jamestcprince's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nytephoenyx's review

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

3.5

 I have mixed feelings about The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry.

I picked it up because it looked light and funny, and it was amusing, but not so much funny. It’s a book largely written in a fantasy-style slang and takes some adjusting. The first third of the book requires slow, deliberate reading until the reader learns what some of Delly’s slang, the world-specific and magic-specific terminology, and what things are just verbal mannerisms. If I’d been listening to the audiobook, I think this would have gone more smoothly as I could rely on the narrator’s tone for some interpretation in the early parts. As it was, it ended up as more of a slow read than I would have liked, and that put a damper on he whole thing.

Normally I’d complain about the romance in a fantasy book, but I think this one was well balanced. The book’s description was a little different on my edition, and it made clear that Delly was set to get householded (married) to someone wealthy… or at least have a good romp and acquire some expensive gifts she could pawn. I really didn’t think the romance was too much, altogether. Fantasy was the day job, romance was the night job. Really, like most of our normal lives. And Winn was likable enough, not swooning or distracting.

The fantasy elements of this book was fascinatingly constructed. It is equal parts alchemy and magic, a good combination that at times made things seem just slightly fantasy-steampunk. Dialect choices aside (which weren’t bad once I figured them out, but I’m in enough of a slump that it was a chore) I thought the world was pretty good. Even the supporting cast was interesting.

It does feel like there’s more story here, almost as though C.M. Waggoner has a sequel in mind, or at least other stories in this world. The whole plot with a fine lady and assassins mentioned in the book description only takes up a small part of the novel, with the larger story based around vengeance, justice, and busting up a drug ring. It’s all still interesting, just not quite what I expected.

As I said at the beginning of this review, I am on the fence. Some days I liked the book, some days I didn’t. I think when I was able to sit down and read it for longer spurts, it fared better. Story-wise, I recommend it to folks who like books like Just One Damned Thing After Another (which I do!) so I don’t regret picked it up. Just know that it’s a bit more than it appears. 

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