Reviews

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

shayda's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Does the hero spend the whole book calling his love interest a child? yes he does, its gross and made me wanna puke, major age gap, so lets settle that first and continue at your own risk.

Set mainly in France and Georgian era, this is a new sub genre of historical romance to me.

Leonie is a 19 year old girl dressed as a boy, little does she know shes secretly part of the gentry and key to Lord Alastairs revenge against the Comte who slighted him years ago. That is the main focus of this story, the revenge and political intrigue, less so a romance. 

I didn't find the romance to have any charm, they had no chemistry and i secretly hoped Leonie would go for the younger brother, Rupert instead. 

The plot and adventure were the main appeal of the book and the side characters had a stronger presence and relationships than the main couple for me. 

Leonies being perpetually babied by everyone and her blunt other-women-are-stupid-sluts speeches were tiring and pulled me out of her other positive characteristics. I wish the Duke had a more fleshed out personality. 

Heyers most annoying ticks are all in this one yet the plot is one of her best, i find it hard to pin point my overall experience. The more I think about the misogyny, weird pedo undertones and again with every outfit being explained in excruciating detail, the more annoyed i get. 

I would skip for anyone who finds it hard to switch off your brain. 

frandeb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

4.0

A loving tale but I can’t bear the heroine Always kissing the hands of the hero… she’s not a dog 

searchandrescueteam's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is such a pleasant read. Good to have easy access to a dictionary as there are many archaic and rate words.
There's a charming sense of humour - so at times I laughed out loud.

emilyjc's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.0

jemmak's review

lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

poliaisokay's review against another edition

dnf
може повернуся пізніше, але 200 сторінок посміялася (бо реально смішно дуже написано!), але поки не викликає цікавості взагалі

gosia_maria99's review against another edition

3.0

A delightful Heyeresque novel. It's just great fun.

uzoma's review against another edition

funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

 Have many thoughts about this book, most negative. But the negatives are of a heavy nature. Like, did Heyer subscribe to some form of eugenics? And why are women portrayed as wanting nothing more than to be under the thumb of some man? So I will just say that I appreciated that the plot moved along well and while fundamentally, I was not with the romance in this, I was, however begrudgingly, endeared to Leonie and it did warm my heart to see her acquire a family that loved her.

One thing in this book’s favor is that the cast and family remind me of the Daracotts in Unknown Ajax. Except Avon is so miserly with information and doesn’t bring his family in on the playacting. 

swissmunicipal's review against another edition

5.0

I don't know how it took me so long to discover (or be introduced to) Georgette Heyer. This was a slightly longer read and the pacing was a bit slow for awhile, but it picked up around the half way mark and then I couldn't put it down.

I think many of Heyer's books have been abridged/updated to remove some of her more dated opinions, but the idea of noble/peasant bloodlines being important still reigned heavily in this and other of her books. It's not something I particularly care for, but it is important to the plot of this one.

covertocovergirl's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5