Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - משהו מופלא

This was a fun read! I admit that I despised Arabella 😅 but I really liked all of the other characters, especially Valentine and Peggy! It was exactly what the back of the book promised - a good romp and pomp 😂 with some adventures of course!

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redheadorganist's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective 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

5.0

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weraamanda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

"And Valentine wondered when he was going to get used to kissing. If it would ever feel like an ordinary thing, as it seemingly did, or could, to others. But he wasn't sure he wanted that either. There was too much magic here, and he had never allowed his life to admit the possibility of magic before."

Aaaaah this book! This book. Wow. Okay. Well. I sort of loved this book. It had its flaws, for sure, but overall this was an absolutely delightful read. As a non-native English speaker I did, in fact, struggle a little with the language at first. There were a lot of words I hadn't even heard of before, but I got the hang of it rather quickly.

About half-way through the book though, I almost lost my interest to continue anymore.

I'm specifically talking about when they met Miss Fairfax and Miss Evans during the storm. That whole sequence made me immensely uncomfortable. There was absolutely no reason to treat Valentine the way they did, given he had never shown even a sign of physical aggressiveness. Even Bonny just decided to abandon him for his god-awful sister. I hated it. I really did.

However, I pushed through and ended up really enjoying the book - so much that I finished it in two days. For a reference, I haven't read a whole book in months. So, that definitely says something.

I felt so much compassion for Valentine. He was trying to do the right thing, or what he believed was right, yet he kept being belittled and stomped over all the time. I'm not sure did Bonny deserve him, but I do think he got his act somewhat together the closer we got to the end. His sister, Belle, however, was the absolute worst, most awful person I've read about in a while. I hate that the otherwise nice plot was so centered around her and her childish behaviour. Didn't like it, but I endured it. She was truly a quite horrible person. All of this could've been solved with a simple conversation, but that was apparently too much to be asked, and she decided to run away. I mean, really? How old is she, twelve? Ugh.

Valentine's mom is absolutely lovely and I want to read more of her. I also grew to love Valentine - he was a bit awkward and sort of an idiot, but he was essentially just very kind. A man driven by a sense of duty he thought he had to fulfill, but who forgot to seek for things that made him happy. And then, we also have Bonny. He, well, also had his moments, for sure.

Overall I'd say that Alexis Hall has never, ever disappointed me, and that is the case with this book too. I got more than I expected, and that's well enough for me. I don't think I'll ever grow tired of the way Alexis writes - it's unquestionably captivating to me. The dialogue is also extremely entertaining to read.

Was this his best work? Probably not. Would I read it again? Yes, undoubtedly so. I will also very gladly read any other instalments this series might get.

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breadbees's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-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

4.5

This book is absolutely fucking ridiculous but I loved it
It’s so over the top and so insane but in all the best ways imo

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pey333's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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cappuccino_yuki_teddy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

When Alexis Hall describes his book as "a big gay regency romp about a overly dramatic beautiful rainbow sunshine unicorn + a overly dramatic demisexual grumpy duke, going on a cross-country chase" and adds that the unofficial subtitle is "Dude, Where's My Curricle?" and it's the "campiest and silliest and most fun thing" he's ever written — believe him.

The grumpy/sunshine combo is gold. I disagree with reviewers who felt Bonny Mr. Sunshine was overly mean to His Grace Valentine Grumpy Pants, but he was certainly in an unenviable position between his best friend and sister, His Grace, and his own, you know, precarious existence. And while a zero to 100 relationship for a demisexual main character doesn't quite work for me, I also disagree that His Grace was "just fine the way he was, oh em gee, just leave him alone already." He was not quietly content — he was miserably unaware and misguided and headed for further misery. Most of the side characters are great, though the satirized gothic heroine sister is just grating. And the plot is, well, a careening mess that's somewhat too driven by the bullying sexism of the day, anachronistic overcorrections, and aro understandings clashing with gothic dramatics, but mostly it's just a vehicle for fun shenanigans in the countryside. It's all undeniably over the top, British, queer, chaotic, funny, annoying, graphic, and sometimes genuinely touching and lovely.

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