eli_loves_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nightshade_novels's review against another edition
3.0
A fried recommended this book to me and I began reading it in the library back in July when I was visiting Newcastle but was unable to finish it until I returned to Newcastle this week.
It was quite different from the sort of books that I usually read, mainly because it has no fantasy element to it. It is firmly based in the England and France of the 18th Century. It was well written and felt like it was written around the time it was set, I was surprised to learn it was published in 2008.
Sovay is an interesting character and I admire her wilfulness to stand up for what she believes which is often that she should not be treated as inferior to the males around her. I was hoping that by the end of the book she would
This was an interesting read, but not quite to my taste.
It was quite different from the sort of books that I usually read, mainly because it has no fantasy element to it. It is firmly based in the England and France of the 18th Century. It was well written and felt like it was written around the time it was set, I was surprised to learn it was published in 2008.
Sovay is an interesting character and I admire her wilfulness to stand up for what she believes which is often that she should not be treated as inferior to the males around her. I was hoping that by the end of the book she would
Spoiler
have got together with the highwayman but she ended up with a French soldier and never returned to England.This was an interesting read, but not quite to my taste.
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I'm being too fussy about this sort of thing but... I don't like the "mere bystander plays major role in Historic Affairs" style of writing. The gold standard of historical fiction for me is Ring Out Bow Bells (Cynthia Hartnett): there are major events (Agincort, the Luddite rebellion) but I never got the sense that the hero was being forced into the action. Here, Sovay is forced into a story that ranges from England to France during the French Revolution. I almost expected Robespierre or Marat to make an appearance in the story!
Still, that's probably a more adult quibble than my students will have and I suspect that girls will enjoy this "plucky" heroine.
Still, that's probably a more adult quibble than my students will have and I suspect that girls will enjoy this "plucky" heroine.
stephhreads's review against another edition
I hate abandoning books, and I rarely do. Even if a book is really difficult, I try to forge through it, but when I have to force myself to read a book, it's not a good sign. Unfortunately, I simply couldn't make it through SOVAY. I found that it started out a bit slow, and unfortunately things did not improve from there. The book was a bit of a dry read, and I did not find myself connecting to the characters very strongly. There was something missing. SOVAY is not a horrible book, but it simply was not the book for me. Perhaps one day I'll pick it up again and give it another try.
whittneyshea's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful adventure of a book! Celia Rees gives us a historical heroine like no other. Sovay Middleton doesn't just know how to shoot a gun, she takes it farther by dressing as a man and robbing carriages. Sovay isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in. She doesn't shy away from danger, either, and the events stemming from that will keep you up past your bedtime for sure.
book_nut's review against another edition
4.0
This book has everything: girls dressed up as highwaymen! Broken engagements! Unrequited love! Revolutionaries! Spies! Adventure! Thieves and whores! Betrayal! Americans in Britan! Illuminati! Mad scientists! There's nothing it doesn't have (except pirates, but there's a highwayman named Captain Jack, so we forgive Reese for that omission.)What's not to like? (Well, except the labyrinthine plot, excessive roll of stock characters and wooden dialogue... but what's that in comparison to hunky Frenchmen and hydrogen balloons and midnight trysts in hotels? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.)
paperbackd's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Sovay was historically accurate and well-written but I found myself disappointed by how little I cared for the characters.
hanakorc's review against another edition
2.0
After reading some of Celia Rees' other works, I was excited when I saw Sovay in the book store. I read the back cover, and uncharacteristically, I bought the book before reading. I had enjoyed many of her previous works, so I thought it was a safe investment. Buying this book was a mistake. It sounded like a great story, a women disguising herself as robber in order to extract revenge on a lover and eventually to help save her family and those she loves. Adventure, mystery, with perhaps a little romance. The typical young adult book with a female lead, a genre I love. Unfortunately, I was much disappointed. The story was less about adventure and more about corrupt governments (which could be interesting if done well, but unfortunately it was not), the plot was predictable and anything but mysterious, and the romances were under developed and lack luster.
Like many other reviewers said, Sovay had few, if any flaws. However, that tends to be a characteristic of many female protagonists in the young adult genre. Yes, she is beautiful, intelligent, brave, and much sought after. But that alone is not enough to ruin a great story. The problem lies in that Rees fails to develop any of the sub-characters. If the protagonist is going to be annoyingly perfect, there should at least be some other lovable, witty, clever, or likable character. The sub-characters were so flat, that I wasn't even rooting for Sovay to end up with a particular one of her suitors because none of them were particularly interesting or likable. I knew nothing about them, there was nothing to set one apart from another. Furthermore, I wasn't even aware that the man she ended up with was actually persuing her because the author did a terrible job of developing that sub-plot line, if she developed it at all.
You'd be much better off putting this book aside and investing your time in a book by Tamora Pierce, Shannon Hale, Sherwood Smith, Maria V. Snyder, or another one of the plethora of young adult writers that feature strong, intelligent, and brave female protagonists. If you'd like to see political corruption done well, I'd recommend the Sorcery and Cecelia books by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. If you'd like to see a woman disguise herself as man to accomplish her dreams I wold recommend the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. Whatever you do, do not pick up this book. It is a waste of time.
Like many other reviewers said, Sovay had few, if any flaws. However, that tends to be a characteristic of many female protagonists in the young adult genre. Yes, she is beautiful, intelligent, brave, and much sought after. But that alone is not enough to ruin a great story. The problem lies in that Rees fails to develop any of the sub-characters. If the protagonist is going to be annoyingly perfect, there should at least be some other lovable, witty, clever, or likable character. The sub-characters were so flat, that I wasn't even rooting for Sovay to end up with a particular one of her suitors because none of them were particularly interesting or likable. I knew nothing about them, there was nothing to set one apart from another. Furthermore, I wasn't even aware that the man she ended up with was actually persuing her because the author did a terrible job of developing that sub-plot line, if she developed it at all.
You'd be much better off putting this book aside and investing your time in a book by Tamora Pierce, Shannon Hale, Sherwood Smith, Maria V. Snyder, or another one of the plethora of young adult writers that feature strong, intelligent, and brave female protagonists. If you'd like to see political corruption done well, I'd recommend the Sorcery and Cecelia books by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. If you'd like to see a woman disguise herself as man to accomplish her dreams I wold recommend the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. Whatever you do, do not pick up this book. It is a waste of time.
gmat21's review against another edition
3.0
This started out as a really good book. I had very high hopes for it and, as it progressed, I found it to be almost as good as I expected. Not perfect, but not a terrible book either. The plot is exciting and it was an interesting read but it was completely ruined by the ending! I hated the fact that she ended up with a guy she met 15 pages from the end, when she had two amazing guys to chose from already. Personally, I didn't see her attraction to Leon and would have chosen Virgil or Greenwood over him any day. I would have been perfectly happy if she had ended up with one of them. I just don't see why Celia Rees felt the need to ruin a perfectly decent book by throwing in another random character and having Sovay go off with him, a man she barely knows, when it would have made so many more people happy if she's ended up with Greenwood or Virgil.