becsmarg's review
2.0
I’m torn on this book! On the one hand, I raced through it in a day. It’s got a very cool magic system and it’s clearly got the same inspiration as Naomi Novik’s excellent Temeraire books (what if the Napoleonic war adventure novels of my youth had magic and girls in them). On the other hand- the comparison to Novik does McShane no favors. She’s a beautiful descriptive writer but she handles the politics and implications of her world building significantly less deftly than Novik. Novik manages to have her characters have era appropriate prejudices while making it clear that sucks and giving them opportunities for growth, and she doesn’t whitewash ugly parts of history, while still showing how dragons would change the balance of powers and make an alternative history. McShane doesn’t nail this balancing act *at all*. She just includes an authors note “if everyone had magic, probably racial prejudice wouldn’t be as strong? So in this world the East India Company is actually doing good things in India, like they are depicted as doing in British propaganda to this day”. Sexism still exists even though women can have talent, so that reasoning simply doesn’t track. Seems the author is interested in the inner experiences of white women and maybe white men and absolutely no people of color. Plus, the first person narrator has extremely Orientalist views on India that are never challenged. They are, in fact, held up by the narrative as enlightened, compared to actively racist other Europeans (who are still the good guys). Because the East India Company are the good guys of a story written in the 2020s, while an uprising of the colonized is described as “evil” and then turns out to not even be the work of Indians at all (they’re simply the credulous pawns of Bad Europeans). Truly wild stuff. It all comes across as sloppy at best and colonialist apologia at worst, and significantly took away from my enjoyment of the story or desire to continue the series.
brokenrecord's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Definitely my least favorite of the three, although still enjoyable. I think I just got less sucked into the romance for whatever reason (I liked them together, I just didn't have super strong feelings about them), and Daphne felt less involved in the main plot/action of the story. Like, in the previous book, even though Sophia wasn't involved in battles or fighting or anything like that, she was the main driver of the plot, but it kind of felt like Daphne was just in the area but not really involved in what was going on. But the world is still fascinating to me, and I did like the characters, and I'd happily read more books in this series. I hope there are more at some point.
katleap's review
4.0
4 stars
This is the concluding book in The Extraordinaries trilogy.
Daphne is an extraordinary bounder who faints at the sight of blood. When her weakness causes a man's death, Daphne is sent to India as punishment. There she gets drawn into a conspiracy and finds that India may have the adventures she has always wanted.
I really enjoyed Lady Daphne. She is impatient and wants nothing more than the prove herself to be the very best. Part of this drive is that she is small, which makes bounding with a passenger more work and that she very much wants to serve her country.
This is the concluding book in The Extraordinaries trilogy.
Daphne is an extraordinary bounder who faints at the sight of blood. When her weakness causes a man's death, Daphne is sent to India as punishment. There she gets drawn into a conspiracy and finds that India may have the adventures she has always wanted.
I really enjoyed Lady Daphne. She is impatient and wants nothing more than the prove herself to be the very best. Part of this drive is that she is small, which makes bounding with a passenger more work and that she very much wants to serve her country.
morebookspleaseblog's review
5.0
If the year ended tomorrow, I can confidently say this is a good book to end 2017! Abounding Might is the third book of the Extraordinaires series and I thought it was amazing! There was intrigue, espionage, humor, and romance. Lady Daphne and Captain Fletcher are great characters, with amazing abilities. Lady Daphne is an Extraordinaire Bounder. She can teleport to places without restriction and learns more and more about what she is capable of in this story. Captain Fletcher is a Discerner. He is can detect your true emotions, even when your face says something different. This is what attracted Fletcher to Lady Daphne. Her emotions and her thoughts always match.
This story takes place in India and I love it. The story is amazing, but the culture itself is another great character. I don’t know if there will be another book in this series, but I think this one is my favorite. Lady Daphne doesn’t allow anyone to dictate what she should be and I love that about her, especially given the time period. I loved Captain Fletcher because he let her be who she wanted to be. He didn’t try to change her and he trusted her opinions; which was more than any of her other counterparts could say. If there is another book in the series, I greatly look forward to it. If not, I take great comfort in being able to re-read the entire series all over again!
This story takes place in India and I love it. The story is amazing, but the culture itself is another great character. I don’t know if there will be another book in this series, but I think this one is my favorite. Lady Daphne doesn’t allow anyone to dictate what she should be and I love that about her, especially given the time period. I loved Captain Fletcher because he let her be who she wanted to be. He didn’t try to change her and he trusted her opinions; which was more than any of her other counterparts could say. If there is another book in the series, I greatly look forward to it. If not, I take great comfort in being able to re-read the entire series all over again!
juliavdelft's review
4.0
I like this one because it takes place in India and I thought the author did a good job with descriptions of it and with putting the reader into a new world. I also really liked the characters of Daphne and Fletcher - everyone else was a bit meh though and some characters I thought were completely unnecessary (Miss Donnelly). I'm wondering if she'll do a book on Bess because it kind of seemed like it. The plot was great as well and I was kept very interested. Overall, I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to reading more books in this series!
I love this time period and I like how all of her characters with their different talents have been unique and each book has had a different setting. And I love anything to do with magic.
I love this time period and I like how all of her characters with their different talents have been unique and each book has had a different setting. And I love anything to do with magic.
ladytook's review
4.0
The Extraordinaries series has such an incredible world! I simply love the combination of mixing aspects from actual historical events with magic, it gives history a brand new spin! Daphne and Finn definitely make quite a pair and the side characters are absolutely delightful! It also had quite some funny moments and I always appreciate funny books! My main problem is the romance, I understand that it is not the main plot, but I wish it had been a little more developed and we could have seen Daphne and Finn’s relationship grow a little better. But it’s still a pretty great read and the plot was without a doubt something I wasn’t expecting.
*I was given a copy of this book, but all opinions and thoughts are my own!
*I was given a copy of this book, but all opinions and thoughts are my own!
brookepalmer796's review
2.0
The plot was believable and I really enjoy the world-building in this series. But, this one fell a bit flat for me. I liked Daphne ok and Fletcher was interesting, but many of their interactions were awkward. All the talk of their "weaknesses" seemed forced, like the author really wanted to make a point. There were other places where the writing seem choppy as well. The other problem for me was the cover. It's supposed to be Daphne, but either she is a very mannish woman, or a very feminine man-it's hard to say.
krisrid's review
4.0
I LOVE Melissa McShane's writing!! I have read books from two of her three series so far and just loved all of them! She not only has a fabulously creative mind when it comes to creating slightly alternate magical worlds to set her characters in, but she also writes super-likable, strong characters - especially the female ones! - that a reader can connect with, root for and fall in love with!
This is the second book I've read in McShane's Extraordinaries series [though not the second in the series] and I really enjoyed this, although not *quite* as much as Ioved Burning Bright (the first book in the series).
I absolutely adored Elinor - the protagonist in the first book - and everything about her story.
While I really liked Daphne, she was a bit of a ninny at certain points, and allowed people to make her feel inferior despite her Extraordinary talent, and I wanted her to get past that. This is a very minor quibble, however, and did not detract from my overall enjoyment of this story.
I love, love, love the alternate England that McShane has created for this series, and the other Extraordinary talents, and the characters who have them make for an absolutely delightful way to spend hours visiting that world and going along on the adventures McShane gives her characters.
All the characters in these books feel so real, and most are so likable it's hard to NOT fall in love with all of them.
The added bonus is the historical aspects that each book has, which is well done and makes history into highly entertaining side stories, even if the author does take some liberties with actual historical dates, times, etc. to fit her fictional plot.
I love this series, and if you like magical alternate history stories with strong female characters, you might like them too. Highly recommended.
This is the second book I've read in McShane's Extraordinaries series [though not the second in the series] and I really enjoyed this, although not *quite* as much as Ioved Burning Bright (the first book in the series).
I absolutely adored Elinor - the protagonist in the first book - and everything about her story.
While I really liked Daphne, she was a bit of a ninny at certain points, and allowed people to make her feel inferior despite her Extraordinary talent, and I wanted her to get past that. This is a very minor quibble, however, and did not detract from my overall enjoyment of this story.
I love, love, love the alternate England that McShane has created for this series, and the other Extraordinary talents, and the characters who have them make for an absolutely delightful way to spend hours visiting that world and going along on the adventures McShane gives her characters.
All the characters in these books feel so real, and most are so likable it's hard to NOT fall in love with all of them.
The added bonus is the historical aspects that each book has, which is well done and makes history into highly entertaining side stories, even if the author does take some liberties with actual historical dates, times, etc. to fit her fictional plot.
I love this series, and if you like magical alternate history stories with strong female characters, you might like them too. Highly recommended.
ladywithaquill's review
5.0
Once again I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Melissa McShane! Having not read the second book in the series yet, I did stumble a bit in the beginning as I was getting acclimated to the time that had passed between the first book and this one. However, I was able to easily follow along and became engrossed as the story picked up. Though I did find the heroine to not be as likeable, at least in the beginning, she quickly grew on me, and the hero was equally charming.
Lady Daphne St. Clair has been reassigned - to India - as nothing more than a human chaise conveying a lord's family back and forth from England. Having just failed on the battlefield, her mistake leading to a man's death, she reluctantly accepts her punishment. However, not long after arrival, she meets Captain Phineas Fletcher, a quiet yet charming Discerner, who is in need of a Bounder for an upcoming mission. Daphne, being an Extraordinary Bounder, is perfect for the job and quickly accepts, bringing along her newfound friend, Bess, an Extraordinary Speaker. Though both girls are there for a serious purpose, Daphne finds that love has a way of making itself known even at the most inconvenient of times. But what will happen when she inevitably returns to the battlefield and leaves the Captain behind?
Daphne and Finn complimented each other nicely! Daphne was headstrong, impulsive, and talkative, while Finn was reserved, steady, and quiet. I enjoyed seeing Finn come out of his shell when around Daphne, as her exuberance rubbed off on him, particularly when she Skips with him to an abandoned palace for a tour. It's an interesting change of roles, as Finn must place his life entirely in Daphne's hands. The role reversal was exciting, to say the least! I did find Daphne's behavior to be childish at times regarding her situation, considering that she was in India because she caused a man's death. It's not as if they are punishing her for no reason. She bucks up eventually, but there are moments throughout the story when her selfishness sneaks out. She checks herself and recognizes when she's doing it though, so that helps me get back on track in the story. Overall I loved her interactions with Finn, and they were a delightful couple!
As always, I highly recommend this book to my blog readers! Any book in this series is bound to be a delight, and I can't tell you how eager I am to see what's up next.
**I received a free copy via NetGalley and this is my honest review.**
Lady Daphne St. Clair has been reassigned - to India - as nothing more than a human chaise conveying a lord's family back and forth from England. Having just failed on the battlefield, her mistake leading to a man's death, she reluctantly accepts her punishment. However, not long after arrival, she meets Captain Phineas Fletcher, a quiet yet charming Discerner, who is in need of a Bounder for an upcoming mission. Daphne, being an Extraordinary Bounder, is perfect for the job and quickly accepts, bringing along her newfound friend, Bess, an Extraordinary Speaker. Though both girls are there for a serious purpose, Daphne finds that love has a way of making itself known even at the most inconvenient of times. But what will happen when she inevitably returns to the battlefield and leaves the Captain behind?
Daphne and Finn complimented each other nicely! Daphne was headstrong, impulsive, and talkative, while Finn was reserved, steady, and quiet. I enjoyed seeing Finn come out of his shell when around Daphne, as her exuberance rubbed off on him, particularly when she Skips with him to an abandoned palace for a tour. It's an interesting change of roles, as Finn must place his life entirely in Daphne's hands. The role reversal was exciting, to say the least! I did find Daphne's behavior to be childish at times regarding her situation, considering that she was in India because she caused a man's death. It's not as if they are punishing her for no reason. She bucks up eventually, but there are moments throughout the story when her selfishness sneaks out. She checks herself and recognizes when she's doing it though, so that helps me get back on track in the story. Overall I loved her interactions with Finn, and they were a delightful couple!
As always, I highly recommend this book to my blog readers! Any book in this series is bound to be a delight, and I can't tell you how eager I am to see what's up next.
**I received a free copy via NetGalley and this is my honest review.**