Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

15 reviews

christinereads1823's review

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

3.5

Very mixed feelings on this book. The last hundred or so pages were more enjoyable, but the beginning dragged - especially because I felt the characters were so unlikeable at the start. Most of them grew on me through the book, and I did enjoy the romance development. But it was a Slog to get through the first half of the book.
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suzreadsalot's review against another edition

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Started out silly and fun but wound up being abusive and enraging. I’ll never find out if bonny apologizes to Valentine because I cannot listen to another minute of this so I’ll just write my own ending. 

Utterly disappointing
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dododenise's review against another edition

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Valentine is made to feel bad because he doesn’t see the point in marriage and is doing it for societal reasons, and is open about that. Reading his perspective just implied to me that he might be aro and neurodivergent. And it made me feel bad seeing him treated that way. 
I was hoping the book would be on his side on this, but other reviews have said that the other characters keep treating him badly so I’m not doing this to myself any longer. 
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jjjreads's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

5.0

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kaitlinnoodles's review against another edition

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

4.0

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maregred's review against another edition

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

2.0

The Tarleton twins are insufferable and humorless and Catherine Moreland would NEVER. 

Also I just felt bad for Valentine the whole time. He was victim blamed for getting shot, and for breaking a chair he was tied up in… that poor dude deserved so much better.
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wilybooklover's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

As a farce, this was ridiculously funny and camp and over the top. As a romance... it just wasn't quite there for me. Valentine was an idiot one too many times and the twins verged on too mean one too many times as well (especially Arabella). If both of those aspects were pared back just a touch then I think I'd have loved this.
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violet_reads's review

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

1.25

I liked Valentine but I didn't care for the other characters. Valentine read as ace or demi-ace whether the author intended that or not. And it felt awful to read characters constantly asking what was wrong with him when he just didn't have any romantic feelings for people he hasn't seen since his childhood.
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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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anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

This book is the most camp, melodramatic, over the top, utterly nonsensical book I’ve ever read and I fucking loved every single minute of it. It is an absolute delight and was exactly what my struggling brain needed. I laughed so so much, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed aloud so much at a book. Wonderful depiction of a demisexual achillean man falling in love, so much banter, so much delightful regency hilarity, it’s sexy, I loved the romance, I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

I know other readers disagree with me and feel Valentine was picked on by the twins too much and had too little power, but I feel the power struggle was well balanced for Valentine’s position as a Duke (and a man) versus his naivety about life. And this is meant to be a melodrama: it’s supposed to be over the top and dramatic. The character’s actions made perfect sense to me. I also wonder if it’s a culture thing? Bonny / Valentine’s relationship was very full of banter and bickering, but it’s something I’ve often had non-British people question about my relationship, ask why we’re fighting when nothing could be further from the truth. So perhaps there’s an element of misunderstanding that kind of humour between them also? 

Anyway all this to say, I loved this, I thought it was hilarious and over the top and melodramatic and wonderful. 

Content warnings: gun violence, arranged marriage (attempt), internalised homophobia and acephobia, graphic sex, death of parents (past), confinement
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