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A review by freadomlibrary
Imprudence by Gail Carriger
4.0
Actual rating 4.5 stars
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book picks up right where the first one left off. My biggest issue with this series in particular is that the pacing is really slow, when I’m used to Carriger’s books being constantly fast paced and entertaining. This one has specific scenes that are action packed and some that are full of crazy and unexpected situations but its definitely not the entire time. This book in particular deals with a lot more romance and familial relations, from the main character’s perspective as well as others. I definitely liked the story line in this one a lot more than the first book.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
This is the part that I can always count on when it comes to these books. The writing style is done really well in my opinion. It’s always really descriptive and detailed, though it can get a bit much for some people. While it’s historically accurate and really verbose, it’s easy to read and really freaking funny. As for the narration, there’s a lot more growth in the character from the first to the second book and that is shown in the way she speaks to the reader. It’s still quirky and entertaining but you can see how the adventures she’s had and her current struggles have affected the main character’s thought process and personality.
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
I’m happy to say that this part has improved, yay! I was not the biggest fan of this cast of characters in the first book but they’ve definitely improved in this one. There’s a lot more character development, a lot more background on most of them and some new editions that I really enjoyed learning about. Rue as a main character has also improved for me. She got on my nerves really easily in the first book and while she’s still kind of arrogant and spoiler, she’s also a lot more mature. She’s not as annoying though still kind of clueless about some things though very smart about others. She’s struggles a bit emotionally in this book, considering the family issues she has, and I enjoyed seeing more depth to her. She’s honest and bold though very guarded with her heart. I really loved the views on sexuality that this book had, specially considering the time this book is set in. Rue is very clear on her wants and desires as a woman, and has a very forward thinking approach to sex. I loved to see a historical romance starting in such an unconventional way for them. The side characters are definitely more developed in this book as well. Each one has their own little things going on as part of the whole plot process. There are always so many different pieces to Carriger’s book and it’s always plausible to expect to see characters from the earlier series show up again. This one has a lot more new and old character show up and I have to say that in this entire cast my favorite is Tasherit.
She’s badass as hell.
Emotionally
The plot is heartfelt yet entertaining. We follow Rue, right after the events of the first book, she comes home to political upheaval and family strife. She’s officially of age, an adult, and she must take her parents to Egypt and ends up running into trouble. I have to say that I was disappointed in the first book of this series, but this one is a lot better. I was much more emotionally invested in this story, specially because of the family/pack situation in the first part. That’s the part that kept me interested and motivated to read at first. It’s such a chaotic time, and poor Rue is completely and totally lost because no one is telling her anything. She manages to find out on her own that her family has always been planning a move to Egypt at some point because of the Alpha’s Curse and that has finally reached her father. I have such a soft spot for Lord Maccon that it really gutted me to see him so lost and reluctant to let go of something that has defined his life for so many, many years. Because I’d read the original series, I knew this moment was coming at some point or another. I’m really glad that we got to see it come to fruition but it’s also really heartbreaking. Specially for Rue because her entire connection to the pack has shifted now and she had no forewarning and no way to really prepare herself for such a change. I wonder if we’re gonna see her interact with all these men that she’s grown up with as her uncles in future books because I think it’d be really interesting to see what character development can come from such a rift and Rue learning to move beyond that. Though the first part is definitely my favorite, the rest of the story was entertaining though I’m getting a bit tired of these “unknown enemy” until the very end that this series has. It’s reminiscent of the first series but because there’s been so many books in between I’d like to see something more cohesive between books. On the other hand, I really love how all this mayhem has made the crew on the ship much closer. Everyone works together and each person kind of has their own job. We don’t see a lot of those people close up, except for a few of them, but the general atmosphere of the entire crew is so nice and fun and funny and welcoming. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip with them. I want to mention that there’s a central romance as part of the book’s plot and I really enjoyed it. It’s pretty unconventional for the time and I really enjoyed the mindset that it shared about sex, very positive and conscious. It’s a pretty demure kind of friends with benefits sort of thing but slightly more complicated with a little bit of drama and I really loved the development of it. I definitely ship it with my whole heart and I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow and to see if more romances come up later.
Rue has grown on me. She’s still a bit naive about a bunch of different things and still a bit annoying. However, she’s growing and maturing as she continues on her crazy journeys and meeting a lot of different people. I think seeing the changes happening in her family have really affected her and her view of her life. She’s gotten herself into quite a pickle this time and I really hope this particular story line continues on in the next two books. I’d like to see her come into her own and to really become more comfortable and understand who she is. I really enjoyed her views on sex and love, it’s very refreshing specially in a historical fiction setting. I like how she took matters into her own hands and decided what she wanted, screw whoever wanted to judge her and her decisions. I love the way the relationship she’s involved in progressed and while I love how she wanted to be disassociated with love and all the sappiness of it, I’m glad she let her guard down in the end and I can’t wait to see how that affects her personality and actions.
As always, lastly, I want to talk a bit about the side characters. I felt like all of them in their own way had some development which I really appreciated. Percy, who’s a know it all, socially awkward little butt face makes a hugee mistake in this one and goodness, I was so aggravated with him. I felt like he wasn’t treated very fairly in the first book, he did a lot of great things that helped and saved a lot of people from shitty stuff happening to them. But in this one, that kind of attitude escalated except it was actually deserved this time. He went and did some things that were really self-absorbed and not thought through though I can say that he was very remorseful and I think he did his best to make up for his mistakes. However, if it hadn’t been for Quesnel being also a little butt face, Percy wouldn’t have done anything. The men in this series are kind of insane in a bit of an unattractive way. They don’t treat each other very well and it causes a lot of problems for every body else. That was a bit annoying. However, Quesnel is also really sweet and caring, though an unstoppable flirt. I really like his personality since it reminds me a lot of his mom, he’s cheeky and a bit naughty but has a good heart and good intentions underneath it all. I want to get to know him more. Like I said above, Tasherit is my favorite character from the cast. She’s the typical badass female that is un-apologetically herself that I just love no matter where that type of character shows up. She’s powerful and strong and I just really love her! I want to know more about her past, specially since we got a glimpse of it in this book and I know there’s a lot of juicy things in there! Lastly, there’s Prim who I still really like but damn girl, stop with the denial. She’s so sweet and always aware of what everyone needs. However, she has society’s rules and regulations in her head constantly which keep her from seeing what’s right in front of her! And I want her to have what’s right in front of her! Oh my goodness, I want that for her so much and I really hope it happens.
Overall, I really like this book more than the first. The plot felt like it was divided by two different things: the emotional and tough changes happening in Rue’s family and the aftermath of Percy’s decisions and traveling. I liked the first a bit more but I was still entertained by the second part until the end. I felt like all the characters grew in this book, there was some much needed character development for Rue and I’m so happy about that! There was more romance in this book and we get to see so many more of the old characters, even some I wasn’t expecting and that was awesome. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series has to offer.
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book picks up right where the first one left off. My biggest issue with this series in particular is that the pacing is really slow, when I’m used to Carriger’s books being constantly fast paced and entertaining. This one has specific scenes that are action packed and some that are full of crazy and unexpected situations but its definitely not the entire time. This book in particular deals with a lot more romance and familial relations, from the main character’s perspective as well as others. I definitely liked the story line in this one a lot more than the first book.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
This is the part that I can always count on when it comes to these books. The writing style is done really well in my opinion. It’s always really descriptive and detailed, though it can get a bit much for some people. While it’s historically accurate and really verbose, it’s easy to read and really freaking funny. As for the narration, there’s a lot more growth in the character from the first to the second book and that is shown in the way she speaks to the reader. It’s still quirky and entertaining but you can see how the adventures she’s had and her current struggles have affected the main character’s thought process and personality.
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
I’m happy to say that this part has improved, yay! I was not the biggest fan of this cast of characters in the first book but they’ve definitely improved in this one. There’s a lot more character development, a lot more background on most of them and some new editions that I really enjoyed learning about. Rue as a main character has also improved for me. She got on my nerves really easily in the first book and while she’s still kind of arrogant and spoiler, she’s also a lot more mature. She’s not as annoying though still kind of clueless about some things though very smart about others. She’s struggles a bit emotionally in this book, considering the family issues she has, and I enjoyed seeing more depth to her. She’s honest and bold though very guarded with her heart. I really loved the views on sexuality that this book had, specially considering the time this book is set in. Rue is very clear on her wants and desires as a woman, and has a very forward thinking approach to sex. I loved to see a historical romance starting in such an unconventional way for them. The side characters are definitely more developed in this book as well. Each one has their own little things going on as part of the whole plot process. There are always so many different pieces to Carriger’s book and it’s always plausible to expect to see characters from the earlier series show up again. This one has a lot more new and old character show up and I have to say that in this entire cast my favorite is Tasherit.
She’s badass as hell.
Emotionally
Spoiler
I definitely liked this book a lot more than I did the first one, though it’s still not my favorite Carriger. I think her older series are a lot better than this one as of these two books.The plot is heartfelt yet entertaining. We follow Rue, right after the events of the first book, she comes home to political upheaval and family strife. She’s officially of age, an adult, and she must take her parents to Egypt and ends up running into trouble. I have to say that I was disappointed in the first book of this series, but this one is a lot better. I was much more emotionally invested in this story, specially because of the family/pack situation in the first part. That’s the part that kept me interested and motivated to read at first. It’s such a chaotic time, and poor Rue is completely and totally lost because no one is telling her anything. She manages to find out on her own that her family has always been planning a move to Egypt at some point because of the Alpha’s Curse and that has finally reached her father. I have such a soft spot for Lord Maccon that it really gutted me to see him so lost and reluctant to let go of something that has defined his life for so many, many years. Because I’d read the original series, I knew this moment was coming at some point or another. I’m really glad that we got to see it come to fruition but it’s also really heartbreaking. Specially for Rue because her entire connection to the pack has shifted now and she had no forewarning and no way to really prepare herself for such a change. I wonder if we’re gonna see her interact with all these men that she’s grown up with as her uncles in future books because I think it’d be really interesting to see what character development can come from such a rift and Rue learning to move beyond that. Though the first part is definitely my favorite, the rest of the story was entertaining though I’m getting a bit tired of these “unknown enemy” until the very end that this series has. It’s reminiscent of the first series but because there’s been so many books in between I’d like to see something more cohesive between books. On the other hand, I really love how all this mayhem has made the crew on the ship much closer. Everyone works together and each person kind of has their own job. We don’t see a lot of those people close up, except for a few of them, but the general atmosphere of the entire crew is so nice and fun and funny and welcoming. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip with them. I want to mention that there’s a central romance as part of the book’s plot and I really enjoyed it. It’s pretty unconventional for the time and I really enjoyed the mindset that it shared about sex, very positive and conscious. It’s a pretty demure kind of friends with benefits sort of thing but slightly more complicated with a little bit of drama and I really loved the development of it. I definitely ship it with my whole heart and I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow and to see if more romances come up later.
Rue has grown on me. She’s still a bit naive about a bunch of different things and still a bit annoying. However, she’s growing and maturing as she continues on her crazy journeys and meeting a lot of different people. I think seeing the changes happening in her family have really affected her and her view of her life. She’s gotten herself into quite a pickle this time and I really hope this particular story line continues on in the next two books. I’d like to see her come into her own and to really become more comfortable and understand who she is. I really enjoyed her views on sex and love, it’s very refreshing specially in a historical fiction setting. I like how she took matters into her own hands and decided what she wanted, screw whoever wanted to judge her and her decisions. I love the way the relationship she’s involved in progressed and while I love how she wanted to be disassociated with love and all the sappiness of it, I’m glad she let her guard down in the end and I can’t wait to see how that affects her personality and actions.
As always, lastly, I want to talk a bit about the side characters. I felt like all of them in their own way had some development which I really appreciated. Percy, who’s a know it all, socially awkward little butt face makes a hugee mistake in this one and goodness, I was so aggravated with him. I felt like he wasn’t treated very fairly in the first book, he did a lot of great things that helped and saved a lot of people from shitty stuff happening to them. But in this one, that kind of attitude escalated except it was actually deserved this time. He went and did some things that were really self-absorbed and not thought through though I can say that he was very remorseful and I think he did his best to make up for his mistakes. However, if it hadn’t been for Quesnel being also a little butt face, Percy wouldn’t have done anything. The men in this series are kind of insane in a bit of an unattractive way. They don’t treat each other very well and it causes a lot of problems for every body else. That was a bit annoying. However, Quesnel is also really sweet and caring, though an unstoppable flirt. I really like his personality since it reminds me a lot of his mom, he’s cheeky and a bit naughty but has a good heart and good intentions underneath it all. I want to get to know him more. Like I said above, Tasherit is my favorite character from the cast. She’s the typical badass female that is un-apologetically herself that I just love no matter where that type of character shows up. She’s powerful and strong and I just really love her! I want to know more about her past, specially since we got a glimpse of it in this book and I know there’s a lot of juicy things in there! Lastly, there’s Prim who I still really like but damn girl, stop with the denial. She’s so sweet and always aware of what everyone needs. However, she has society’s rules and regulations in her head constantly which keep her from seeing what’s right in front of her! And I want her to have what’s right in front of her! Oh my goodness, I want that for her so much and I really hope it happens.
Overall, I really like this book more than the first. The plot felt like it was divided by two different things: the emotional and tough changes happening in Rue’s family and the aftermath of Percy’s decisions and traveling. I liked the first a bit more but I was still entertained by the second part until the end. I felt like all the characters grew in this book, there was some much needed character development for Rue and I’m so happy about that! There was more romance in this book and we get to see so many more of the old characters, even some I wasn’t expecting and that was awesome. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series has to offer.