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A review by laurpar
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
2.0
I saw this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I didn’t win it, but I was so taken by the short synopsis that I immediately requested it from my library.
Many people describe this book as very Jane Austen-esque with a hint of magic. Reading it myself, I could definitely see Pride and Prejudice, but I also detected some Jane Eyre, and I likened the magic involved to that in The Night Circus. Even with all these qualities in its favor, however, I found myself a bit apprehensive about the combination of them all: how would magic and illusion work in a regency novel?
The synopsis, and, hell, even the book, fail to describe ‘glamour’ as being ‘magic’. At first, I thought it was applying makeup or fashion or something (what else would you think of when you hear ‘glamour’?), until I flipped the book over in confusion and the back cover revealed it to be magical illusions.
While still a bit ambivalent about the concept, I was instantly drawn in by the characters. Jane Ellsworth is a 28 year old self-described ‘spinster,’ living with her aging parents and much younger sister, Melody. The talents in the family seem to be evenly distributed: her sister possesses all the beauty and charm, and Jane possesses all the talent. Chief among her talents is her ability to practice glamour, a sort of magic existent in her world that allows her to create illusions. Both Melody and Jane are ‘out’ in society (though Jane repeatedly mentions that she’s more in a position to be a chaperone than to need one), and their competition over men is wrought with jealousy, lies, and, yes, glamour. Will beauty beat brains? Or will Jane win her Mr. Darcy in the end?
God, I hated Melody. Read the book: you’ll hate her, too. The biggest frustrations in this book come from her selfishness and Jane’s attempts to placate her when she’s going into her jealous rages. She’s like Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia on steroids or something; definitely not pleasant to hear from. It’s very empowering to see Jane begin to stand up to her, though, and to see Jane become more self-assured as the book continues.
The romance in it is… alright. It mainly consisted of the kind of “Was he staring at me? What did his last comment mean? Are his guarded words meant for me or my sister?” obsessions that are commonplace in society at the time. It was alright, but certainly not on the same par as Austen.
Altogether, it was a pretty good read, although I’m still not quite taken with the glamour idea. The book does contain an action scene where it’s extensively used, but it didn’t seem like it added very much to the story elsewhere in the book. I mean, yes, they used the magic a lot, but if you replaced ‘glamour’ with ‘painting’ or ‘music,’ you’d probably get the same effect. Glamour is more like art in this book, something to fawn over and praise, rather than something to legitimately help or hurt someone in times of need.
Anyway, it was okay. I liked about 75 - 80% of the book, but the ending was rather poor. I understand why things worked out the way they did, but I didn’t enjoy it. The book is the first in a series (or, at least, I know it has a sequel), which surprised me because the ending of this seemed quite… open and shut. Usually, when you end a story by describing what happens to the characters in the future and finally ending with a quotation when your protagonist is old and gray, you don’t end up writing another book to follow it, taking place when the characters are still young and healthy. It struck me as odd. I’ll probably scope out other reviews before deciding whether to read it or not.
Many people describe this book as very Jane Austen-esque with a hint of magic. Reading it myself, I could definitely see Pride and Prejudice, but I also detected some Jane Eyre, and I likened the magic involved to that in The Night Circus. Even with all these qualities in its favor, however, I found myself a bit apprehensive about the combination of them all: how would magic and illusion work in a regency novel?
The synopsis, and, hell, even the book, fail to describe ‘glamour’ as being ‘magic’. At first, I thought it was applying makeup or fashion or something (what else would you think of when you hear ‘glamour’?), until I flipped the book over in confusion and the back cover revealed it to be magical illusions.
While still a bit ambivalent about the concept, I was instantly drawn in by the characters. Jane Ellsworth is a 28 year old self-described ‘spinster,’ living with her aging parents and much younger sister, Melody. The talents in the family seem to be evenly distributed: her sister possesses all the beauty and charm, and Jane possesses all the talent. Chief among her talents is her ability to practice glamour, a sort of magic existent in her world that allows her to create illusions. Both Melody and Jane are ‘out’ in society (though Jane repeatedly mentions that she’s more in a position to be a chaperone than to need one), and their competition over men is wrought with jealousy, lies, and, yes, glamour. Will beauty beat brains? Or will Jane win her Mr. Darcy in the end?
God, I hated Melody. Read the book: you’ll hate her, too. The biggest frustrations in this book come from her selfishness and Jane’s attempts to placate her when she’s going into her jealous rages. She’s like Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia on steroids or something; definitely not pleasant to hear from. It’s very empowering to see Jane begin to stand up to her, though, and to see Jane become more self-assured as the book continues.
The romance in it is… alright. It mainly consisted of the kind of “Was he staring at me? What did his last comment mean? Are his guarded words meant for me or my sister?” obsessions that are commonplace in society at the time. It was alright, but certainly not on the same par as Austen.
Altogether, it was a pretty good read, although I’m still not quite taken with the glamour idea. The book does contain an action scene where it’s extensively used, but it didn’t seem like it added very much to the story elsewhere in the book. I mean, yes, they used the magic a lot, but if you replaced ‘glamour’ with ‘painting’ or ‘music,’ you’d probably get the same effect. Glamour is more like art in this book, something to fawn over and praise, rather than something to legitimately help or hurt someone in times of need.
Anyway, it was okay. I liked about 75 - 80% of the book, but the ending was rather poor. I understand why things worked out the way they did, but I didn’t enjoy it. The book is the first in a series (or, at least, I know it has a sequel), which surprised me because the ending of this seemed quite… open and shut. Usually, when you end a story by describing what happens to the characters in the future and finally ending with a quotation when your protagonist is old and gray, you don’t end up writing another book to follow it, taking place when the characters are still young and healthy. It struck me as odd. I’ll probably scope out other reviews before deciding whether to read it or not.