A review by oceanelle
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

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

3.5

The historical accuracy and overall themes were great, but I kind of felt that if the plot had been focused on helping one or two people in distress instead of bouncing from person to person, there would’ve been more space and time to develop Gus and Julia as characters. I can appreciate a
cliffhanger ending
, but there were too many threads left loose for it to be satisfying.
Gus’s fraught relationship with religion seemed so important at the beginning of the book—but then tapered off? Julia is grieving tremendously at the beginning, but we don’t really see that part of her arc develop? Gus falls rashly in love with Evan after hanging out twice, despite unexplored hints of queerness, gender nonconformity, and maybe even being on the asexuality spectrum?
 

I prefer a more character-driven book, and while there were certain aspects I loved about the story, the character arcs were lacking. 
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