A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind — avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.
But then a window of opportunity opens — a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid.
In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy Review
After reading The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, I was so excited to read a book all about Felicity. But unfortunately, I’m just really disappointed in this book.
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy follows Felicity as she travels around Europe chasing her dream of becoming a doctor. Similar to the first book, there’s chaos, romance and adventure!
There are some aspects of this book that are enjoyable. The characters are still enjoyable. Felicity is just as good in this book as she is in the first. She’s intelligent and quirky, while also strong and brave. She’s also unwavering in her desire to be a doctor. I also enjoyed the moments with Monty and Percy!
The historical aspect of this book is also enjoyable. Mackenzi Lee is able to transport the reader into the past so well. You almost feel as though you’re alongside Felicity during her crazy adventure.
My biggest issue with this book is the magical realism or the fantasy element. Without giving spoilers, there is a fantasy element in this book that just doesn’t fit in. It’s really unrealistic and just spoiled the enjoyment of the book for me. In my opinion, it truly didn’t add to the plot or storyline
Because of this, I only really enjoyed the first half of the book. Which is really unfortunate because I wanted to love it!
Overall, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy had the potential of being a great story. I think if you enjoyed the first book, it’s worth checking out. But for me, it was a let down.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5)
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Everyone has heard stories of women like us, and now, we will make more of them.
About the Author
Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Simmons College. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the historical fantasy novels This Monstrous Thing, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and its sequel, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. She is also the author of Bygone Badass Broads, a collection of short biographies of amazing women from history you probably don’t know about but definitely should, based on her popular twitter series of the same name.When not writing, she works as an independent bookseller, drinks too much Diet Coke, and romps with her St. Bernard, Queenie.
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Great review 🎀Happy reading for the new year 🌸🎀
Thank you! And to you as well ✨
Really interesting! I actually found the magic less jarring in this one than it was in GG? Kind of because I knew it was coming. But great to read your thoughts.
Yeah that’s totally understandable. I just think maybe I enjoyed the overall story of GG better than this one and so it kind of bothered me? I think I’m just more connected to the first one, but I still enjoyed it overall!
Unfortunately, I felt the same way about this book. I really wanted to love it like I did with the first Guide book, but I felt as though the story kept going on and on when it needed to end. It’s sad, really. What’s even more of a bummer is the fact that I LOVED the characters, old and new ones. I was hoping there was going to be more going on about their adventures on the road and what not, and more fighting parts. I didn’t mind the “magical” elements as much, but I just felt certain parts were so slow and then all of a sudden there would be this jump where I wanted more information written.
Great review! You always have such well thought-out reviews 🙂
Yay! I’m glad you agree with me. And thank you so much, that’s so kind! 💕