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A review by joanna1905
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
4.0
I have kinda mixed feelings about this book, I definitely enjoyed it but not quite as much as I enjoyed Gentleman’s Guide. However, this is through no real fault of this book. The thing that tips the scales in favour is Gentleman’s Guide is Monty and Percy’s story, I loved watching them struggled with their feelings for each other and grow from friends to lovers.
I’m a sticker for a queer love story and that was something this book didn’t really have. However, I would still say this book has some great queer rep! Not only did we get some great glimpses of Monty and Percy but we pretty much get confirmation of Felicity’s asexuality. Whilst the term asexual isn’t used (likely due to the fact that this term probably didn’t exist back then.) This rep was super awesome to see as asexuality is very rarely given any attention in media.
Another awesome thing about this book is the glimpse we get into the struggles women faced in the eighteenth century. While we still have far to go when it comes to woman’s rights it’s remarkable to see how far we’ve come. It’s inspiring to see what can be achieved when people continue to fight and dream of a better future.
Felicity is a character that I neither love or hate, at times I really like her but other times she annoys me with how rude she can be. However, this feeds into something that I absolutely adore. Lee provides an incredible example of how men/societies treatment of women manifests as internal misogyny.
Despite her intelligence Felicity has long looked down upon her childhood friend Johanna who loves ‘girly’ things like clothes, parties and socialising. Johanna is an intelligent, well educated so far from shallow and insipid. When Johanna begins showing interest in the things Felicity views as inferior their friendship ends. However later in the book we get to see Felicity grow and understand how problematic her beliefs had been.
Internal misogyny is something most women (myself included) have struggled with. Our society often deems women who like makeup and clothes as inferior to educated women, deeming them shallow and materialistic. When in reality being into ‘girly’ things and being educated are not mutually exclusive. Neither makes a woman lesser and there are many educated women who also love makeup and clothes.
I liked Sim’s character, it’s great to have a Muslim main character who is also queer. It’s also fantastic to see how despite having feelings for Felicity once she knows Felicity isn’t interested she continues to act like a great friend. No spooking over the friend zone in this book!
Overall this is a fantastic book and a great sequel to the first book!
I’m a sticker for a queer love story and that was something this book didn’t really have. However, I would still say this book has some great queer rep! Not only did we get some great glimpses of Monty and Percy but we pretty much get confirmation of Felicity’s asexuality. Whilst the term asexual isn’t used (likely due to the fact that this term probably didn’t exist back then.) This rep was super awesome to see as asexuality is very rarely given any attention in media.
Another awesome thing about this book is the glimpse we get into the struggles women faced in the eighteenth century. While we still have far to go when it comes to woman’s rights it’s remarkable to see how far we’ve come. It’s inspiring to see what can be achieved when people continue to fight and dream of a better future.
Felicity is a character that I neither love or hate, at times I really like her but other times she annoys me with how rude she can be. However, this feeds into something that I absolutely adore. Lee provides an incredible example of how men/societies treatment of women manifests as internal misogyny.
Despite her intelligence Felicity has long looked down upon her childhood friend Johanna who loves ‘girly’ things like clothes, parties and socialising. Johanna is an intelligent, well educated so far from shallow and insipid. When Johanna begins showing interest in the things Felicity views as inferior their friendship ends. However later in the book we get to see Felicity grow and understand how problematic her beliefs had been.
Internal misogyny is something most women (myself included) have struggled with. Our society often deems women who like makeup and clothes as inferior to educated women, deeming them shallow and materialistic. When in reality being into ‘girly’ things and being educated are not mutually exclusive. Neither makes a woman lesser and there are many educated women who also love makeup and clothes.
I liked Sim’s character, it’s great to have a Muslim main character who is also queer. It’s also fantastic to see how despite having feelings for Felicity once she knows Felicity isn’t interested she continues to act like a great friend. No spooking over the friend zone in this book!
Overall this is a fantastic book and a great sequel to the first book!