Review: Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

 

Title: Bringing Down the Duke
Author: Evie Dunmore
Publisher: Piatkus
Publication Date: 3rd September 2019
Pages: 368

 

 
This book seemed to generate a lot of buzz when it was published back in September, and I was fully on board with the hype. The Victorian time period, Oxford setting and women’s suffrage theme all led me to believe that this was the kind of historical romance I’d love – but sadly, I was very much mistaken.

The basic premise is that Annabelle Archer, one of the first women admitted to the University of Oxford, is working as part of the women’s suffrage movement to try and persuade influential men in politics to fight for their cause. One such influential man is the Duke of Montgomery, who has just been asked by Queen Victoria to head the Tory party campaign for the upcoming General Election.

Now, this was the first warning sign that the book would be a miss for me. It’s known that Queen Victoria had a penchant for voicing her strong opinions about her preferred prime ministerial candidates in private – but there is absolutely no way she would have hired a duke to publicly run the election campaign for her preferred party! This unconstitutional act by the fictional version of the queen unfortunately pulled me out of the narrative right away – and there were more inaccuracies to come.

Annabelle is quoted multiple times as having read Debrett’s Etiquette Manual in preparation for her dealings with the aristocracy. The author should probably have taken a leaf out of her character’s book and done some reading of Debrett’s resources herself, though, as there were several instances of incorrect forms of address for members of the peerage in this book.

Inaccuracies aside, I might still have been able to enjoy this book had the romance been good – but unfortunately, that was a big miss too.

The Duke’s aggressive, alpha male behaviour towards Annabelle made me despise him from the very beginning, and unfortunately my feelings towards him didn’t improve as the book went on. There are plenty of disturbing scenes of him “looming” over Annabelle, or grabbing her to stop her leaving his presence before “slamming” his lips against hers – but it was this quote which particularly stuck out to me:

“He turned and stared down at her, a bit like a lion would stare at a lamb that had foolishly wandered into his cave, deciding whether to devour her flat-out or to roar and chase her off.”

It set off some distant alarm bell in my head – and I soon realised it was because it reminded me of the famous “and so the lion fell in love with the lamb” line from Twilight. And since Bella and Edward’s relationship is probably the most toxic I’ve ever read about in a book that claims to be a romance, this comparison is not a favourable one.

The Twilight vibes continued with some controlling and possessive behaviour from the Duke when he sees Annabelle spending time with another man. It’s rather ironic to me that the entire premise of the book is based around the suffragettes’ fight for the repeal of the Married Women’s Property Act, while the Duke’s dearest wish seems to be claiming Annabelle as his own property.

All in all, this book was a huge disappointment for me. The cute cover and women’s suffrage theme led me to believe that this would be a fresh, feminist historical romance, but I found myself sadly deceived. Instead I was plunged into a melodramatic story of obsession and lust with the sort of aggressive alpha male love interest that I usually do my best to avoid.

If the alpha male trope is one you like, and you don’t mind historical inaccuracies, then you might well enjoy this book a lot more than I did – but unfortunately this one was definitely not for me.

 

 

OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 TBR

Yay, it’s that time of year again! I was so excited to see this year’s OWLs Magical Readathon announcement video appear on Book Roast‘s channel – I think it’s safe to say that this year, more than ever, I’m feeling the desire to virtually escape to Hogwarts with the bookish community for the entirety of April.

Once again, G (aka Book Roast) has pulled out all the stops – there are new careers, new challenges, and some very interesting reading prompts!

If you’re wondering what on earth a magical readathon is, you can watch the announcement video which explains everything in more detail. But for now, let’s get into my tentative TBR for the readathon.

 

Career Choice

So this year I’m leaning towards becoming a Hogwarts Professor – mainly because it offers a lot of flexibility with subject choice, which is great for me because I tend to be a mood reader!

This career requires 7 OWLs, including: Defence Against the Dark Arts, the subject I want to become a professor of, and 5 free choices. Currently I’m leaning towards either History of Magic or Potions as my chosen subject, but that may change.

 

TBR

I’m only setting out my TBR for the 7 OWLs I definitely want to pass. I might end up reading more, which would be great – but here are my current plans.

 

Ancient Runes

Prompt: Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title

My choice: It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

 

 

Astronomy

Prompt: Night classes: read majority of this book when it’s dark outside

My choice: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

 

 

Defence Against the Dark Arts

Prompt: Grindylows: book set at the sea/coast

My choice: A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian

 

 

Divination

Prompt: Third eye: assign numbers to your TBR and use a random number generator to pick your read

My choice: The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord

 

 

History of Magic

Prompt: Witch hunt: book featuring witches/wizards

My choice: The Familiars by Stacey Halls

 

 

Muggle Studies

Prompt: Book from a perspective of a Muggle (contemporary)

My choice: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

 

 

Potions

Prompt: Shrinking solution: book under 150 pages

My choice: Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson

 

I’m terrible at sticking to TBRs, so it’ll be interesting to see how many of these books I actually read during April!

Are you going to be joining the OWLs readathon this April? Which career are you going for? Let me know with a comment below – in the meantime, I’ll be busy placing an order at Flourish and Blotts and getting to work on my spell practice 🙂

 

10 Books That Defined My Decade

As 2019 drew to a close, I found myself mulling over the decade just gone. It’s quite likely to be the most significant decade of change I’ll ever have in my life: I sat my GCSEs and A-Levels, got a Masters degree in Physics, met my boyfriend, moved to London to start my first graduate scheme, then realised I hated said graduate scheme and quit to start another job in a completely different field.

In such a period filled with big life changes, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how my reading tastes have evolved throughout the decade. This blog post is therefore a journey through the last ten years of my life by way of the books that were most important to me at the time.

April 2010: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

I read this in after visiting Anne Frank House on a holiday to Amsterdam, and reading it at the age of 15 (the same age Anne was when she was captured and arrested) had a profound impact on me.

It was saddening to witness how quickly Anne was forced to grow up, but fascinating to see the mature and passionate person she became. Reading this diary inspired me to begin a journal of my own which I kept regularly throughout my teenage years – and I’m glad I did, because it’s so interesting to look back on now.

 

July 2010: Noughts and Crosses (Noughts and Crosses #1) by Malorie Blackman

This was my first ‘proper’ YA novel, which I read on recommendation of a friend at school. It made me intensely uncomfortable in exactly the way Malorie Blackman intended – I kept finding my mind’s eye automatically picturing the powerful Crosses as white and the persecuted noughts as black, which made me really question the assumptions that had been drilled into me by society.

It’s also an incredibly gripping story, and I vividly remember sobbing my heart out on a sun lounger in Turkey as I reached its emotional conclusion.

July 2011: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Ah, Sarah Dessen – quite possibly my favourite author during my late teenage years. Her books are just the sort I wanted to write myself at the time: the perfect blend of romance, family drama and important issues.

Just Listen remains my favourite novel of hers – it deals with a number of heavy topics whilst maintaining an overall sense of hopefulness. I also adored the romance in this story (Owen is the best Dessen love interest, okay?), and the focus on music which runs throughout the plot.

 

August 2013: A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R.R. Martin

This book marks a definite shift in my reading tastes, and it coincided with one of the most significant periods of change in my life: my first year at university.

No longer scared of being bullied for my nerdiness, I was free to enjoy my first taste of the adult fantasy genre – and wow, what a ride! Unfortunately I had the first book accidentally spoiled by a friend, so the second book was my first true experience of the trademark George R.R. Martin rollercoaster of shocks (and I’ve actually still only read up to book 3, so no spoilers pleaseee).

March 2014: Emma by Jane Austen

It’s crazy to think that at the beginning of this decade, I had never read a Jane Austen novel. Thankfully this has now been set right; through my second and third years of university, I made my way through all six of her completed novels.

While I adore each of them, Emma was an instant favourite. Despite Austen commenting that she had created “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like”, I (and many others) love Emma as a character precisely because she is so flawed.

 

July 2014: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

It seems I do a pretty good job of choosing holiday reads that I will enjoy! I’d heard a few people say that this was a good series to binge, so both my mum and I decided to read it – and I think we both frustrated my brother by being pretty much glued to our Kindles the entire week.

There’s nothing like that feeling of being utterly consumed by a book, which is why I remember this one so fondly. It’s also one of only two books I’ve ever managed to convince my boyfriend to read (the other being Scythe by Neal Shusterman).

February 2017: A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

This book is special because it was the first recommendation I got from a magical place on the internet I’d just discovered called Booktube, which did wonders for rekindling my love for reading after a difficult couple of years.

It was one of those cases of a book coming into my life at just the right moment – I’d been diagnosed with anxiety and depression only a few months previously, and seeing such raw and honest anxiety representation in a book really helped me work through my feelings surrounding it.

 

October 2017: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights was the first novel I ever read as part of Victober (the annual October Victorian reading challenge), and it sailed straight onto my all-time favourites shelf.

At the time of reading it, I was studying for stupidly stressful exams in a job I hated, and flicking it open during study breaks to read about the exploits of all these awful people was exactly the distraction I needed!

 

 

July 2018: Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce

You’re all probably sick of hearing me talk about this novel by now – but in compiling my list of books for this blog post, I remembered exactly why Dear Mrs Bird holds such a dear place in my heart.

I read this in July 2018, six months after my Nana passed away from dementia. When she was alive, I loved listening to her talk about her wartime experiences – so to have the feel of the period brought vividly to life in this novel evoked the comfortable memories of that special time spent with her.

 

September 2019: Edge of Eternity (The Century Trilogy #3) by Ken Follett

Yup, I did it – I finished the Century trilogy before the end of the decade! Although I initially didn’t think this final instalment was as good as the previous two, I’ve found myself unable to stop thinking about it even months after I read it.

I learnt so much from this series, and it’s made me realise how much I love reading historical fiction covering multiple perspectives, especially when done so masterfully. I was moved to tears by the book’s ending, and I’m confident that I’ll never stop recommending this series to anyone who’s remotely interested in modern history.

 

Wow, so that turned into a bit of a mammoth post – congratulations if you made it all the way to the end!

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my evolving reading tastes. I certainly enjoyed thinking back over the books that impacted me over the last 10 years, and I’m excited to discover even more beloved books throughout the next decade.

Review: The Dragon Lady by Louisa Treger

 

Title: The Dragon Lady
Author: Louisa Treger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Caravel
Publication Date: 13th June 2019
Pages: 320

 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think The Dragon Lady is one of those novels which tries to be too many different things at once, and therefore ends up not exploring each of its themes to their full potential. Telling the life story of liberal activist Lady Virginia Courtauld, this book attempted to be a biography, crime novel and romance all at once – and sadly, this combination didn’t quite work for me.

Before picking up this book, I had never heard of Ginie Courtauld, so I was eager to learn more about this fascinating woman who defied the social customs of her time in more ways than deciding to get a shocking tattoo of a snake on her leg. During her time in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1950s, she and her husband fought for racial equality despite their liberal views making them unpopular amongst their European peers.

Although we get told about Ginie and Stephen’s activism throughout the novel, I never felt as though I was given the opportunity to truly discover what Ginie was thinking and feeling as the various events took place. The timeline skipped around a lot, especially during the first half of the book, and I found that this stopped me from truly getting into the story, since I’d just be getting to know one set of characters only to find myself pulled away to a completely different time and place.

A definite strength of Louisa Treger’s writing, though, is her descriptive prose. I especially liked the parts of the novel set in Rhodesia; I could literally feel the stifling heat as I read, and could vividly picture the vibrant gardens surrounding Ginie and Stephen’s home. I’m not normally one to particularly notice descriptive writing, but in this case it definitely helped bring the setting to life, and was one of my favourite things about the book.

The Dragon Lady transported me to a place and period of history I previously had no knowledge of, which I always enjoy when reading historical fiction. Unfortunately the characters fell a little flat for me, though. It might have been the jumping around in the beginning, but I never quite managed to connect to the characters, giving this more the feel of a factual biography rather than a gripping novel.

The Hamilton Book Tag

As you might have gathered from my constant shouting about it both here and on Twitter, I’m unashamedly obsessed with the MASTERPIECE that is Hamilton the Musical. So when I spotted the Hamilton Book Tag over on Pretty Purple Polka Dots, I naturally decided I’d have to do it myself!

The original tag was created by booktuber Maureen, and although some of the questions sound spoiler-y in nature, I’ve managed to find a way to answer all of them in a way that keeps the post completely spoiler-free (you’re welcome)!

THE QUESTIONS

1. The Room Where It Happens: Book world you would put yourself in

I was trying to think of a fantasy world, then realised that they’re generally bleak and terrifying, so instead I’ll go with the fictional town of Lakeview where all of Sarah Dessen’s books are set, because then I’d get to hang out with all her characters.

2. The Schuyler Sisters: Underrated Female Character

I feel like Emma Woodhouse from Emma gets a lot of hate, but I actually think she’s a great character. Her flaws only make me like her more, because I can get behind a realistic heroine way more than a perfect one.

3. My Shot: A character that goes after what they want and doesn’t let anything stop them

Is it even a blog post written by me if I don’t somehow mention Emmy Lake from Dear Mrs Bird?

4. Stay Alive: A character you wish was still alive

The Seven Sisters series might centre around Pa Salt’s death, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing we could have had some scenes with him and all his adoptive daughters before he died.

5. Burn: The most heartbreaking end to a relationship you’ve ever read

I’m not going to give any spoilers, but if you’ve read Home Fire you will know what I mean when I say that the ending completely broke me. And if you haven’t read it yet, you definitely should!

6. You’ll Be Back: Sassiest villain

Caroline Bingley from Pride and Prejudice has to be up there – she never passes up an opportunity to sass Lizzie with fake compliments.

7. The Reynolds Pamphlet – A book with a twist that you didn’t see coming

I recently read The Corset by Laura Purcell, and THAT ending took me completely by surprise!

8. Non-stop: A series you marathoned

I’m usually terrible at finishing series I’ve started, but I flew threw The Hunger Games trilogy during a family holiday.

9. Satisfied: Favourite book with multiple points of view

Homegoing is unique in that every single chapter is told from a different point of view, and it’s one of the many things I love about this book.

10. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history

The Hate U Give has already had such a huge impact on so many people – I definitely think it will become a classic.

 

BONUS QUESTIONS

1. Helpless: A relationship you were rooting for from the start

I don’t know if this is cheating since they’re already together at the start of the book, but I loved Eden and Connor’s relationship in Goodbye, Perfect.

2. Ten Duel Commandments: Favourite fight scene

Basically any fight scene involving Vin in The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson writes the most inventive and cinematic fight scenes.

3. Say No To This: Guilty pleasure read

I pretty much just read whatever I fancy, regardless of target age range or genre, so I don’t really have an answer for this one!

4. What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books

I wish The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett was longer than 3 books – I’m currently putting off reading the last one because I don’t want it to end!

5. Right Hand Man – Favourite BROTP (Friendship)

My favourite platonic relationship is hands down Frances and Aled in Radio Silence.

6. What’d I Miss: A book or series you were late to reading

Hahahaha basically EVERY POPULAR SERIES (see answer to Question 8). The worst culprit is probably The Mortal Instruments, which I only started reading last year.

Review: The Corset by Laura Purcell

Title: The Corset
Author: Laura Purcell
Publisher: Raven Books
Publication Date: 20th September 2018
Pages: 416

 

 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this book – but oh boy, it was INTENSE. This beautifully-written Gothic tale sucked me in from the very beginning, taking me on a wild ride through the grim and grisly parts of Victorian Britain.

The Corset tells the story of Dorothea Truelove, a young heiress with a passion for phrenology, and her visits to Oakgate women’s prison to visit Ruth Butterham, a sixteen-year-old seamstress convicted of murdering her mistress. From the very beginning there is a supernatural element to Ruth’s tale, which I previously haven’t enjoyed in historical fiction – but Laura Purcell weaves it so deftly into the story that it fast became one of my favourite elements.

I love stories with contrasting protagonists, especially when both are women, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know both Dorothea and Ruth through their alternating chapters. The stark contrast between Dorothea’s scientific world view and Ruth’s fantastical tale made the story so interesting, causing me to continuously reassess my opinions as I tried to decide who I believed.

There’s lots of good period detail in here, including some interesting detail on phrenology and lots of insight into the process of dressmaking. It’s worth noting that Laura Purcell also doesn’t shy away from the more gruesome details in her writing – and in fact there were a couple of points where I actually did have to set the book aside for a moment, because the more graphic scenes are written so vividly that they actually made my stomach churn!

Most of the characters in this novel aren’t great people at all, yet I still found myself absorbed in their lives as I eagerly awaited the next twist or turn. I enjoyed reading about them with the same sort of morbid fascination as I felt when reading Wuthering Heights, so I definitely think Laura Purcell succeeded in capturing the essence of Gothic fiction.

The final twist took me completely by surprise, and I’m still mulling it over even a day after finishing the book. Overall this was a thoroughly absorbing read, and I’m keen to read more by Laura Purcell – but if The Corset is anything to go by, I think I’m best sticking to reading her books during daylight hours!

 

Review: After the Party by Cressida Connolly

Title: After the Party
Author: Cressida Connolly
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: 7th June 2018
Pages: 272

 

 

I have such mixed feelings about this book. For the first half I was absolutely loving it and couldn’t wait to see where it was headed – but by the time I got to the last 90 pages or so it became an uncomfortable slog, so much so that I seriously considered not finishing it.

After the Party opens in 1979 with a woman called Phyllis Forrester describing being reunited with her children after a stint in prison – although her crime is not disclosed at this point. We then move back to the 1930s, where Phyllis and her family have returned to England after spending a few years abroad.

Phyllis and her family move in very high circles, with lots of internal politics going on between her two sisters as they jockey for position in the political organisation they are currently both members of, which we soon come to learn is Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. The tension between Phyllis and her sisters kept me intrigued throughout the first portion of the book, as did the glamour and opulence of the parties they attended.

With tension brewing and relationships straining as Phyllis and her husband also began to involve themselves with the British Union, I was very much given the impression of impending shock and drama – but the “dramatic events” promised by the blurb never really put in an appearance. I’d expected the imprisonment of Phyllis to form the nail-biting conclusion to the book, but instead it happened sooner than I expected, which instantly sapped all the intrigue out of the story for me.

The remainder of the novel displayed abundant evidence of Cressida Connolly’s historical research, but unfortunately it often read more like a textbook description of the fate of women like Phyllis who were imprisoned during the Second World War. I found myself completely disconnected from Phyllis as a character, and all the characters I’d previously been interested in seemed to fade into insignificance.

By the time the plot reached its unsatisfactory ending, I found myself thinking I must have completely missed the point of this novel. At its heart I think it is an exploration of how seemingly ‘nice’ and ‘respectable’ people such as Phyllis can end up becoming extremists. Through Phyllis it is demonstrated that nobody ever thinks of themselves as an extremist – her political views were perfectly sensible and reasonable as far as she was concerned.

I did very much like the themes explored in this novel, often finding that it resonated too closely with our current political climate – but in the end there wasn’t enough of interest to grip me all the way through.