Author: Mackenzi Lee
Genre: Historical, Fantasy
Source: Katherine Tegen
Goodreads
Felicity Montague is through with pretending she prefers society parties to books about bone setting—or that she’s not smarter than most people she knows, or that she cares about anything more than her dream of becoming a doctor.Review by Nara
A year after an accidentally whirlwind tour of Europe, which she spent evading highwaymen and pirates with her brother Monty, Felicity has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of Callum Doyle, 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 small window of hope opens. Doctor Alexander Platt, an eccentric physician that Felicity idolizes, is looking for research assistants, and Felicity is sure that someone as forward thinking as her hero would be willing to take her on. However, Platt is in Germany, preparing to wed Felicity’s estranged childhood friend Johanna. Not only is Felicity reluctant to opening old wounds, she also has no money 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 will lead her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (with a title as difficult to say in one go as the first book haha) was an excellently written historical novel with a smidge of fantasy. It focuses on a side character from the first book, Felicity Montague- the sister of the protagonist.
I must admit I didn't like it as much as the first book, but that was probably because I found Monty hilarious and kind of missed his narrative voice (speaking of, if you want to see Monty and Percy, you do see a fair bit of them in this novel). Felicity's voice is certainly different, and she makes for a less spontaneous and less wild character. I love how she goes throughout the novel with her own goals and desires as a number one priority.
There is some excellent aroace rep. Obviously being a historical novel, this wasn't outright stated (not even sure if the concept truly existed back then), but from the discussions that Felicity had with the other characters, it was pretty obvious she was ace, or at least demisexual.
I would certainly read another book in this series, focusing on literally any character. Mackenzi Lee does a pretty good job of getting you rather invested in her characters.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 2/5
