Title: Shades of Milk and Honey
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Pages: 302
Finished: Stopped at page 27
First Sentence: The Ellsworths of Long Parkmead had the regard of their neightbors in every respect.
Summary: Because I did not finish this, here's the discription from the flyleaf: Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality.
Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.
Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.
Thoughts: I found this title while searching for readalikes to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I LOVED Strange and Norrell. It was a fantastic Jane Austen meets Charles Dickens with fantasy infused. The wit and humor were there. The ridiculousness was there. It was a joy to read. So to find a book that mentioned both that AND Jane Austen (who is my favorite author) was amazing.
... Oh my goodness was the book underwhelming. The author, while clearly a fan of Austen, is not as good a writer as Austen. The sentences were clumsy and didn't read as true to the time. It was very clear the book was written in the 21st century. On top of that, even though I only read 27 pages, the characters were so suck in their stereotypes that I could barely handle it. Jane was a mix of Anne Elliot and Eleanor Dashwood while Melody was clearly a rehash of Marianne Dashwood. Also, Melody said "La!" at least three times. Enough that it was grating. The dialogue was uninspiring.
Perhaps this book is one that gets better as you go, but as I was hoping to use it as a break book for both Count of Monte Cristo and The Scarlet Letter, I'm not willing to do the work. Overall a grave disappointment.
... Oh my goodness was the book underwhelming. The author, while clearly a fan of Austen, is not as good a writer as Austen. The sentences were clumsy and didn't read as true to the time. It was very clear the book was written in the 21st century. On top of that, even though I only read 27 pages, the characters were so suck in their stereotypes that I could barely handle it. Jane was a mix of Anne Elliot and Eleanor Dashwood while Melody was clearly a rehash of Marianne Dashwood. Also, Melody said "La!" at least three times. Enough that it was grating. The dialogue was uninspiring.
Perhaps this book is one that gets better as you go, but as I was hoping to use it as a break book for both Count of Monte Cristo and The Scarlet Letter, I'm not willing to do the work. Overall a grave disappointment.
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