Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories #1)
by Mary Robinette Kowal
What is it about:
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.
In Regency England, Jane Ellsworth of Dorchester is a woman ahead of her time.
Not only is she highly skilled in the manipulation of glamour - plucking strands from the Ether to create genteel magical illusions - she's also ambitious for her art, and dreams of being recognised as a glamourist of note in her own right, as men are permitted to.
First and foremost, however, a lady of quality must marry well, and alas Jane's ambitions do not extend to her romantic prospects. Compared to her beautiful sister Melody, Jane feels invisible to suitors, and is resigned to a life of spinsterhood.
But when her beloved family comes under threat, Jane uses her magical skills to put things right, which attracts the attention of professional glamourist Mr Vincent . . . and unwittingly wanders in to a love story of her own.
What did I think of it:
After I read The Calculating Stars I decided to pick up this book to see if it was just as engaging. Now I must confess I'm no fan of Jane Austen, but I like the mash-ups, re-imaginations, etc of Austen stories well enough most of the times, so I hoped this Austen-like Paranormal would be fun.
And I can tell you that Austen fans will most probably love this book. It does everything I don't like about Austen books, and it does it well. I was bored and annoyed at the same time. I kept reading in hope it would get better the moment Jane's family comes under threat as promised in the blurb, but this happened too late and wasn't as suspenseful as I had hoped.
All in all this is not a bad read, but it was not what I wanted it to be. I might try other books by Robinette Kowal, but won't read other books in this series.
Why should you read it:
Fans of Jane Austen will probably love this book.
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