SPFBO (Cassidy's Version)

I want to preface this by saying it's not my usual type of story but also that I have liked regency and regency romance before.

But I found this book very lacking. Not a lot happens. It almost feels like the story will really start in book two but this is the backstory the gets us there.

I found our character had no personality all she did was complain about her life and her sister. Which is fine and fair but not for however long this story is.

Mostly my complaint is I feel like nothing happens in this story.

If you want my full thoughts there's a vlog on my channel

https://youtu.be/yeAVfoZmVkg

I read this as part of a challenge to read the SPFBO8 finalists, but this is so far outside of my usual tastes that it would be unfair to provide a rating.

Despite giving this book a fair shot, going into it with an open mind, I just couldn't get along with it. It's too far away from the usual type of book that I like to read, in terms of setting and tone. This meant that I wasn't able to form any real connection with the characters, and the storyline did nothing for me either.

I'm left with the technical elements then, and there, the book also failed me. I didn't like the conversational tone, with asides within asides scattered liberally throughout the pages. Out of curiosity, I did a search and found nearly five hundred sets of parentheses in this just-over-four-hundred-page book. This is clearly a technique used to develop the voice of the narration, but it just didn't work for me, and constantly took me out of the story.

Overall, I didn't like this even a little bit, but again, it's so far from my usual tastes that I feel my views on it are invalid and should be weighted accordingly.

https://youtu.be/w04fkEs7bIg

I will preface this review by saying that I do believe that there is an audience for this book. But, I am not that audience. The writing was skillful for quirky/meta writing. I thought that the writing felt similar in tone and style to the Veronica Speedwell series. I also do not like those books, but they are beloved by many. Perhaps fans of that series may enjoy this book.

I found every character incredibly obnoxious, even the ones that we were supposed to like. I also don’t think many of the characters were well-developed, and for the length of this book, I expected more satisfying character development. There was some character development with our protagonist, but I would have enjoyed a more significant change. Miss Percy is my least favorite type of protagonist to read about. She is meek, submissive, and quiet. And yet, her internal monologue is full of complaint after complaint about her life and family. It was exhausting to read about how everything wrong in her life was always someone else’s fault.

The plot was also so slow moving, with the only bit of actual conflict happening in the final 20%. Somehow, the dragon was boring. Probably due to its lack of any sort of personality and being more of an object than anything else in this book.

The world-building was also odd, as this story was set in a real life 19th century England and feels like a Victorian domestic novel, but if the main female protagonist accidentally hatched a dragon egg. I wish we got much more lore and investigation into the dragon’s origins and how this dragon was able to exist. I think this book could have benefited from having our characters trying to solve this mystery through looking at mythology records or actively traveling to museums/experts, etc. I do believe that this will eventually happen, but with the lack of any sort of urgency over the dragon’s existence, the world felt cartoonish and confused.

Overall this book felt like a 400 page set up to a story that I no longer care to read about. I wouldn’t recommend this book to fantasy readers looking for fantasy books. But, I would perhaps recommend this book to readers wanting a very minimal foray with fantasy alongside a Victorian domestic drama.

https://youtu.be/tkH5ov_5JdA

I'll probably be repeating what most of my friends reading the SPFBO finalists... but here it is anyways. There is definitely an audience for this. I am just not it.

I honestly don't have a lot of feelings about this book. It was fine? The characters didn't do a lot for me, they weren't even the ridiculous caricatures that you usually see in regency stories. They were just very surface level.

The world made no sense. Why were there dragons in 1800's England? And why weren't people freaking out about it? There was no lore, no history or evidence of another dragon in all of history?

Overall, this book didn't work for me. I think that I'll probably stay away from cozy fantasies set in regency areas.

While technically well written, this just did not have enough depth for me. Our main character finds a dragon egg, yet no one stops to ask why even though dragons aren't a common occurrence in the world? There is A LOT of focus on how poor Miss Percy is treated by her family, but it is all in her perceptions. Not once does she actually confront anyone. This was missing even the quirky regency romance aspect I have come to expect from the genre. The dragon was cute but like WHY DRAGONS? Too many plot holes and unanswered questions for me. Not enough depth to our characters to make up for it.

https://youtu.be/VhDGy1jXbH4

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide by Quenby Olson

Dragons have arrived in 1800’s England! A baby dragon hatches and causes mayhem. Both can be used to describe Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide. While it was not my favorite and I was not in love with the story or characters this series would definitely be something I would listen to in the future for comfort or a palette cleanser between darker fantasies.

So what worked for me?

Worldbuilding: For me what is keeping me coming back to the story is the world and learning more about the dragons and trying to see if there are other mythical creatures in the world.

What did not work for me?

Writing: The writing style is what I would describe as overwritten and sometimes breaks the 4th wall. Which might be fine but together it did not work for me and sometimes took me out of the story.

Similar Media?

It is a similar concept to Scales and Sensibility and might in the future give Temeraire vibes.

Score: 6.6/10

Character: 7

Plot: 5

World-Building: 8

Writing: 6

Enjoyment: 7

I liked this okay. It just felt a little flat for me and I wish more things was explored.

I read this for SPFBO (Cassidy's version). Watch my reading vlog with more thoughts here:

https://youtu.be/xFK7zjfW6AQ