The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
Felicity Montague must use all her womanly wits and wiles to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor—even if she has to scheme her way across Europe to do it. A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of 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 window of opportunity opens—a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own 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 leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
MY OPINION: ****
This book was very different from
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue despite featuring many of the same characters. This novel focused around Felicity Montague, the feminist, independent, brave, admirable sister of Monty.
Felicity was the strong, independent, female protagonist that we all wish we had more of in young adult fiction. I loved seeing her mature throughout the novel and realize her true potential as well as recognizing that she had weaknesses as well. She begins as a stubborn, headstrong, determined girl who believes that she doesn't need a man to guide her life. She rejects a marriage proposal from a nice, commonplace man, and spends some parts of the book thinking about how her life would have been different if she had accepted. I liked seeing her realize that she didn't need to settle down and live a comfortable life just because it would be easier. Conversely, I also liked how she realized that she can't do everything alone and that it's okay to ask for help and admit that she needed someone by her side sometimes, male or female.
She's wanted to be a doctor her entire life and I admired her spirit and determination to reach that goal. Even though her determination changes throughout the book as she keeps getting derailed and finding various roadblocks, I liked seeing how her dreams never changed even though the result wasn't exactly what she wanted.
Sim was another powerful woman that I loved seeing throughout the adventures in the novel. While she wasn't my favorite character personality-wise, I liked seeing how she helped Felicity while also doing her own thing and being a strong independent woman on her own. Even though she wasn't as appreciated by her father as she would have been if she were a man, she still persevered. I think it's awful when your own parents don't accept you and only see you as a woman and nothing beyond that.
Johanna was the third and final strong woman. I adored her character because she was unique from both Sim and Felicity. She had a "ladylike" tendency with her love for dresses and jewelry, but that didn't derail her from being a strong female character of her own. Just because she had a more "feminine" side did not mean she couldn't be a determined unique individual, despite Felicity's biased mindset against the more domesticated women of the time. I liked how Lee explored this type of character as well as a more "tomboy" like character.
Alexander Platt was the most loathsome, disgusting, annoying character. I expected more from him, especially in his beginning treatment of Felicity. However, his entire character changed into a power-hungry, greedy, selfish, drug/dragon-addict and I was revolted by his entire being throughout the novel. I feel so bad for Johanna being stuck with him against her will, especially because he blackmailed her with her DOG. Who does that??
I loved the presence of Percy and Monty and seeing more of them because they will always hold a special place in my heart as well. I loved seeing their relationship grow!
SPOILER I also cried inside when Percy got shot because I could really feel Monty's fear and emotions in that scene.
END SPOILER The fact that Percy and Monty had such a small part but also such a large impact in this book shows how powerful Lee's writing is, even with the side characters.
Final note: I loved seeing the representation of asexuality in this book. I'm not one hundred percent sure of the correct terms so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I liked how Felicity described it. She had no desire for physical touch or romance with any gender or person. I've never read a book with a character who identified as asexual (or maybe identified since of course, these terms weren't defined then), and it was interesting to see.
The adventure was interesting but I would have liked to have seen more about the dragons and what it did instead of the unsatisfying feeling at the end that it wasn't concluded.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for a fun, adventurous, historical fiction novel featuring a strong female-centric cast.
Main Character: Felicity
Sidekick(s): Sim, Johanna, Monty, Percy, etc
Villain(s): Platt, sexism, etc
Historical Fiction Elements: This book was based on historical events with a fantasy element influence.
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