This book was very much in the style of Jane Austen...except for the addition of magic. It was totally Regency England but in this take on it, high-born ladies are expected to be able to "use glamour" to enhance their surroundings, in addition to everything else it takes to be accomplished. (Mr Darcy will never find an accomplished woman at this rate!) It was SO Austen-like that the plot felt a bit overdone at times but the new take on it added a different element. Although it seems like using glamour is no different than painting or playing the piano. I was a bit disappointed that the glamour skills weren't more useful for daily living (it's more an art form than anything) but it was a nice homage to Jane and I thought the main character was well done in the style of Austen heroines. It was cute! Overall I enjoyed it! It was a light read and I enjoyed some of the scenes from it very much.I felt that some of the characters weren't very consistently characterized, though. I didn't get a strong sense of personality from anyone, really. All of the female characters other than Jane were portrayed very negatively, with not a lot of redeeming qualities, which kind of bugged me. It set up a Me vs Them mentality, with Jane being portrayed as the only good woman while the rest were pretenders, which I didn't really appreciate.I really thought that her friendship with Beth would go better, but it ended up about the same as her relationship with her sister for no apparent reason. The misunderstanding that Beth and Jane had that led to their falling out also went unresolved, with no confrontation between them or between Jane and Mr. Dunkirk, Beth's brother. The latter really bothered me, considering she spent the majority of the book seemingly in love with him.I really liked the relationship between Jane and Vincent. It ended well and I liked how their feelings developed in a very Pride and Prejudice way. However, I feel that some more care could have been taken to make things more subtle instead of having that huge revelation after she read his book. There was not a good resolution for her feelings for Mr. Dunkirk, just that all of a sudden he didn't trust her anymore and she didn't like that he didn't trust her in that moment of weakness. Because she never confronted her feelings for Mr. Dunkirk or resolved things with him at the end, it made her relationship with Vincent seem like it wasn't very well-founded.Overall, I think the book had some great ideas and I liked the world that Kowal created, but there were some stumbles in terms of execution and characterization. It was pleasant enough to read, but not long-lasting.
What do You think about Shades Of Milk And Honey (2010)?
Slow at first but got better towards the end
—Bhawna
