The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels is a rollicking, absurd book that I absolutely adore. I'm sure to come back to it whenever I need a laugh!

The juxtaposition of proper manners and house-flying pirate shenanigans makes for plenty of amusing situations. Cecelia was a delightful protagonist! I'm a bit disappointed she is the MC of the next book, just because I loved her so much.

The romance of the book was adorable. Usually, I'm skeptical of “instant love” – the book's main action takes place over about a week – but I was here for it for Cecelia and Ned.

I've already recommended The Wisteria Society to half a dozen people, and it's sure to be a staple in my recommendations from now on!

Audiobook Review: Elizabeth Knowelden was a perfect narrator for The Wisteria Society! Her performance was pitch-perfect for the dry humor of the book, and I'm glad I listened to it rather than reading – it added to the experience!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've said this before in some of my previous reviews but I'll say it again because this is another perfect example of it.

I LOVE reading silly little romance books and I'm not afraid to admit it. I love the pining and the tension. I love everything about it.

You pick up books in hope of escapism and the characters and world that have been created by Holton in this book is exactly that.

This was the perfect combination of Peaky Blinders and Wuthering Heights and I loved every single minute of it.

The characters were so wonderfully chaotic and you can truly see the amount of love and thought that went into each one of them.

I had such a blast with this and I can't wait to read more by this author.

Fans of The Princess Bride will surely enjoy this ridiculous romp. I certainly got lost among all the names of the lady pirates, and the stylized dialogue was such that it almost didn't matter who was speaking. Regardless, it was funny, quirky, charming, and entirely self-aware of “only being a romance.” I thoroughly enjoyed this. It is exactly the sort of escapist Victorian nonsense (said with loving tones) I hope to write myself.

It was a fun read, I laughed out loud a few times and I had a great time following the story of our two protagonists. I liked the setting of the book, the various references alluded to by the author as well as the side characters that were for the most part quirky and funny. However, even if I enjoyed my read, I didn't connect with Cecilia and Ned as much as I hoped to, if Cecilia was quite well developed and I enjoyed her personality, I can't say I felt the same about Ned. He is handsome, charming and funny and that's about it. He lacked substance in my opinion. Their relationship was not developed enough to my liking as they were immediately drawn to each other. Despite all that, if you want a light read with a gang of old pirate ladies, flying houses, a villain with horrible poetry tastes and eccentric side characters, I think you might like it.