strange and random happenstance

When Queen Charlotte was announced I honestly think that I was more excited to see it than I was another season of Bridgerton. I have many issues with Bridgerton. Many. Mostly musical. In fact almost none of my issues involve the cast, which is lucky because several of them appear in Queen Charlotte as a "current" framing device, which honestly, aside from two heartbreaking scenes in the final episode they could have done without. But I have a feeling Shonda Rhimes might be playing the long game and was sneaking in a backdoor pilot to a new series starring Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton. Because as Lady Danbury so succinctly puts it, the likes of Lady Whistedown don't talk about the likes of them. Older women and their needs and their stories aren't talked about, they are fed on gossip and forgotten, which I heartily agree with and will agree with even faster if I never have to hear about euphemistic gardens ever again. As for the rest of the show? I'm of two minds. Part of me loved every single second of it, they obviously had a bigger budget, which apparently couldn't stretch to original music, please, seriously, stop it with the bad covers, but another part of me is seriously questioning the underlying meaning of the show. While this show is all about love conquering all, even mental illness, there's this other message that everything is in service to the King. The Queen loves the King, that I do not doubt, but her way of sacrificing all else for him means that she lost out on connecting with her children. She is a good Queen, but not a good mother, which is where the "current" storyline is important. But it undercuts this message that love conquers all. The dynastic push that George will live on is heartbreaking because it takes the journey we've been on and makes it transactional. Get wife get heir. And while their story starts out that way they find love. We don't see this happening with any of her children, which is why I think they should have been left out. The vision would have been clearer had they taken one concept and told it perfectly. And that one concept should have been love conquers all. Because Charlotte's love for George is all that matters in the end, much like George's mother loves him, and in a wonderful secondary plot how Brimsley loves Reynolds. This is what matters, love. And hella amazing acting. Seriously, I know Yellowjackets has really raised the bar on casting when it comes to the same character at different ages, but I really think that India Amarteifio takes it to a whole other level. I think that she and Golda Rosheuvel might be the same person at different ages. It's uncanny. But in the end, would I watch another season? Again, more willingly than Bridgerton but honestly I'm more excited to read the book and see how Julia Quinn put her spin on it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bridgerton, Brimsley, Dynasty, George III, Golda Rosheuvel, India Amarteifio, Julia Quinn, Lady Danbury, Love, Mental Illness, Queen Charlotte, Shona Rhimes, Violet Bridgerton, Yellowjackets

It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: June 28th, 2005
Format: Paperback, 399 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Gareth St. Clair has one person in all the world whom he loves, that is his maternal grandmother Lady Danbury. His father would publicly declare Gareth a bastard if it wouldn't make himself look like a cuckold. But now that Gareth's older brother has died and he is to inherit, one would think things might change. Well they do, but not because of his father, because of Hyacinth Bridgerton. Much like Gareth, Hyacinth is a darling of Lady Danbury's. In fact they really are the only two. Which is why they are sitting next to each other at the Smythe-Smith Musicale. An evening of "entertainment" that Lady Danbury insists they go to because someone needs to cheer those poor Smythe-Smiths on. And for the first time in memory Hyacinth didn't hate the evening. Could it be because of Gareth? She's being continually hounded to get married, and she's under no delusions that it's because her family wishes to be ride of her. She knows she can be a bit much, but no one has ever even come close to getting near her heart. But is that because, as her mother says, she won't let anyone in? Well, the last person she'd let in is Gareth St. Clair. He's a hardened rake. Hyacinth has heard ALL the stories from his grandmother. Yet there's something about him. Something that is different. The next day, a Tuesday, Hyacinth is reading Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron to Lady Danbury as she does every week when Gareth arrives and interrupts the two lamenting the heroine's fate. Gareth has just come into possession of his paternal grandmother's diary which his brother left him. He's dying to know what it says, perhaps she knew his real father! But the problem is the diary is in Italian. Hyacinth happens to mention she knows Italian, perhaps overstating her skills a little just to impress him. But she offers to have a go and is instantly obsessed with Isabella's life and a secret she held, a cache of diamonds she never told her husband about. Gareth and Hyacinth become frantic in their search for the jewels. Could there be a better revenge on his father than stealing the jewels out from under him? Perhaps marrying Hyacinth, the girl his father said would never accept him. Unless that is exactly what his father wants...

Hyacinth, as the youngest Bridgerton, hasn't played much of a role in the previous volumes due to her age. From Colin's book onward we've had hints that she's rather a handful with a love of gossip and an unguarded tongue she seems to share more DNA with Lady Danbury than she does with the Bridgertons. She's the sibling whom Anthony longs to have off his hands as, all things considered, while her family loves her, she's a bit of a nightmare. And this, right here, is why I so heartily love Hyacinth. Yes, she puts on a strong front and knows it's important, nay, imperative to always be yourself, but she knows that she can be "too much" for some people and I can so relate to this that it's painful. It took me a long time to find friends whom I could be myself around. Friends who didn't think I was too loud, or too enthusiastic, or just too much. It's painful when you know your faults are an intrinsic part of yourself. I have tried to be quiet, I've tried to tone myself down, but it's frustrating to the point of tears sometimes to feel that the world just doesn't get you. And when Hyacinth's mother had a rather frank conversation about her muchness that told the truth but blunted the sting with so much love and admiration for her daughter amongst the frustration I too cried. Why can't Violet be my mother? I've had the truth handed to me in harsh ways and to have someone love you enough to express the truth through love instead of through vindictiveness just makes me love this book all the more. And the fact that Hyacinth finds love with Gareth just makes me happy, because he loves her because she's different and outspoken and just Hyacinth. And as for Gareth, well, this might be the only Bridgerton novel where I connected with both halves of the couple completely. I totally related to his desolation that there was just one person in the world who loves him and whom he loves. That small unit can be scary. That one connection so fierce yet so fragile. Dammit, now I think I'm going to cry again. Thankfully whenever I feel maudlin I just have to remember how much Lady Danbury is in this volume. Dammit, she's just awesome. Her love of purple prose and romance underneath all that snark just adds another layer of perfection to someone I already thought damn perfect to start with.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Gareth St. Clair, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Illegitimate, It's in His Kiss, Italian, Julia Quinn, Lady Danbury, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, Purple Prose, Rake, Regency Romp, Sarah Gorley, Smythe-Smith Musicale

Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn and Violet Charles
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Priscilla Butterworth's luck has never been the best. She was born in a small town the day before the pox arrived. She lost almost her entire family. Her mother and grandmother mercifully survived and then thrived turning the family coffin business into a hostelry. But everything went downhill one day when Priscilla was almost killed by a wild boar. A kindly older man saved her but sadly died in an attempt to vault over the boar to save himself. His two grandsons were devastated by the loss while Priscilla was soon to regret her survival as her mother was carted off to prison due to tax evasion. At least Priscilla had her grandmother she thought. She did try to always look on the bright side. But her grandmother had a secret, she was dying of consumption. Therefore she sent Priscilla to live with family, her brother's son's wife. This callous lady wanted nothing to due with Priscilla but decided she and her three daughters could do with a servant and so Priscilla was allowed to stay on. But one day when Priscilla was left behind to clean the house while her family vacationed Priscilla snuck out to see her mother in prison. And she couldn't just leave her there! What kind of daughter would she be? Therefore using a washerwoman's cart she breaks her mother out of prison. They might have nothing but each other but will that stop them? No it won't! They will become pirate queens and sail the high seas and make their fortune! Sadly, that future isn't to come. As they sit under the very tree where Priscilla was saved by that kindly older man from the boar her mother is killed by pigeons. While Priscilla has both her legs broken by a runaway cart. She drags herself and her mother's body back to her relatives and begs to be taken back in. They reluctantly accept and she pays for her keep by keeping bees. But she overhears a plan to do away with her so that the money wasted on Priscilla can go to new dresses. She comes up with an elaborate plan to sell the honey in Brighton but uses the trip to escape, but it's a dark and stormy night when she stumbles on the Baron's estate. And that is when her story and her happily ever after really start.

The origins of this book are both bitter and sweet, much like Priscilla Butterworth's story. Julia Quinn created this book with her younger sister Violet Charles, though Quinn is quick to point out that really, this is Violet's baby. Which makes it all the more sad that she didn't live to see it published, being killed in a car crash last year by a drunk driver along with her father, her beloved dog, and her husband, who died later from injuries sustained in the crash. Just the facts of this book's release have me tearing up. Miss Butterworth's story? Neither in sadness or mirth. Sadly. So who will like this book? Well, the Briderton fans, which are legion, because this book is not for the graphic novel aficionados. The main problem lies in the fact that I'm just not a fan of Violet Charles's artwork. I feel eyes should be where eyes should be and anatomy is important. If this artwork was to succeed the writing needed to be far crisper and over-the-top. Just look to Kate Beaton, she of Hark! A Vagrant fame. Kate Beaton's art is very rough and stylized and yet it just works. Her style and writing fit together like peanut butter and jelly or pastries and gooseberries as the case may be. Whereas Violet Charles's style is cartoonish, and not in a good way. Kind of like Adam Ellis, whose work is good but best in small doses. Or like that Sense and Sensibility graphic novel Marvel released a few years ago which missed the mark so badly and very much because of the art. And this disparity for who will like this book and who won't is problematic for me because I fall on the graphic novel end of the spectrum because I've only been a Bridgerton fan for a year and a graphic novel addict my entire life. I have favorite artists and creators I follow just for the look if not for the story as well. I have high expectations in art and this just didn't float my boat. And as for the story? I kind of wish it had stuck more to what we know the plot was from what Hyacinth and Lady Danbury have said. There needed to be more hills, more than one cliff, and Priscilla needed to be a little stupider and not so resilient. Personally, what I think would fix it would be annotations by Lady Danbury. That would be enough.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam Ellis, Graphic Novel, Hark a Vagrant, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Julia Quinn, Kate Beaton, Lady Danbury, Marvel, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, Pigeons, Priscilla Butterworth, Regency Romp, Violet Charles

It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: June 28th, 2005
Format: Paperback, 399 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Gareth St. Clair has one person in all the world whom he loves, that is his maternal grandmother Lady Danbury. His father would publicly declare Gareth a bastard if it wouldn't make himself look like a cuckold. But now that Gareth's older brother has died and he is to inherit, one would think things might change. Well they do, but not because of his father, because of Hyacinth Bridgerton. Much like Gareth, Hyacinth is a darling of Lady Danbury's. In fact they really are the only two. Which is why they are sitting next to each other at the Smythe-Smith Musicale. An evening of "entertainment" that Lady Danbury insists they go to because someone needs to cheer those poor Smythe-Smiths on. And for the first time in memory Hyacinth didn't hate the evening. Could it be because of Gareth? She's being continually hounded to get married, and she's under no delusions that it's because her family wishes to be ride of her. She knows she can be a bit much, but no one has ever even come close to getting near her heart. But is that because, as her mother says, she won't let anyone in? Well, the last person she'd let in is Gareth St. Clair. He's a hardened rake. Hyacinth has heard ALL the stories from his grandmother. Yet there's something about him. Something that is different. The next day, a Tuesday, Hyacinth is reading Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron to Lady Danbury as she does every week when Gareth arrives and interrupts the two lamenting the heroine's fate. Gareth has just come into possession of his paternal grandmother's diary which his brother left him. He's dying to know what it says, perhaps she knew his real father! But the problem is the diary is in Italian. Hyacinth happens to mention she knows Italian, perhaps overstating her skills a little just to impress him. But she offers to have a go and is instantly obsessed with Isabella's life and a secret she held, a cache of diamonds she never told her husband about. Gareth and Hyacinth become frantic in their search for the jewels. Could there be a better revenge on his father than stealing the jewels out from under him? Perhaps marrying Hyacinth, the girl his father said would never accept him. Unless that is exactly what his father wants...

Hyacinth, as the youngest Bridgerton, hasn't played much of a role in the previous volumes due to her age. From Colin's book onward we've had hints that she's rather a handful with a love of gossip and an unguarded tongue she seems to share more DNA with Lady Danbury than she does with the Bridgertons. She's the sibling whom Anthony longs to have off his hands as, all things considered, while her family loves her, she's a bit of a nightmare. And this, right here, is why I so heartily love Hyacinth. Yes, she puts on a strong front and knows it's important, nay, imperative to always be yourself, but she knows that she can be "too much" for some people and I can so relate to this that it's painful. It took me a long time to find friends whom I could be myself around. Friends who didn't think I was too loud, or too enthusiastic, or just too much. It's painful when you know your faults are an intrinsic part of yourself. I have tried to be quiet, I've tried to tone myself down, but it's frustrating to the point of tears sometimes to feel that the world just doesn't get you. And when Hyacinth's mother had a rather frank conversation about her muchness that told the truth but blunted the sting with so much love and admiration for her daughter amongst the frustration I too cried. Why can't Violet be my mother? I've had the truth handed to me in harsh ways and to have someone love you enough to express the truth through love instead of through vindictiveness just makes me love this book all the more. And the fact that Hyacinth finds love with Gareth just makes me happy, because he loves her because she's different and outspoken and just Hyacinth. And as for Gareth, well, this might be the only Bridgerton novel where I connected with both halves of the couple completely. I totally related to his desolation that there was just one person in the world who loves him and whom he loves. That small unit can be scary. That one connection so fierce yet so fragile. Dammit, now I think I'm going to cry again. Thankfully whenever I feel maudlin I just have to remember how much Lady Danbury is in this volume. Dammit, she's just awesome. Her love of purple prose and romance underneath all that snark just adds another layer of perfection to someone I already thought damn perfect to start with.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Gareth St. Clair, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Illegitimate, It's in His Kiss, Italian, Julia Quinn, Lady Danbury, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, Purple Prose, Rake, Regency Romp, Sarah Gorley, Smythe-Smith Musicale

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: July 1st, 2002
Format: Paperback, 408 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Yet another season in London. Nothing ever changes and boredom reigns. Lady Whistledown reports on the goings on of the ton, but it doesn't really seem like much is actually going on. Colin Bridgerton has returned from his latest sojourn abroad, but he will never be caught by the scheming mamas, he's too clever, and thus the status quo remains. So Lady Danbury rashly declares a bounty on Lady Whistledown. 1,000 pounds to whomever unmasks the writer! This puts everyone on high alert. Anything you say might be taken as a clue. Any odd behavior could signal you out. The mob mentality holds sway over the ton and Colin is worried. He's worried because he has an inkling he knows who Lady Whistledown is. Given whom Lady Whistledown reports on it's obvious that she, or he, is a member of the ton. What's more Lady Whistledown really does tend to talk about Colin, a lot. Which makes Colin think it has to be someone he knows. His sister Eloise has been acting suspicious. There's no doubt she has the brains and skill to pull this off. In fact all his younger sister are quite devious, it could be any one of them. So he turns to his dear friend Penelope. She's the only one he can think of who will listen to him and not think him insane. But Penelope seems different since his time abroad. She's more assured of herself. It's almost as if he's never really seen her before. Now that he has, the confirmed bachelor has more than just Lady Whistledown on his mind. And when Penelope asks for her first kiss he obliges and everything changes. Colin wants Penelope to be his. But while he's trying to get his mind around this life altering realization the odious Lady Twombley, formerly Cressida Cowper, announces that she is Lady Whistledown. No one believes it. She's too mean, she's too thick, she's too broke. And that's the key, she's scheming because she needs money and if she "unveils" herself who is to contradict her? Will the real Lady Whistledown stand up or will Penelope have her heart broken in more ways than one? Because to think that Lady Whistledown is Cressida breaks Penelope's heart in two. If only there was a Bridgerton to mend it...

You have to applaud Julia Quinn. She drew out the reveal of who Lady Whistledown is until the forth book in her series and yet it didn't feel unnecessarily drawn out. It felt right. So this is the book you've all been waiting for, Colin and Pen and the unmasking of Lady Whistledown. Or if you watched the first season of Bridgerton you already know who Lady Whistledown is. This was the main reason why I wanted to read the books before the series. I wanted to know how the author intended the reveal to happen before it was hastily shoved into the first season of the show because it would be too cruel to make a television audience wait. Because you just know that that was the first change they insisted on making as they mucked up the plot to make it that weird fairy tale amalgam where Dukes are telling young debutantes how to masturbate. In other words, I have issues with the adaptation. And for all my due diligence I was still spoiled on the big reveal. How you ask? Because I stupidly read an article about how the Featheringtons were inspired by the Kardashians and the "real" Lady Whistledown responded to Kim Kardashian and that as we say is that. I mean, it didn't say in big bold letters, THIS IS LADY WHISTLEDOWN, but it still spoiled it. Just another reason to hate the Kardashians. But now that my mini rant is over I'm trying to think how to write this review without spoiling if for those two people who don't know who Lady Whistledown is, because I don't want to be a Kardashian for you! OK, maybe if I ignore the Lady Whistledown reveal altogether and just say that the "hunt" led by Lady Danbury was pure comedy gold. Yes. I can say that because you don't necessarily know who they caught! Yes yes, semantics. But really, it's comedy gold. I love Landy Danbury so much. She reminds me of my grandmother. As for the romance, Colin! Pen! Finally! They are just a perfect couple. The whole friends become lovers trope played right. Because we as readers have always loved Pen and in several instances probably overly identified with her and her unrequited love. To see Colin finally SEE her and understand her and come to love her... Well, it brings me all the happy feels. And isn't that what reading Julia Quinn is all about?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Bounty, Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Julia Quinn, Kardashian, Lady Danbury, Lady Whistledown, Penelope Featherington, Regency Romp, Romance, Spoiled, Spoiler, Ton, Unmasking, Writer