Shades of Milk and Honey - Mary Robinette Kowal

Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of Jane Ellsworth, a woman ahead of her time in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. But despite the prevalence of magic in everyday life, other aspects of Dorchester’s society are not that different: Jane and her sister Melody’s lives still revolve around vying for the attentions of eligible men.

Jane resists this fate, and rightly so: while her skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face, and therefore wins the lion’s share of the attention. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Jane has resigned herself to being invisible forever. But when her family’s honor is threatened, she finds that she must push her skills to the limit in order to set things right--and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

My thoughts;

Ok so here I go, it was good, but I expected more. Dang you expectations! *shakes fist* I could, I would have enjoyed it more if I had not constantly thought, it could be better...

Which is wrong to think cos it was a perfectly enjoyable book. Jane and her horrible sister Melody (I hated her, she was a sulking bitch) want to find men. But Jane is plain, Melody is pretty. And tadaa there are new neighbors, eligible men.

So yes this is written in the Austen way. It's not a re-telling since all her books are thrown in in a way.

I did have some issues though with the world building. Had there always been "magic"? Does other countries have magic? Is there only glamour and illusions? Why not other things? Why do only bored women who want to catch a man use it? I did want more answers about this part. I think the book would have been fine without it now when it was just a plothole.

Conclusion:

But, life goes on. There will be hearts broken, hearts mended. Drama and a ball. I did enjoy the book. I guess it was just a bit more ordinary than I would have expected.

Cover

Pretty

Paperback, 320 pages
Published 2013 by Tor Books (first published July 26th 2010)
Glamourist Histories #1
Historical romantic fiction paranormal
Own