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Jun. 23rd, 2010 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsFor a Georgette Heyer book, Frederica is almost astoundingly lacking in cross-dressing, kidnappings, smugglers, elopements, swordfights, and other items of the dramatic nature that one tends to expect. And . . . I kind of loved it? It's so low-key and domestic! (Okay, except for the part with the hot-air balloon.) And absolutely chock full of awesome siblings who all have different and believable dynamics, and act like real people and not plot devices!
It starts out looking like it might be one of the more frustrating Heyers; Our Hero is a Haughty Rake who Cares For No One But Himself, Seriously People Stop Asking Him To Do Them Favors, he is so over that. The narrative also spends a hilarious amount of time discussing his tight pants and how they look like they're molded to his thighs. Our Heroine Frederica is his distant cousin, a twenty-four-year-old who considers herself destined to be an aunt and has an impossibly gorgeous younger sister that she's determined to launch into society. This seems like a setup for awkward love triangle-esque angst, but in fact pretty much no one even entertains the idea that the hero might end up with the younger sister; instead, he spends all his time kind of accidentally befriending the younger brothers and it's TOTALLY ADORABLE. The middle brother, a very earnest sixteen-year-old who wants to be a priest and keeps trying to Set A Good Example, is a ton of fun, but the littlest brother Felix kind of steals the show - he's an adorable mechanical-obsessed dork who is prone to launching into long joyous explanations of the latest technology, and keeps dragging the Viscount off to go visit elevators and hot-air balloon launches.
(VISCOUNT: Well, you know, my secretary knows all about gears, so -
SECRETARY: @_@
FELIX: But, but that wouldn't be fair to you, to miss out on the elevator! D: IT'S SO AWESOME! Seriously, let me explain how it works and then you will definitely understand -
VISCOUNT: . . . I have never experienced quite this form of puppy-dog eyes before. @_@ And I don't know how to cope!
[ONE ELEVATOR TRIP LATER]
FELIX: I told you you would enjoy it, right? :D :D :D WASN'T THAT COOL.
VISCOUNT: . . . if I tell you I didn't enjoy it you'll be crushed, won't you. OKAY. I ENJOYED IT.
FELIX: Yay! Now let's go see this super cool steam engine -
VISCOUNT: @_@)
I kept expecting drama the whole book, and there wasn't any! Well, okay, there is a star-crossed lovers plot involving Charis, but the whole thing turns out to be mostly a misunderstanding. Felix also has one moment of kind of hilarious peril that is central to the story, but that development actually turns into something that is reasonably realistic and not at all over-the-top.
And if more romance novels had the Lofty Aloof Selfish Rake showing he was in love with the girl by helping her babysit her little brothers in Time of Need and then tactfully holding off on the declarations of love in case it stressed her out, I would read more romance novels, and that is all I'm saying.
It starts out looking like it might be one of the more frustrating Heyers; Our Hero is a Haughty Rake who Cares For No One But Himself, Seriously People Stop Asking Him To Do Them Favors, he is so over that. The narrative also spends a hilarious amount of time discussing his tight pants and how they look like they're molded to his thighs. Our Heroine Frederica is his distant cousin, a twenty-four-year-old who considers herself destined to be an aunt and has an impossibly gorgeous younger sister that she's determined to launch into society. This seems like a setup for awkward love triangle-esque angst, but in fact pretty much no one even entertains the idea that the hero might end up with the younger sister; instead, he spends all his time kind of accidentally befriending the younger brothers and it's TOTALLY ADORABLE. The middle brother, a very earnest sixteen-year-old who wants to be a priest and keeps trying to Set A Good Example, is a ton of fun, but the littlest brother Felix kind of steals the show - he's an adorable mechanical-obsessed dork who is prone to launching into long joyous explanations of the latest technology, and keeps dragging the Viscount off to go visit elevators and hot-air balloon launches.
(VISCOUNT: Well, you know, my secretary knows all about gears, so -
SECRETARY: @_@
FELIX: But, but that wouldn't be fair to you, to miss out on the elevator! D: IT'S SO AWESOME! Seriously, let me explain how it works and then you will definitely understand -
VISCOUNT: . . . I have never experienced quite this form of puppy-dog eyes before. @_@ And I don't know how to cope!
[ONE ELEVATOR TRIP LATER]
FELIX: I told you you would enjoy it, right? :D :D :D WASN'T THAT COOL.
VISCOUNT: . . . if I tell you I didn't enjoy it you'll be crushed, won't you. OKAY. I ENJOYED IT.
FELIX: Yay! Now let's go see this super cool steam engine -
VISCOUNT: @_@)
I kept expecting drama the whole book, and there wasn't any! Well, okay, there is a star-crossed lovers plot involving Charis, but the whole thing turns out to be mostly a misunderstanding. Felix also has one moment of kind of hilarious peril that is central to the story, but that development actually turns into something that is reasonably realistic and not at all over-the-top.
And if more romance novels had the Lofty Aloof Selfish Rake showing he was in love with the girl by helping her babysit her little brothers in Time of Need and then tactfully holding off on the declarations of love in case it stressed her out, I would read more romance novels, and that is all I'm saying.
