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amelia_petkovaI realize I didn't actually write much about what the book is about in my first post. The first half of Shades of Milk and Honey is more character-driven rather than plot-driven, establishing what Jane's life is like in the country and her society. At the beginning, we learn that Netherfield is let at last the young Captain Livingston, who Jane and her younger sister Melody knew as children, has returned to stay with his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh Lady Fitzcameron. Naturally Melody and most of the eligible young ladies in the neighborhood are ready to swoon. Jane is more mellow about it.
We are also introduced to Mr. Dunkirk, who Jane gets along with and is attracted to, but manages to talk herself out of every compliment he pays her by twisting it around so that she believes he's really complimenting Melody who is briefly infatuated with Mr. Dunkirk at the beginning of the story. Mr. Dunkirk also introduces Jane to his younger sister,Georgiana Darcy Elizabeth Dunkirk who has just come to stay with him. Jane immediately makes friends with her, and takes Elizabeth under her wing, and it's all very sweet.
Jane also meets Mr. Vincent, who is a professional glamourist hired by Lady Fitzcameron to create a glamour display ("glamural") at her house. Continuing the Austen vibes, they have a number of interactions invoking Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, though Jane is far more restrained and polite throughout. "Repressed" may be a more accurate term.
Mrs. Ellsworth, Jane and Melody's mother, doesn't have an obsession with marrying her daughters off but is otherwise so much like Mrs. Bennett that I was surprised she never literally said "my poor nerves!"
The plot picks up steam about halfway through the book as secret relationships are revealed and there's more focus on the physical effects from working intense glamour.
I called it on Melody faking her ankle injury! There's a briefly touching moment of seeing how Melody feels insecure because she feels she's only beautiful where Jane does things that make her interesting, but it quickly passes. Jane and Melody have major Elinor and Marianne Dashwood vibes, but whereas Marianne is endearing despite her somewhat emotional immaturity I mostly found Melody irritating.
At theNetherfield Ball dinner party to unveil the completed glamural, Jane is trying to get some damn privacy after hearing somebody insult her appearance when she overheard a private conversations and learns that Mr. Wickham is preying upon Georgiana Darcy Captain Livingston has convinced the 16-year-old Elizabeth Dunkirk to enter into a secret engagement but says he has to keep flirting with other women so that his wealthy aunt won't cut him off.
I found the part where Mr. Vincent collapses from Lady Fitzcameron forcing him to overwork was well-done, because it allowed Jane to take charge of saving his life until the doctor could arrive in a way that was believable for her personal and background in glamour. It was also a fun subversion in that it put the male love interest in the "damsel in distress role" with the heroine needing to save him.
The climax with the duels, accusations, Captain Livingston telling lies, and Georgina and Melody losing their minds over their romantic entanglements was a bit jarring after how the book had gone so far, but I liked the descriptions of Jane working glamour during it.
Shades of Milk and Honey is the first book in a series and I liked it well enough to give the second book a try.
We are also introduced to Mr. Dunkirk, who Jane gets along with and is attracted to, but manages to talk herself out of every compliment he pays her by twisting it around so that she believes he's really complimenting Melody who is briefly infatuated with Mr. Dunkirk at the beginning of the story. Mr. Dunkirk also introduces Jane to his younger sister,
Jane also meets Mr. Vincent, who is a professional glamourist hired by Lady Fitzcameron to create a glamour display ("glamural") at her house. Continuing the Austen vibes, they have a number of interactions invoking Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, though Jane is far more restrained and polite throughout. "Repressed" may be a more accurate term.
Mrs. Ellsworth, Jane and Melody's mother, doesn't have an obsession with marrying her daughters off but is otherwise so much like Mrs. Bennett that I was surprised she never literally said "my poor nerves!"
The plot picks up steam about halfway through the book as secret relationships are revealed and there's more focus on the physical effects from working intense glamour.
I called it on Melody faking her ankle injury! There's a briefly touching moment of seeing how Melody feels insecure because she feels she's only beautiful where Jane does things that make her interesting, but it quickly passes. Jane and Melody have major Elinor and Marianne Dashwood vibes, but whereas Marianne is endearing despite her somewhat emotional immaturity I mostly found Melody irritating.
At the
I found the part where Mr. Vincent collapses from Lady Fitzcameron forcing him to overwork was well-done, because it allowed Jane to take charge of saving his life until the doctor could arrive in a way that was believable for her personal and background in glamour. It was also a fun subversion in that it put the male love interest in the "damsel in distress role" with the heroine needing to save him.
The climax with the duels, accusations, Captain Livingston telling lies, and Georgina and Melody losing their minds over their romantic entanglements was a bit jarring after how the book had gone so far, but I liked the descriptions of Jane working glamour during it.
Shades of Milk and Honey is the first book in a series and I liked it well enough to give the second book a try.
