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A year after a whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind: avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. But the administrators, see men as the sole guardians of science. When a doctor she idolizes marries a friend of hers in Germany, Felicity believes he could change her future. A mysterious young woman will pay Felicity's way, if Felicity will let her travel along-- as her show more maid. Soon they're on a perilous quest that leads them across the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic. -- Adapted from jacket. show lessTags
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souloftherose Scientifically minded young ladies having adventures and fantastical natural history
Heather39 Both are coming-of-age adventure stories of strong-willed young women with an interest in science/medicine. Also, dragons!
Member Reviews
Well it was only FITTING that this book would be in SCOTLAND and I would start the audiobook while out HIKING in SCOTLAND! I, thankfully, had not cut off my finger though.
So everyone told me to read this one in particular because it features an asexual girl so obviously I'd love it, right? Well, thing is, sexuality is so multifaceted and aromanticism is also a thing (and an excellent album) but I am about as alloromantic as I am asexual and my favourite part of the first book was the romance, so it made me quite sad that there wasn't any of that beautiful underlying romantic plot in here so in that regard I think I would have liked this more if Felicity had been allo! Weird, right? Terrible of me!
That being said, the aro/ace rep was so show more lovely, and since I get grumpy when there are sex scenes ruining perfectly good books, I'm glad that this is a book for the people that grumpy when there are romance scenes! And I related so much to many points.The scene where Sim kisses Felicity (which, hello, called it), though of course in my life, such experiences came with a lot more emotional angst. Good ol' Felicity is just like "whatever."
My favourite aspect of this was Max. Duh. But I think my next favourite part was the criticism of girl hate and the way Johanna demonstrated that girls can be super smart and like looking pretty, too.
This was a lot of fun to listen to while hiking with holes in my feet! Yay holes in my feet! Yay Percy and Monty for being the darn cutest couple! (Yay too many exclamations!) show less
So everyone told me to read this one in particular because it features an asexual girl so obviously I'd love it, right? Well, thing is, sexuality is so multifaceted and aromanticism is also a thing (and an excellent album) but I am about as alloromantic as I am asexual and my favourite part of the first book was the romance, so it made me quite sad that there wasn't any of that beautiful underlying romantic plot in here so in that regard I think I would have liked this more if Felicity had been allo! Weird, right? Terrible of me!
That being said, the aro/ace rep was so show more lovely, and since I get grumpy when there are sex scenes ruining perfectly good books, I'm glad that this is a book for the people that grumpy when there are romance scenes! And I related so much to many points.
My favourite aspect of this was Max. Duh. But I think my next favourite part was the criticism of girl hate and the way Johanna demonstrated that girls can be super smart and like looking pretty, too.
This was a lot of fun to listen to while hiking with holes in my feet! Yay holes in my feet! Yay Percy and Monty for being the darn cutest couple! (Yay too many exclamations!) show less
To say Felicity dreams of being a doctor would be an understatement. She eats, sleeps, and breathes medicine. She is in Edinburgh, Scotland because at the time (the 1700s, date unspecified), it was the medical science capital of the world (Europe). Obviously she is refused at every medical school due to sexism, but she won't give up. She decides to crash the wedding of her doctor hero on the tenuous grounds that she was best friends with the bride, Johanna, when they were children (tenuous because she wasn't invited and they had a friend breakup a few years ago). She hopes she can talk her way into being tutored by him or being his assistant. The mysterious woman who pretends to be her servant is Sim, a badass Algerian piratess who show more kickstarts the dangerous and scientific adventure that she, Felicity and Johanna go on.
I mostly liked Felicity, and would categorize her as aroace because she had no interest in romance, either with men or women. She did kind of feel like the classic Modern Feminist Heroine in an unmodern setting (you know, the type who refuses to wear corsets or marry without love but in a really modern way), and it amused me to read in the afterword that the author had specifically been trying to avoid this trope. Sorry, sister. I ended up liking Johanna way more than I thought I would, since she's kind of Felicity's girly opposite. I liked the girls teaming up and how Felicity gets to flex her medical skills. This book is set after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, but you don't have to have read it to get this book (there are references to mostly non-pertinent things that happened in the first book). Overall I really liked this book and want to read the others (although Monty sounds kind of annoying). *~Friendship and science!~*
Read the full review, with spoilers and trigger warnings, at https://fileundermichellaneous.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-review-ladys-guide-to-p... show less
I mostly liked Felicity, and would categorize her as aroace because she had no interest in romance, either with men or women. She did kind of feel like the classic Modern Feminist Heroine in an unmodern setting (you know, the type who refuses to wear corsets or marry without love but in a really modern way), and it amused me to read in the afterword that the author had specifically been trying to avoid this trope. Sorry, sister. I ended up liking Johanna way more than I thought I would, since she's kind of Felicity's girly opposite. I liked the girls teaming up and how Felicity gets to flex her medical skills. This book is set after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, but you don't have to have read it to get this book (there are references to mostly non-pertinent things that happened in the first book). Overall I really liked this book and want to read the others (although Monty sounds kind of annoying). *~Friendship and science!~*
Read the full review, with spoilers and trigger warnings, at https://fileundermichellaneous.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-review-ladys-guide-to-p... show less
A fun romp of adventure and mischief as Lee takes on the second Montague sibling, Felicity. Strikingly well written, with a fairly diverse cast as well as Felicity's own realization of her asexuality. Her mantra, "You deserve to be here" is one that I still must remember and espouse. The dragon plotline really took me out of the vibe of the rest of the book, though. Did Monty's story have fantastical elements to it? Lots to love with strong women and humor.
Felicity Montague's sole dream is to study medicine. Unfortunately, she lives in 18-century Great Britain, where every school to which she has applied or sought audience has turned her away with disdain. When she hears that Dr. Platt, her hero and whose writings she has studied religiously, may have a place for her on an upcoming expedition, she abandons England altogether in pursuit of her dream. However, the real Dr. Platt turns out to be something quite different from who she imagined. Felicity, her friend Johanna and a female pirate named Sim are suddenly embroiled in a mystery surrounding biological specimens and puzzling maps.
I really wanted to like it. While I thought The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue was top-notch, this show more sequel fell flat for me. Though wholly supportive of Felicity's attempts to secure an education for herself at a time when upper-class women were not meant to aspire to much more than a fair hand at embroidery and being able to tinkle out a tune on the pianoforte, I felt she was so quickly and frequently indignant that after a while it grew tiresome. There were certainly instances in which had she been more shrewd and less quick to anger, situations and relationships could have turned out quite differently. The book fell apart for me entirely with the introduction of an unknown species of marine life, and it sadly never recovered. show less
I really wanted to like it. While I thought The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue was top-notch, this show more sequel fell flat for me. Though wholly supportive of Felicity's attempts to secure an education for herself at a time when upper-class women were not meant to aspire to much more than a fair hand at embroidery and being able to tinkle out a tune on the pianoforte, I felt she was so quickly and frequently indignant that after a while it grew tiresome. There were certainly instances in which had she been more shrewd and less quick to anger, situations and relationships could have turned out quite differently. The book fell apart for me entirely with the introduction of an unknown species of marine life, and it sadly never recovered. show less
Hugely entertaining high adventures in the 18th century. I enjoyed the first book; I liked this even better. The prickly and stubborn main character is an delight to my heart. Her constant impatience with romance is refreshing, and all of the women’s struggles with ambition vs expectations reads as deeply authentic. Pirates, cleverness, Muslim characters, same sex attractions, a really drooly dog, and all in a fast paced, historically grounded book. What more can you want? It’s excellent.
Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss.
Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss.
This was fun, but in a different way from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. Felicity’s more serious than Monty and more analytical, and the narration reflects that. She’s also more likely to plan, even if the plans go askew, so there’s significantly less chaos. (Don’t worry, there’s still a lot of adventuring!)
No, the fun’s less in the humour of social awkwardness and pratfalls and the occasional aside, and much more in watching the trio—Felicity, Sim the pirate, and Johanna the friend—fight and triumph against sexism and generally be awesome. They don’t feel like they’re out of place in their era, either, for all that their sentiments are often relatable. I’m with Lee in believing that historical women show more weren’t doormats who did whatever men told them. They had to have chafed and fought back—and these girls definitely do.
There’s also some good discussion about colonialism, discovery, and the rights of non-Europeans to control their destiny and lands, and of family legacies, and the price and rewards of independence and thwarting the rules, and learning that there are other ways of being than your own. And also Monty and Percy, a hairy mess of a marshmallow dog, and more not-entirely-historical fantasy elements.
This is also a well-paced book, with one problem being solved in time for another to pop up, one adventure ending just in time for another to be necessary, and enough moments to catch your breath so it doesn’t all feel frantic. Unexpected things happen. There are good twists. Things I was hoping to happen did—and didn’t.
Plot-wise, theme-wise, ladies-wise, in other words, this was all very enjoyable and solid, and up my alley. In terms of queer content, though, well. I really liked how Felicity’s asexuality was portrayed, because it synced well with my own experiences. She doesn’t feel like she’s missing something or missing out or anything, her priorities are medicine and success and her friends, she chooses function over fashion, and she’s blindsided by romance in a way that also felt familiar. I did go in thinking she was aromantic as well, but now I’m not entirely sure. She can be read that way, but she can also be read as homoromantic and interested in Sim*. Personally, I miss a lot of romantic nuance so eh. *shrugs* Not a big deal to me anyway.
And now I’m liable to rehash things or spoil more of the story than I have, so I’ll stop writing. This was good! Fun! Relatable! Strong! Feminist! Ace! I’m probably happy now that I’ve read both Monty’s and Felicity’s stories, but if Lee wants to write more, I will definitely not be upset.
* Yes, Sim is a North African Muslim sapphic pirate.
Warnings: Misogyny, internalized misogyny, glimpses of racism. Kidnap, coercion. One enslaved but otherwise well-treated African woman. Blood and gore. Protective siblings.
8/10 show less
No, the fun’s less in the humour of social awkwardness and pratfalls and the occasional aside, and much more in watching the trio—Felicity, Sim the pirate, and Johanna the friend—fight and triumph against sexism and generally be awesome. They don’t feel like they’re out of place in their era, either, for all that their sentiments are often relatable. I’m with Lee in believing that historical women show more weren’t doormats who did whatever men told them. They had to have chafed and fought back—and these girls definitely do.
There’s also some good discussion about colonialism, discovery, and the rights of non-Europeans to control their destiny and lands, and of family legacies, and the price and rewards of independence and thwarting the rules, and learning that there are other ways of being than your own. And also Monty and Percy, a hairy mess of a marshmallow dog, and more not-entirely-historical fantasy elements.
This is also a well-paced book, with one problem being solved in time for another to pop up, one adventure ending just in time for another to be necessary, and enough moments to catch your breath so it doesn’t all feel frantic. Unexpected things happen. There are good twists. Things I was hoping to happen did—and didn’t.
Plot-wise, theme-wise, ladies-wise, in other words, this was all very enjoyable and solid, and up my alley. In terms of queer content, though, well. I really liked how Felicity’s asexuality was portrayed, because it synced well with my own experiences. She doesn’t feel like she’s missing something or missing out or anything, her priorities are medicine and success and her friends, she chooses function over fashion, and she’s blindsided by romance in a way that also felt familiar. I did go in thinking she was aromantic as well, but now I’m not entirely sure. She can be read that way, but she can also be read as homoromantic and interested in Sim*. Personally, I miss a lot of romantic nuance so eh. *shrugs* Not a big deal to me anyway.
And now I’m liable to rehash things or spoil more of the story than I have, so I’ll stop writing. This was good! Fun! Relatable! Strong! Feminist! Ace! I’m probably happy now that I’ve read both Monty’s and Felicity’s stories, but if Lee wants to write more, I will definitely not be upset.
* Yes, Sim is a North African Muslim sapphic pirate.
Warnings: Misogyny, internalized misogyny, glimpses of racism. Kidnap, coercion. One enslaved but otherwise well-treated African woman. Blood and gore. Protective siblings.
8/10 show less
Absolutely lovely romp through the 1700s, featuring three very different and very vivid female leads. Felicity, the POV narrator, is a prickly young lady who keeps being thwarted in her desire to be a university-trained and board-certified doctor. Johanna, Felicity's old friend, was a tomboy child but also likes frilly things; they've had a falling out, but she is soon to marry Felicity's idol. Sim is an African Muslim pirate who may inherit a fleet from her commodore father -- so she's a princess to boot. Mix these very relatable if somewhat-larger-than-life humans with a rollicking adventure plot that can't be predicted, and the result is a very impressive achievement and deliciously easy read from Mackenzi Lee.
(I also think my show more favorite part is either the title, which takes on more and more overtones as the book progresses, or the final author's note, where the author lays out something I get the impression she believes fervently and got very sick of saying. It starts: "Women in historical fiction are often criticized for being girls of today dropped into historical set pieces, inaccurate to their time because of their feminist ideas and independent natures. It's a criticism that has always frustrated me, for it proposes the idea that women throughout time would not see, speak out, or take action against the inequality and injustices they faced simply because they'd never known anything else." Then she spends 8 pages giving the stories of modern-style women living in the 18th century whose stories have been largely forgotten or written out of history, but for whom we have definitive historical evidence that they espoused feminist ideals in the same time period as our heroines do. It's powerful and rousing conclusion that addressed my biggest eyebrow raises during the novel, and it's a fitting crown to an excellent book.)
I picked this book up at the library because it was flagged with "New", "YA", and "LGBT" (nothing explicit or even particularly romance-laden in it, though -- this is self-consciously not a romance), and it had a cover that made me think it'd be lighthearted, and it was thick enough to really get lost in -- and it turns out that strategy worked out very well. It's almost like librarians spend a lot of time considering good books to buy. ;) It also turns out that the same author wrote [The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue], which I have never been inclined to pick up before (but will now), and my not having read the previous novel didn't affect my enjoyment of this one in any way.
Strong endorsement from me if this seems like your kind of book! show less
(I also think my show more favorite part is either the title, which takes on more and more overtones as the book progresses, or the final author's note, where the author lays out something I get the impression she believes fervently and got very sick of saying. It starts: "Women in historical fiction are often criticized for being girls of today dropped into historical set pieces, inaccurate to their time because of their feminist ideas and independent natures. It's a criticism that has always frustrated me, for it proposes the idea that women throughout time would not see, speak out, or take action against the inequality and injustices they faced simply because they'd never known anything else." Then she spends 8 pages giving the stories of modern-style women living in the 18th century whose stories have been largely forgotten or written out of history, but for whom we have definitive historical evidence that they espoused feminist ideals in the same time period as our heroines do. It's powerful and rousing conclusion that addressed my biggest eyebrow raises during the novel, and it's a fitting crown to an excellent book.)
I picked this book up at the library because it was flagged with "New", "YA", and "LGBT" (nothing explicit or even particularly romance-laden in it, though -- this is self-consciously not a romance), and it had a cover that made me think it'd be lighthearted, and it was thick enough to really get lost in -- and it turns out that strategy worked out very well. It's almost like librarians spend a lot of time considering good books to buy. ;) It also turns out that the same author wrote [The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue], which I have never been inclined to pick up before (but will now), and my not having read the previous novel didn't affect my enjoyment of this one in any way.
Strong endorsement from me if this seems like your kind of book! show less
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Author Information
16+ Works 8,112 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy
- Original publication date
- 2018-10-02
- People/Characters
- Felicity Montague; Henry "Monty" Montague; Percy Newton; Johanna Hoffman; Alexander Platt; Simmaa "Sim" Aldajah
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; Gibraltar; Algiers, Algeria
- Epigraph
- Don't tell me women
are not the stuff of heroes
- Qui Jin
A highly dowered girl was faced by a great venture, a great quest. The life before her was an uncharted sea. She had to find herself, to find her way, to find her work.
- Margaret Todd, MD, The life of Sophia Jex-Blake<... (show all)/i> - Dedication
- For Janell, who would have loved this.
- First words
- I have just taken an overly large bite of iced bun when Callum slices his finger off.
- Quotations
- But one can only spend so long bookless in the company of another human before one feels compelled to make conversation. -- Chapter 10
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)... Our best is all we can do, and all we can hold on to is each other.
And, zounds, that is more than enough.
Yours,
Felicity Montague - Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Teen, Fiction and Literature, LGBTQ+, Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.6 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 2000-
- LCC
- PZ7.1 .L42 .L — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
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- 1,414
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- 16,628
- Reviews
- 79
- Rating
- (4.05)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 4