Monday 21 June 2010

A Most Improper Magick - Stephanie Burgis

A Most Improper Magick - Stephanie Burgis

Pages: 295 (ARC)
Publisher: Templar Publishing
Release Date: 1st August 2010

At twelve years old, any proper young lady should be quietly sitting at home practising her embroidery, learning French and keeping her opinions to herself.


But Kat Stephenson is no ordinary young lady.

Kat’s father may be a respectable vicar, but her late mother was a notorious witch, her brother has gambled the whole family into debt, and Kat herself is the newest target of an ancient and secretive magical Order.

In the first thrilling instalment of The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, Kat sets to win her older siblings their true loves, battling highwaymen, sinister aristocrats, wild magic and even ghosts along the way.

A Most Improper Magick is an immensely fun Regency adventure filled with irresistible humour and bucket loads of charm.

I have to begin by saying that the Regency period is by far my favourite in history. Manners, courtship, balls and handsome, brooding gentlemen in breeches. You can’t really ask for any more, and so I was pleased to learn that Kat’s story has each of these elements with added sparkle and life. The downsides of Regency times (sexism, class divides, marrying for money) are all present and accounted for without taking the shine off of things.

This novel has the most brilliant cast of characters. Kat is spunky, funny and full of brilliantly mad-cap plans who reminded me a lot of Diana from The Luxe series. Then you’ve got her older sisters, passionate and impetuous Angeline and polite, sensible Elissa who fancies herself a tragic heroine. They really are like the Dashwood sisters. All of them are fabulous and I’d very much like to know them myself!

Stephanie Burgis’ debut is a cute and fun start to what I’m sure will be a fantastic series.

For my 2010 Debut Author Challenge, 2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Sophie

10 comments:

  1. This sounds like a cute fun read. I will say I'm not overly in love with the cover, but I'm not judging a book by it's cover! :) I may have to look into this one further. I did see the UK cover (I think that's what it was) and it was much cuter.

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  2. sounds like a great read.....love the review xx

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  3. I absolutely love our cover for this book! Great review :)

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  4. Great review, Sophie! I absolutely loved this book too. (I need to review it soon!) I love those sisters!

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  5. This sounds really good and fun. I'll have to read it soon so I too can experience its humour and charm. :)

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  6. The book sounds awesome!!! I love Regency period novels too... Thanks so much for your fantastic review!

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  7. This sound truly delightful, I will definitely be reading this ASAP

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  8. This sounds great, I shall look out for this one!

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  9. I am loving the UK cover! This sounds like a great book for the school library.

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  10. i love it! so cute and magical sounding for the regency era.

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