Wednesday 17 August 2022

Infamous by Lex Croucher

Pages: 400

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre 

Released: 21st July 2022 

22-year-old aspiring writer Edith 'Eddie' Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together-climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practicing kissing . . .

But following their debutante ball Rose is suddenly talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified.

When Eddie meets charming, renowned poet Nash Nicholson, he invites her to his crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside. The entourage of eccentric artists indulging in pure hedonism is exactly what Eddie needs in order to forget Rose and finish her novel.

But Eddie might discover the world of famous literary icons isn't all poems and pleasure . . .

What I Have to Say

There should be more regency books written about the rebels of society, it really is so fun to read about. I enjoyed the differences between the society balls and the literary parties thrown by Nash immensely. I enjoyed reading about women who wore trousers and artists who went by there first names and Valentine, who was never given a gender. With this and watching Gentleman Jack on the BBC, I've definitely developed a taste for stories about the people who went against the rules of society and didn't let anyone define who they were. 

Beyond this, however, I was a little bored. Despite starting out with two girls kissing ("for practice") there was no real hint of romance until after the half way point. And I never really felt the romance. Eddie was supposed to be confused about her feelings and that was fine, but it didn't really feel like she was interested in anyone. 

I also got such bad vibes from one of the characters. It was probably intentional and other people may look at it as a plus, but I felt really uncomfortable about it. 


(3 stars) 

My thanks go to Bonnier and Negalley for providing me with this copy for review. 


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