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chronicallybookish 's review for:
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason
by India Holton
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
3.75 stars
Historical romance meets witchy, pirate fantasy in the third and final installment of India Holton’s unique Dangerous Damsels series.
Like with the rest of the series, I am so conflicted about this book.
So let’s start with the things I like about the book:
* the tropes! Fake marriage! Undercover secret agents! “Don’t touch my wife”!!!!!
* the rep! Both main characters are autistic, and the representation is #ownvoices. In the very beginning, I wasn’t sure about the rep—but by about the 20% mark I felt like the characters were well developed, and I ended up really enjoying the portrayal.
* Alice and Daniel themselves! I’ve loved Bixby in both previous books, so I loved getting to read about him as a main character. Alice, too, stole my heart, and I think she was my favorite FMC of the series—as Bixby was my favorite MMC.
Something I always both like and dislike in these books is the world and magic system. I love how unique it is, it’s certainly interesting, and it’s so very weird, but it doesn’t really make sense. I can’t wrap my mind around it, and I can’t ever fully manage to completely suspend my disbelief. It’s just a little too much for me. There are too many moving objects in the lore.
Things I don’t love:
* the plot. There never felt like there was much of a throughline. Alice and Daniel are supposed to be searching for this weapon that will kill the queen, and yet there felt like there were no stakes there, and that aspect played no real role in the tension and driving force behind the book. Despite the fact that it was mentioned regularly, it never felt important to the story, and I kept forgetting it was a thing that mattered. I didn’t care, but I felt like I should have.
* the pacing. It was kind of slow. There never felt like there was a driving force behind the action and events happening. Everything not directly related to Alice and Bixby’s relationship felt like filler content because there was no tension or stakes to keep me invested in it.
* the blushing virgin trope. Every single book in this series features an overly clueless FMC with an experienced MMC. And every time it feels kind of fetishized. Now, this one was very minor compared to the previous books in the series. But it still made me uncomfortable to read. At least Daniel was just like, averagely experienced compared to the rakish men of the previous series, but still the way that Alice’s inexperience was portrayed didn’t work for me.
All of that said, this is my favorite installment of the series, and if the description catches your interest, I think it’s worth the read.
Historical romance meets witchy, pirate fantasy in the third and final installment of India Holton’s unique Dangerous Damsels series.
Like with the rest of the series, I am so conflicted about this book.
So let’s start with the things I like about the book:
* the tropes! Fake marriage! Undercover secret agents! “Don’t touch my wife”!!!!!
* the rep! Both main characters are autistic, and the representation is #ownvoices. In the very beginning, I wasn’t sure about the rep—but by about the 20% mark I felt like the characters were well developed, and I ended up really enjoying the portrayal.
* Alice and Daniel themselves! I’ve loved Bixby in both previous books, so I loved getting to read about him as a main character. Alice, too, stole my heart, and I think she was my favorite FMC of the series—as Bixby was my favorite MMC.
Something I always both like and dislike in these books is the world and magic system. I love how unique it is, it’s certainly interesting, and it’s so very weird, but it doesn’t really make sense. I can’t wrap my mind around it, and I can’t ever fully manage to completely suspend my disbelief. It’s just a little too much for me. There are too many moving objects in the lore.
Things I don’t love:
* the plot. There never felt like there was much of a throughline. Alice and Daniel are supposed to be searching for this weapon that will kill the queen, and yet there felt like there were no stakes there, and that aspect played no real role in the tension and driving force behind the book. Despite the fact that it was mentioned regularly, it never felt important to the story, and I kept forgetting it was a thing that mattered. I didn’t care, but I felt like I should have.
* the pacing. It was kind of slow. There never felt like there was a driving force behind the action and events happening. Everything not directly related to Alice and Bixby’s relationship felt like filler content because there was no tension or stakes to keep me invested in it.
* the blushing virgin trope. Every single book in this series features an overly clueless FMC with an experienced MMC. And every time it feels kind of fetishized. Now, this one was very minor compared to the previous books in the series. But it still made me uncomfortable to read. At least Daniel was just like, averagely experienced compared to the rakish men of the previous series, but still the way that Alice’s inexperience was portrayed didn’t work for me.
All of that said, this is my favorite installment of the series, and if the description catches your interest, I think it’s worth the read.