I feel like my reviews should also come with some notes on behavior. I have 4 other things sitting around that I've been meaning to read and yet I finished this the day I got it.

This was definitely a higher 3 star than the previous one. I was less bothered by the language because there were fewer characters who were ostensibly speaking English.

Also, the nuns. The nuns were excellent. So was Byron.

And poor John Polidori's was replaced by Matt Smith. I especially loved the shoutout to Paul Cornell who helped with someone's dialogue.

Overall, this was closer to what I want this series to be - magic in the regency! Convoluted plots! People dealing with issues of status and magic and how they intertwine! Slightly progressive attitudes working within a patriarchal past in a way that neither excuses the 19th century nor paints it worse than it was.

I admit that my feelings about Jane and Vincent are not always fully charitable, but I will grant that Kowal has not, since the first book, gone the "this is a totally unreasonable fight, but it makes the plot more exciting" route and I appreciate that.

This series is not perfect but, as my expectations have adjusted and as Kowal moved further and further away from anything Jane Austen would have dealt with, I find myself more charitable.

It does make me want to reread Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell once I have time again (i.e. my orals are over).