*I received a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review*

So I am a fan of Mimi Matthews' previous work - I think her Belles of London series is absolutely fantastic and I will rave about it to everyone. So when I heard that she was writing a new series, and that series was going to focus on feminist academy, teaching girls to fight to patriarchy, I knew this was something I wanted to read.

And I was not disappointed.

I was a little bit sceptical at first, since a story featuring an academy feels like the lead will be young, but Effie is a strong, independent woman with a stronger sense of justice. She doesn't feel like a cookie-cutter young heroine, but rather a woman with a lot of depth to her character, and a lot of things pushing her actions. And it’s really refreshing to see a victorian romance novel where the character's main motivation isn't getting married!

The romance itself is a bit of a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers (enemies in the sense that they are on opposite sides to begin with, not that they hate each other or want to kill each other).  I think our love interests compliment each other quite well - they are similar in a lot of ways but also have some key differences (which is where most of the conflict comes from). As Gabriel put it so well, "Like recognises like." 

Also I won't go into too much detail here, but I really applaud the diversity in this book. Not just in opinions at the time, but also in class. Having a working class hero in a victorian novel that isn't a farmer (or a secret prince or something ridiculous) was really lovely to see, and seeing that he was a bit morally grey, but still with a clear sense of justice and doing the right thing - that was great. This isn't the first of Mimi's stories to have a diverse bunch of characters, but it is still appreciated!

As always, love the historical accuracies and the opportunity to learn more about Victorian Britain. 

Really enjoyed this one - if you are interested in a victorian setting that focuses on women's rights in that time, with two characters fighting to improve the lives of those they feel are downtrodden, then absolutely pick this up. SImilarly, if you enjoy reading strong female characters, then definitely give this one a try!