A story that holds up over time, characters that are relatable in emotion, if not status and time period. Austen shows that love has to be worked for and is complicated and messy, yet worth all it comes with. There’s really not much to say about this novel that hasn’t been already said, but I recommend it completely.

It was definitely a fun read and was enjoyable. I will say though that the quality was definitely that of a YA novel geared towards a younger audience, as it could have gone much more in depth into the characters and their trauma, but it stayed pretty surface level and slightly basic. I wish we got to see more on how clarion thinks through her decisions-which was seen earlier in the book- because the book sometimes just has her make a decision, like sharing a secret that worried her if anyone found out, without any insight to her reasoning to share the secret. But I do feel like the writing a level of character depth worked for the age of readers this book was made for. So looking at it through that lens, it is a very sweet to tragic star crossed lover romance with a good mixture of characters finding their place in society and gaining confidence in their abilities and positions. It serves as a good prequel to secret of the wings and sets it up nicely. I ended up watching it right after I finished this story haha!

A book that shows the struggles of women in the 50s through the view of a female chemist who has gone through personal hardships and has overcome them and how she taught the people around her how to overcome theirs.

Such a fun time with great characters and even better world building! It is written from a different perspective then I am used to but I grew to love that.