The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (ARC): A Loveable Girl Gang on an Adventure Saving Sea Monsters

4.5 stars

Felicity Montague is through with pretending she doesn’t dream of becoming a doctor.

After returning from England, Felicity has two goals: avoid the marriage proposal of Callum Doyle, a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh; and enroll in medical school. But men, the sole guardians of science, do not see her intellect and passion for the sole reason that she is a woman.

But then a small window of hope opens. Doctor Alexander Platt, an eccentric physician that Felicity idolizes, is looking for research assistants, and Felicity is sure that someone as forward thinking as her hero would be willing to take her on. But Platt is in Germany, preparing to wed Felicity’s estranged childhood friend Johanna.

Felicity is reluctant to opening old wounds, has no money to make the trip, and will do what she needs to in order to further her education. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid.

Yet, once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity’s suspicions becomes part of a perilous quest that will lead her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

NOTE: You do not need to read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue to read this book!

Although I really enjoyed The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy was so much better.

Even though my rating only changed by .5 stars, I just love Felicity’s story so much more than Monty’s. Felicity just speaks to me–she’s a bit prickly, a bit hard headed, but she has goals and passion and desire and that really resonates with me as a person.

I love how, even though she has her flaws, especially with navigating friendship, Felicity manages to pursue what she wants to do, but also is eventually cognizant about how some paths might not be perfect for her.

She’s just such an awesome character, and so complex with these subtle nuances. She might not seem flawed at first, but she has her downsides, and I love that we really get to see her grow as a person.

(Plus, she’s a total badass–taping science textbooks in romance novel covers!)

And all the other characters are so awesome as well! Her ex-best friend Johanna is such a great mix of someone who is amazing and not superficial and a great friend, but still likes fashion etc., which Felicity will eventually realize she’s wrong about. Johanna is both a great juxtaposition, as well as an awesome character.

And I mean, can we talk about how so many awesome things are in this book?

There are really cool, magical sea monsters, doctors with ill intentions, taking down the patriarchy, woman pirates, saving said sea monsters, and more awesomeness in general. If you remember the fun romp through Europe that was The Gentleman’s Guide, you’ll LOVE the fun romp around the Mediterranean that is The Lady’s Guide.

So great. Really.

I sped through this fairly quickly, and although it wasn’t a stay-up-till-2-am-with-worn-red-eyes sort of read, it still was really enjoyable and had me wanting to read more.

I know for some, this won’t compare with The Gentleman’s Guide, but for others like me, this was just so much better. I love the diversity, even though this is a predominantly white cis het allo time period in this area of the world (Felicity is aroace and Sim is a WOC). And I love how this is just a fun and light read.

We definitely don’t get enough joy reads where women end up triumphant and happy and relatively unscathed at the end. But light, fluffier reads are still vital to a well rounded reading experience, in my opinion, and this is one of those enjoyable stories that you can just snuggle up with and feel good about reading.

There were so many things to love about The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy and I definitely recommend it if you loved The Gentleman’s Guide, and ESPECIALLY if you didn’t love it, because this book is even more awesome.

If you’re looking for a read featuring a main character that shows growth, a girl gang saving sea monsters and sailing the ocean blue, and fierce females who aren’t afraid to pursue their passions, check this out!

Thank you so much to Harper Collins and Edelweiss for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review! And to Brooke Lynn for sending me her ARC in a giveaway!

Have you read either book in this series? What did you think?