An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

I, like most of the world right now, am obsessed with Bridgerton, so when the opportunity to read a romance book set in a similar period came up, I was more than a little curious. An Improbable Season is the tale of three young women coming out to society in Regency London, some more eager to meet their husbands than other. We have Kalli, a starry-eyed romantic who is immediately forced to make a match when she is caught in scandal, her sister Thalia who dreams of being a poet (and has zero common sense) and finally Charis, my personal favourite being autistic-coded and obsessed with science. Each of the three girls has their own romance plotline which gets explored throughout the book.

As with any book with multiple plots/characters, people are bound to have favourites. In my case, I thought the Charis romance was by far the most interesting. Kalli's was fine but predictable, and Thalia's outright annoyed me. Minor spoilers here but Thalia gets immediately taken in by an obvious hot guy rake, and every decision she makes with regards to this is frustrating and predictable. There was little tension, just annoyance at how stupid she was being. Kalli fairs a little better, being predictable but enjoyable still. There is a little doubt as to which suitor she will end up with, which is also nice.

Charis's romance is good. There isn't much representation of someone like her in this kind of romance (at least, not to my admittedly-limited knowledge) and it was really refreshing. I loved that she bonded with her romantic partner through science, that her attitudes and behaviours weren't a problem for him and that she had a small breakdown anytime she thought she might have romantic feelings for someone. I adored her story and if the whole book was focused on her, it would be an easy 4-5 stars.

Overall, this book is definitely worth checking out if you're enjoying Bridgerton and want more of the same with a YA twist. The historical elements aren't too heavy so that might irritate readers of the genre, but it's still a lot of fun for the most part. Just be aware there are a few obvious tropes/cliches alongside the good stuff

Overall Rating:

.5