Nothing special. I wanted this to be better than it was.

The awkward exposition and the classism both jumped out. Oh, of course it's the surly maid's fault, duh, nothing more to it. Of course Truthful is beautiful and happens to be fabulously wealthy and has a huge pack of suitors, and the one she picks is the most fabulously wealthy of them all. Also, the book calls her Truthful about 30x as much as it calls her Newt, which is really stretching the definition of a nickname. ( )

So. . . . regency romance. . . . not my usual jam. Garth Nix is best known for more "fantasy" genre work but Newt's Emerald is a pretty fun read. It's a Jane-Austen-meets-Harry-Potter type of story set in regency England but where folks possess the powers of magic. In what seems to be a theme for me lately, the protagonist disguises herself as a boy in order to investigate the theft of a valuable magical object. Naturally, this deception causes struggles and romantic strife. (cough-Viola-cough) ( )

Regency fantasy romance about a debutante who is investigating a crime during her coming out season. Truthful's father is distraught by the theft of a magical family heirloom, and so she sets out to recover it, encountering danger and finding love underway.
Classical, lightweight and charming regency romance, now with magic.
I might prefer Half a soul by Olivia Atwater for another take on the same genre and plot, but this an easy and cozy read. ( )

A delightful romp that unfortunately loses its charm towards the end. While the premise is attractive and the prose is easy to read, the characters are unremarkable and the resolution of the romance is so simplistic and predictable that it flattens any tension or excitement out of the last quarter of the book. ( )

This was a fun little magical regency romance. Light on the romance actually. This portrays a world where magic is widespread and acknowledged. There is an element of girl masquerades as a guy if you like those stories. I liked the world building and the action sequences especially when they were on the boat were descriptive and vivid. ( )