Bridgerton for the teen set, loooove it. A strong main character who's stuck in the middle of her siblings. She doesn't let anything get her down and sets her own course.

“A regency romance that misses the mark, Sixteen Scandals may have its moments, but falls short on some key points.” Cecelia Beckman Sheaf & Ink

Regency novels are a favorite.

Particularly when written from a feminist POV.

So, when I read the synopsis for Sixteen Scandals I was excited to see where Jordan would take us.

After finishing, I came to the conclusion that I liked the idea of Sixteen Scandals.

As mentioned, this is a genre I enjoy reading. Primrose, the main character of the novel, seems like the perfect character to mold those feminist qualities we often want to see in regency era novels and shape her into a more modern day thinking young woman who believes in equal rights, pay, and the right to vote (among many, many other aspects women deserve).

However, Jordan misses the opportunity to do just that. To take an ignored daughter and make her more than what meets the eye. Giving her depth and substance. Having her push societal boundaries, norms, and constraints beyond the superficial.

Sadly, Primrose is your stereotypical regency character. She wants a debut into society just like her sisters (except for the older sister just before her) and sees marriage as her only option in life. She wants to go out into society and be part of the rigmarole of balls, a perfect match, and the glitz and glam of a London season. There wasn’t anything unique about her circumstances, besides scheming a rebellious way to be seen. And even during those chapters it seemed awkward and confusing.

When it comes to romance there were moments in the novel that stood out. That yes, were swoon worthy-ish, but they weren’t often and felt fleeting. I do want to point out that the novel starts off strong and brings the reader in quickly in a catching way. But the first chapter can’t sustain an entire novel.

Further, Jordan uses the love at first sight troupe and I feel this particular troupe isn’t used as often because it doesn’t feel believable. And in Sixteen Scandals this troupe is used and it feels artificial and contrived. Where the setup between Primrose and her love interest is obvious and flushed out in a way that shows her clear lack of judgement and experience.

Even though the novel spans over a few days, it ends rather abruptly and has an epilogue that I literally was like, wait… what?

So, if you enjoy regency era novels wrapped in the overly dramatic, with little character development, focusing solely on the adventure of being scandalous, and ends in a quick neatly tied bow, this one is for you.

Jane Austen meets Sixteen Candles in this young adult novel of manners by regency romance author Sophie Jordan.

Having already gone through a season in which two daughters sought suitors, Mama has decided to put off third daughter, Primrose's, entrance to society. In fact, there will be no birthday celebration at all because older sister Violet's wedding is two weeks away. Instead of sulking, Primrose and her best friend, Olympia, hatch a plan to sneak out and head off to Vauxhall Gardens unchaperoned. The evening proves to be more than either of the young women can handle, and the two become separated. Then a handsome stranger rescues Primrose from one dangerous situation after another and introduces her to thoughts and feelings she had never before experienced.

Everything seems perfect until the evening ends, and Primrose has to return home, clinging to the memory of her time spent with Jacob. Things go very wrong when Mama catches Primrose trying to sneak back in. As punishment for bringing scandal upon their family, Mama decides to send Primrose to live with her ailing great aunt in Yorkshire.

Jordan has the ability to draw readers into the world of Jane Austen, highlighting the social customs and behaviors of the time but not in a way that alienates modern teen readers. The pace of the story moves quickly, and it is hard to put the book down. Sixteen Scandals will appeal to fans of My Lady Jane and Austenland.

I recommend this book for any young adult collection.

I do not usually read Young Adult books, but I decided to try this one since I have enjoyed other regency romance books by this author. I’m so glad I did! This is a delightful story about sixteen-year-old Primrose who decides to sneak out of her house to celebrate her birthday. Prim gets into many scrapes that night at Vauxhall and is helped by Jacob, a young man that she meets. This story does not have very steamy scenes, as in most adult romance books, but the writing is so good that I hardly missed them! I received an ARC from NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for my honest review.

AHHHHHHHHH!! A YA version of Bridgerton which had me reading in one sitting til 3am. Highly recommend to readers that are into fast paced rom com, YA, meet cute settings and HEA. Primrose is not allowed to debut at age of 16th into society cause her older sister hasn’t found a prospect. And the other sibling has a wedding to plan. So, instead of waiting by the sidelines - she and her best friend decides to don masks and goes out for night activities. Except a fight breaks out. Prim, loses her friend and ends up with a annoying male as escort to help her. I totally love the face pace storyline since the whole novel happens in one night. The witty banter between Prime and her male escort is fresh and fun. Towards the end of the novel, I I as rooting for them as a couple. Thank you publisher and Netgalley for e copy in exchange for my own honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the early copy!
I loved this story! "Sixteen Scandals" is set in the 1800's. Primrose is the youngest of her sisters. When she turns 16 she is ready to go out into society and start courting. When her Mama decides she'll have to wait extra time, Primrose sneaks out for a night of adventure and ends up meeting someone very surprising!

This was a really fast read and was very reminiscent of a regency era take on sixteen candles with the nod toward the title. Primrose, the youngest of 4 daughters, is used to being lost in the shuffle but when her debut is delayed until her older sister Aster gets engaged this just can’t be tolerated. She decides to escape and have a wild night of fun at Vauxhall Gardens with her best friend Olympia where she is rescued by a mysterious stranger who is not who he seems. This was so cute and so much stuff happened between Primrose and Jacob her rescuer in just a couple of hours while they were searching for Olympia and his friend that they got separated from. This was exactly as promised a fun Regency “romp” with just fun characters and yes a pretty predictable story line but that was just cute and light and lovely. I really enjoyed reading this and was glad to see a Regency YA since those a few and far between.

Thanks to HMH Children’s Book Group and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

I was looking forward to this title as I have been on a romance kick and thought this would be a great young adult response to the Bridgerton series that has swept over us all. Unfortunately, this just couldn’t stand up to so many expectations and left me disappointed.

The characters of Prim and Jacob were pretty basic and what is to be expected in a regency novel. Prim is sheltered and just wants to get out into the world and find a husband. Jacob is the mysterious man who is very knowledgeable and takes Prim under his wing. There were never any surprises here. I will say that I was overly annoyed with how often Prim would wallow in her family’s disinterest in her and her feelings. I was alright to go over, and is definitely not a good situation, but we get it. Move on.

The romance was cute, even though highly predictable. The plot was, again, basic. It is ridiculous that prim thought she could mask her identity with a small mask when she is apparently the only redhead to exist in the area. There were a lot of these convenient/lazy instances throughout the book that really stretched the belief factor and elicited eye rolling.

The writing and language were alright, but I thought that the insertion of some “old time” wording for certain items was unnecessary and diverted from the general flow of reading as it was only for two or three items and everything else was referred to in modern terms.

On the whole, I do think that some young adult readers may enjoy this book. It is a basic and light rom-com that follows all the natural steps and has a satisfying end. I would not hand this to my die-hards that pick it apart for its faults.

This is a fun Regency romp of a read that I just couldn't put down! Here, Primrose Ainsworth is the fourth daughter of a modest upper-class family who's approaching her sixteenth birthday without debut plans in sight. Always tired of being a child and stuck at home she concocts a ruse with her best friend to sneak out on her birthday to London's Vauxhall Gardens for a night of masqueraded fun. When she gets separated from her friend, a mysterious hero is here to help her escape when her cover is nearly blown. This stranger is 19 year old Jacob, who becomes her partner in crime all evening long as they dodge all sorts of hijinks and antics. It's described as having "Austen type flirtation" and "Shakespearan hijinks," which is already giving me Bridgerton meets the happy Romeo & Juliet vibes and I'm here for it. The language is curious, engaging, frothy, and fun. Plus, the banter between Prim and Jacob is just on fire and explodes off the page. It's captivating and fun that I just don't want to put this book down! To me, it did end super, super quickly because we were just getting started with their love story, and I want more. But overall, it was very cute as is. It just flew by, and just as I was finally starting to get the characters and their story, boom it ended, and I just want more content. This is a quick Regency romp of a romance novel that you can polish off in haste, but nevertheless, still engaging to indulge in their banter and hijinks as Prim makes her own rules in this restrictive society for women.

This book reminded me of why I love to read. I remember being 14 or 15 and sneaking my grandma’s Historical Romance novels. I fell in love with the setting, the romance, and the idea of Happily Ever After. This led to years of HR reading, with me eventually branching out to other genres. I still randomly read the genre, but nowhere near as much as before.

That being said, I opened this up to read last night and devoured it in about 2 hours. What an absolutely adorably satisfying read. The characters, the setting, the plot... I felt like this book delivered exactly what it promised, a fun Regency “romp”. I laughed, smiled, became angry, had a few “sit up to read” moments, and just genuinely enjoyed this story. Prim and Jacob were great, her mother was horrible, and the conclusion exactly reflected the HEA I was hoping for.

Read this book if you simply want an enjoyable, lovely reading experience that expertly captures the dreams all HR readers still hold on to. All I want now is more!

This was a cute, sweet, historical romance for teens. Teen regency romances are few and far between so my bar wasn't set very high to begin with but this book exceeded my expectations. It hits all the same makers of adult novels in this genre but will feel fresh and new to teen readers. .

Primrose is excited to finally be 16 and get to join the rest of her family in society, but unfortunately her family basically ignores her on her special day. Even worse, her mother informs her that she will delay her introduction to society for at least a year, so Prim will have to stay hidden away from everything she longs for. Taking matters into her own hands, Prim and her best friend decide that she needs at least one fun birthday encounter before resuming her boring life. But little did the girls know that this one night would lead to so much more.

I feel like at times the main character was too lost in her own head, spending pages reminiscing on one random thing that helped to make her relate to another random thing without anything really happening in the story. I was a little bored when those moments occurred, especially when she got lost in thought (for pages) in the middle of a conversation that I really wanted to see how it would play out.

Overall, this was a fun historical romance that took place over a single evening (for the most part), with a precocious girl who dreams of what could be yet is restricted by society (and the whims of her mother- who I really didn’t like and never had any redeeming features). The story wrapped up nicely (and oh so easy) so this could easily be a standalone book- but there was a sister and best friend who have yet to find love which I suspect will be in the same place and I would love to see that story. This was a quick clean read and can easily be enjoyed by any age.

A quick and diverting but ultimately somewhat flat read. I definitely enjoyed “Sixteen Scandals,” but I couldn’t shake the feeling that very little was actually happening. Most of the novel takes place in a single day, which is probably a partial cause of that, but it also might have been related to the fact that I didn’t particularly buy into the romance either, though it was fun to follow along with. Not a bad book by any means, but not a particularly memorable one either - I found it difficult to get adequately invested in the characters for that. However, if you enjoy lighthearted regency romances, I would absolutely recommend it.

I received a copy from the pulisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I was SO excited for this novel from the first time I saw it pop up and was even more excited and grateful to get a copy to read. And it did not disappoint. If you are having Bridgerton withdrawals (because I watched it TWICE and after reading this moving on to the books!) this is EXACTLY what you would NEED!

This novel follows Primrose on her sixteenth birthday and her family greets her with....zero enthusiasm. If you have ever seen the fantastic Brat Pack movie Sixteen Candles, this is EXACTLY how this starts. But fear not, my dear reader, because a fabulous best friend (always good to have) and a scandalous idea save the day to make it one she will always remember! The ending was sweet and gave you a good close, however, also a bit of a door cracked to continue on the story....which I would ABSOLUTELY dive back into this world. AMAZING! I loved it!

SIXTEEN SCANDALS by Sophie Jordan is a YA novel set in Regency London. The story follows Primrose on her sixteenth birthday, after her mom drops the worst news ever: Prim won’t be coming out in society that night like she expected. In fact, Prim’s debut is completely postponed until her older sister, Astrid, is married off, and that task is proving more and more difficult. Determined to mark the special day, Prim sneaks away in the late evening with her friend, Olympia. They travel down to Vauxhaul, an island full of wonders, but they’re separated in a tavern brawl. Luckily for Prim, a handsome, young man, Jacob, swoops in to rescue her, and together, they embark on quite an adventure, making it a night Prim won’t soon forget.

This is the kind of story I absolutely love – it’s light, romantic, and funny. I actually found myself laughing out loud multiple times as the author does a great job with contrast. For instance, at the beginning of each chapter, we get an excerpt from a book on propriety about how young ladies are supposed to act. Then, in the following chapter, we get to see Prim break that rule. Prim feels suffocated by these expectations, and as such, sexism and gender are a few underlying themes. Through Prim, Jordan points out how unfair the lack of freedom is for women, in comparison to their male counterparts. She explores class differences as well.

That being said, there are a couple of elements keeping this book from truly shining. The first is the dialogue. It oftentimes feels like the characters just say phrases that the readers expect for this genre and time period, rather than being authentic. The pacing also feels rushed at the end. The whole time I was reading it, I was expecting this book to be a setup for a series, but then it sped up, making the ending less impactful.

With that in mind, SIXTEEN SCANDALS is perfect for new regency readers. It’s an enjoyable mashup of a more PG BRIDGERTON and a more adult CINDERELLA. It has a fairytale quality rather than a realistic one, and will appeal to readers with those sensibilities.

This unfortunately was a disappointment. I went in expecting something similar to My Lady Jane...and well, it’s not that.

Too many eye roll moments and glossing over of topics.

Does anyone remember Harlequin Teen? Maybe I'm aging myself here, but Sixteen Scandals was very reminiscent of my favorite Regency-era Harlequin Teen books.

Sixteen Scandals is about newly sixteen-years-old Primrose. Primrose has been isolated in her London townhouse, watching with envy as her older sisters go out in society and attend balls, theater, and events. She dreams of her sixteenth birthday, when she will be old enough to leave the house and experience the world for herself. But, on the morning of her sixteenth birthday, her mother crushes those dreams by telling Primrose that she is going to delay her society debut... indefinitely. So Prim, desperate to experience something outside of her schoolroom, hatches a plan to sneak out with her best friend Olympia for one night of fun. However, their plans quickly go south when the friends are separated. Prim falls in with a handsome, mysterious young man who helps her find her friend, experience all those things she wants to try, and... maybe flirt a little (or a lot). But, as with any YA romance, things don't always go according to plan.

This book was a cute, and fast, read. Perfect for those who enjoy YA romances, even if they aren't super in to historical romances. This reads more like a contemporary romance than historical. The family drama, societal pressures, and coming-of-age struggles will be familiar to anyone, regardless of their knowledge or interest in Regency England. And hey, if any adults out there want to relive their love of Harlequin Teen romances, check this out too!

This was a super sweet story, and the perfect intro to regency love stories if you’ve never read them. I thought Primrose was a delightful character and Jacob was perfectly swoony.

I look forward to recommending this for my teens this summer. What a fun read and if they have watched the Bridgerton series then they will love this.

Cute read, had a few small plot twists. Overall a fun and light read. Boy meets girl, girl goes on and adventure, boy crashes adventure. They fall in love, and then scandal! Overall a cute read that I enjoyed.