Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC for review.

Take an alternate Victorian era in all of its propriety and toss it in with a flying incantation capable of lifting houses, a society of piratical women with penchant for relieving people of their valuables, and a pirate with numerous aliases charged assassinating a young member of the society, and you get what might be the cheekiest book I have ever read.

THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS follows Cecilia Bassingwaite, a proper pirate who lives with her protective and elderly aunt as they fly their house from place to place committing acts of piracy. She desperately wants a seat at the Wisteria Society table and is eager to spend her days proving her competency and reading her *borrowed* copy of Wuthering Heights. And then her would-be assassin shows up and politely lets Cecilia know that he is contracted to kill her. Ned Lightbourne is a man of many names and shifting allegiances, and Cecilia finds herself in his company more often than not until they eventually team up to save the Wisteria Society and take down the villainous Captain Morvath.

There is so much going on in this book that I almost set it aside indefinitely. The story starts with a bang and bombardment of information. Add a huge cast of characters into the mix along with chapter names consisting of an ambiguous outline of everything to come within its pages, and I was a bit overwhelmed. But the tone and playful dichotomy between its historical setting and the swashbuckling absurdity of the world felt promising (and quite reminiscent of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate Series) so I kept reading and was hooked halfway.

At its heart, this book is a romance, and while certain plot points were inevitable, so much of it was delightfully unexpected. It sprinkles in social commentary and literary allusions between its swoons and droll banter. Every moment is deliciously full of action, witticism, paradox, and self-awareness with just the right amount of descriptive prose to help me envision exactly what was happening at any given point. I could read about the gossip and drama of the Wisteria Society for days and loved nearly every moment of Cecilia and Ned’s enemies-to-lovers plotline.

If you’re looking for a playful read with a hint of magic, a touch of romance, and an alternate version of Victorian England, this one’s for you!

I’m the black sheep for this. The beginning was confusing and the worldbuilding wasn’t intuitive. Improved slightly but never engages me or convinced me to care about any of the characters. Not to my taste but not necessarily a bad book for a different audience. . ★★

This was such a fun story. I definitely plan to read more from India Holton. I recommend this to anyone who likes historical romance or is looking to try it!

If you’re a fan of My Lady Jane and have been searching for an adult historical romance with the same quirky and zany sort of feel, look no further.

This book is more fun than a book has any right to be. It’s wild and weirdly wonderful. There’s magic and pirates and flying houses and badass ladies. What more could you ever want?! It’s perfect.

What a whimsical and fun historical romance! I've never read anything quite like it. I can't wait to see what India Holton writes next!

The cover, the title and the concept drew me in. I will recommend this book to my patrons looking for a new romance author!

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels was energetic, surprising, and all of my favorite things (period piece meets pirates meets very specific magic meets sassy romance). Add to that the fact that India Holton's narration is extremely similar to how I think, it felt like every quirky piece of writing that I love, wrapped up in a bow.

Thank you to both Berkeley Romance and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this absolutely spectacular story. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels is on shelves now, so if lady pirates and Brontë shade is your thing, definitely grab a copy!

First off, I ADORE the cover for this book! The design is delightful. I was hoping I would enjoy the story more, but unfortunately I am not in a historical romance mood and didn't connect with the magical realism elements. I will try again at a later point, DNF for now.

Thank you to Berkley for my copy of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels in exchange for my honest review.

The cover is just gorgeous and I follow India on social media and adore her. I honestly didn't look at the synopsis that closely. But I might should have. It turns out that Pirates, Assassins, and floating houses aren't really for me. I did try to pick it back up a few times but couldn't get past the 25% mark. The romance between Cecelia and Ned has major potential, which is why I tried more than once to get in to the story.

I will not leave a review anywhere besides NetGalley since I did not finish the book.

While this was not a book for me I can see that it would have an audience for those into magical adventures and pirates. At times it was humorous and a bit bizarre. The wide range of characters from the Victorian era was impressive.

I could not get through the whole book. It is just not for me. I am not into fantasy, and assassination and guns. I am sure there is an audience for this but I just couldn’t get through it..

Okay, wow, there is literally no way to describe this perfectly ridiculous, wonderfully bizarre book I just read. It’s so zany, so silly, so swoony! There are flying houses, assassination attempts by proper young ladies, sexy pirates, and lots of tea and sabotage.
The writing is whip smart, the antics of the characters are fabulously bonkers, and the story has so much heart. We have our main characterCecilia, a member of a crime sorority of lady criminals, who has a hit out on her, a dad who is out to destroy the world, and a kidnapped aunt who she goes to great lengths to save. Her hitman, a handsome pirate named Ned, is instantly infatuated with the wily and headstrong Cecilia, vows to help her and together they embark on one of the silliest, fraught rescue schemes I’ve ever had the privilege to read in a book. They had such fun banter and great chemistry, I wish we could go on another rollicking adventure with them.
A review just won’t do, you’ll absolutely just need to read it to truly appreciate what India Holton has created in The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrel’s.
Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

"I'm afraid I've done nothing at all to advance the plot."
"You chose to come away with me."
"So this is merely a romance?" She frowned disapprovingly. "I was hoping for an epic adventure, or a Gothic mystery at the very least."

Fear not, gentle reader, there's nothing "merely" about this story. It's a rollicking mashup of the kind of swashbuckling adventure and Gothic mystery that our main character, Cecilia, was hoping for, plus a slow burn romantic comedy, a magical alternate history, and a literary farce. In truth, it was just a bit much for me at my current stage of reading proclivities, but if you're of a slightly stronger constitution and enjoy a certain fortitude for protracted farcical fun, it'll be an extremely enjoyable romp for you. I did enjoy it. I simply would have enjoyed it more had there been a little less of it to enjoy.

Perfect for fans of Gail Carriger, the Princess Bride, dirigibles, deadly knives hidden in dainty parasol handles, taking the piss out of capital-L-literature, Howl's Moving Castle, and tea.

This is SO clever and tongue-in-cheek nudge nudge wink wink it really goes right around the bend to annoying. In a shorter format, I would have really enjoyed it. At 400+ pages, it was irritating, especially given the constant romance.

OH MY WORD! What fabulousness did I just read?!?!?

Set in Victorian England, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels centers around Cecilia Bassingwaite and her dream of becoming a full-fledged member of the Wisteria Society. As prim and proper lady pirate, Cecilia has spent her whole life training to join the ranks of the Society, a group of matronly lady pirates who can't go a day without trying to assassinate each other (all in good fun of course!). But Cecilia's dream is thrown off kilter with the appearance of Ned Lightbourn, a mysterious sometimes assassin, sometimes pirate, and all the time impish rake.

I cannot say enough about how much I LOVED this book. If the plot sounds absurd, the writing is even more so in the best way imaginable! I was dying laughing from page one and I didn't stop until I the last page. The sheer wit that went into every line...I am in awe of India Holton and her brain.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Oh boy. This novel was quite a bit different than I expected it to be. I very nearly gave up on it in the beginning after one particularly cringe-worthy dad joke. But I pushed on, and it did get better. Definitely not my favorite historical romance, but I appreciated the author's attempt to do something different in the genre.

If, like me, you were thinking this was a more run-of-the-mill Victorian romance with high-spirited women, it is not. Holton injects a bit of fantasy (flying houses) and a LOT of punny, ironic humor. We meet Cecilia and her aunt, Lady Darlington, as they are subjected to an assassination attempt. They belong to a society of lady pirates who fly houses, steal anything, and periodically try to kill each other. Cecilia comes from a particularly dastardly line of pirates, and her tragic past wreaks havoc on her present.

I feel like Holton tried too hard to be funny, especially in the beginning of this novel. She kind of knocks you over the head with the humor....repeatedly. The latter half of the novel was more plot and romance, so I noticed the dad jokes less. My feelings about the story kept flip-flopping, so I wasn't sure how to rate this book. Ultimately, I settled for 3.5 because I appreciated the feminist angle Holton took and that she tried something different, but I rounded down because I really did almost DNF it.

This was delightfully absurd and tons of fun. I got a very strong Princess Bride vibe in the writing which greatly pleased me. I can't say I've ever read anything quite like this before which made me like it even more. Funny, inventive, romantic, and zany, read The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels!

What a fun, dignified romp of a book. Victorian ladies as pirates of high society who fly their houses around the countryside and steal from the wealthy to… well, enhance their own collections. A dashing gentleman who may or may not be trying to kill our heroine. A kidnapping plot while our heroine just wants to get to the library! If you enjoy the Apple TV show Dickenson, I think this will be for you. This book is anachronistic in spirit rather than slang, but it’s the same delightful, measured irreverence as the show.

This was an excellent kickoff to a series, and I can’t wait for the sequel, The League of Gentlewoman Witches!

The entire time I read this I couldn't decide whether I thought this was ridiculously escapist or just plain ridiculous. This kind of has that quirky absurdness of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch tv show from the early 2000s, which I love. That show is cute, wholesome, and silly. The book is similar in that it doesn't take itself seriously and the magic makes no sense at all. It's full of lady pirates who attempt to assassinate each other for fun. Their pirate ships are actually houses they fly by reciting an incantation that someone had found through a glass bottle on a beach years ago. There's a mustache-twirling idiot villain.

These antics are paired with English social customs of being a lady, which creates this weird disconnect. Cecilia as a main character felt lackluster and boring to me. Cecilia was raised by lady pirates and is trained in killing and thieving, but she's also not supposed to shout or be vulgar because that's not ladylike. The romance was awkward and the sex scenes even more so. This does not have smut. The intimate scenes are on page, but without much detail.

Now that I'm done with the book, I think I'm leaning towards thinking the book is just silly. It was sort of fun, but ultimately there were more eye rolls than chuckles for me.

DNF'd at 15%

This book was just not my style. The tongue in cheek humor and magical elements were too over the top for me.