This truly was one spectacular read for me. I thought loved and enjoyed it. I really loved the word building and how simple the writing style was. Along with that the characters were interesting enough. Plus, the romance was adorable too. Overall, it’s a full 5 stars.

Thank you, Montlake, for allowing me to read Something Spectacular early.

I loved Something Fabulous because it was so sweet and ridiculous. Sandly, I loved Something Spectacular a little less. Still a joy to read though.

Loved the continued chaotic presence of Bonny and Valentine. Peggy is a great character and I loved her relationship with Orfeo. I thought the narrative (ie the other characters, and her own introspection) was unnecessarily harsh on at her at times. Especially when she seemed to be vilified for advocating for herself.

The last couple of chapters were.... unexpected. (In a good way.) That's all I'm saying, lol.

An interesting story full of twists, turns, fun characters and overall a book I would consider reading time and time again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: misgendering, internalized gender dysphoria, violence, kidnapping, toxic relationship with employer, sex shaming (challenged), arophobia, homophobia

It was great to see Peggy get her HEA in this lovely exploration of gender, found family and love. And loved seeing glimpses of Valentine and Bonny's HEA too.

Steam: 3

I absolutely adored the first book in Alexis Hall's Something Something series - Something Fabulous. It is a fantastic queer Regency romp that was one of my go-to comfort re-reads in 2022. I loved Valentine and Bonny and all of their ridiculousness and I adored Peggy - Margaret Delancey - the only truly sensible character in the book and deserving of her own book. Something Spectacular is Peggy's book and it is wonderful; very funny, sexy, deeply romantic and tender. It also cracked me open emotionally with its gentle explorations of self identity and expression.

Peggy has been unrequitedly in love with her dramatic best friend Arabella Tarleton for many years. Loyal and unable to refuse anything Belle asks of her, Peggy agrees to woo famous castrato opera singer Orfeo on Belle's behalf. Peggy finds herself instantly attracted to Orfeo, stepping out of the sidelines and daring to risk her own heart to be with this glamorous prima uomo whose dazzling fabulous life is more complicated than first appears. Peggy and Orfeo's moments together are wonderful with flirting, sexiness, tenderness and intimacy as they move from mutual attraction to a deeper connection.

Peggy always brings the sensible - has been practical when her friends are ridiculous and OTT, but has been careful with her hopes and wishes in a world that narrowly defines her options. Over the course of the book she discovers that she needs to be the hero of her own story -and take risks with her heart to live authentically with the person she loves.

Characters from the first book return and it was lovely to spend time with Valentine, Bonny, and Sir Horley and see how their relationships have grown. Peggy has always seen her friends completely and generously and with her POV they shine in all their complexities and dimensions. And as a Sir Horley fan the additional time spent with him was wonderful but I am desperate for more!

An Alexis Hall book is going to have hilariously witty banter, unforgettable characters, and some fire sex scenes. This book is no different. For fans of Bonny and Valentine's romance (Something Fabulous) you will love seeing the same gang of characters while also watching Peggy and Orfeo navigate their romance.

This book is a classic Hall novel and I highly recommend it to his fans (and future fans).

This book was absolutely lovely. And so very different from Something Fabulous, while still feeling like you're in the same world. This one is Peggy's story, and while it is from her POV and is about her, there is still lots of great Valentine, Bonny, Belle, and Sir Horley content.

The story starts with Peggy being enlisted by Belle to help her woo Orfeo, a famous castrato opera singer. But instead, Peggy and Orfeo have an instant connection and I really enjoyed seeing how all of that played out. Both Peggy and Orfeo are neither this nor that, and I loved seeing how that allowed them to both be their true selves and to really understand what it was that they wanted, from each other and from their lives.

The ending was not what I was expecting, but I loved it. I loved it so much. The very last chapter could have come across in a certain way, but instead was deeply romantic and so very queer.

Overall, this book was nowhere near as bonkers as I thought Something Fabulous was (though it certainly has it's moments!), but it is extremely queer, even though it's with characters that could probably most easily pass for straight, and all about found family. Orfeo is very OTT, a very flamboyant opera star, and it was so perfect for them; plus, anything to do with the Tartleton twins is going to be a bit bonkers. There is also so much humour in the book, especially at a particular poetry salon. I may never be able to look at hyacinths the same again...

A lot happens over the course of this book, and through all of these situations, it allows Peggy to come more into herself and for Orfeo to see other possibilities for themself, beyond what they thought their life would be. We also get a bit more of a look at Sir Horley's life and backstory, but it's really only a teaser and I truly cannot wait for what's to come there...

I feel kind of like I just want to ramble on and on about this book. It's just so good. Funny, emotional, deeply romantic, with a side helping of bonkers. Also, I cannot wait for the audiobook! I think the narrator is going to be absolutely spectacular.

I really liked this book, and I also really like making lists, so here is a list of things I really liked about this book.

1. Bonny and Valentine are back. Often in companion books, the original characters you were invested in just pop up in a cameo, wave that they’re still together, and disappear again by the next page. These two, however, are very much part of the plot, and Valentine demonstrates growth since the end of Something Fabulous and continues to evolve throughout this narrative. (Bonny is Bonny so he’s statically fabulous).
2. Most of the dialogue is anachronistic, but it’s believable and razor-sharp so it works.
3. One of the romantic leads is a castrato, and Hall educates his audience not only on their place in cultural history of the time, but the ... err... biology of what works and what doesn’t. I said, “Huh” a lot.
4. The other romantic lead, Peggy, was a secondary character in Something Fabulous. She’s independent, outspoken, and gender-fluid. Both Belle and she continue to strain against the limits set for women in this time period. Hall is pretty explicit that they mostly get away with their behavior due to their money and class connections, as do Bonny and Valentine. Peggy was good for a laugh and voice of reason in Something Fabulous, but I really liked her development as lead. Her coping mechanisms cause her to mess up at times, but she’s insightful enough that when it becomes more urgent, she tries to work through the things she’s distracting her mind with and find a more fulfilling way to live. I found that relatable and satisfying.
5. It’s also a pretty good estates satire on the follies of the ton and the plight of the poor.
6. Hello, Little Dorrit! We go to the Marshalsea debtors prison!!! I must say, it’s significantly less cozy and welcoming without the presence of Amy Dorrit. I had to laugh that since the Father of the Marshalsea had departed with Dickens, we now get the queer Duke of the Marshalsea and his duchess. The Duke, also unlike his Dickensian counterpart, struggles with the psychological consequences of years of institutionalization and the prospect of freedom.
7. I can’t remember the last time I read a sex scene and thought “Whoa. Okay. Wow.” Toward the end of this book, I found one.
8. “Fine. I’m bored. I’m soul-curdlingly, heart-wrenchingly, bowel-twistingly bored.” I grew up with long road trips, zero technology, and a habit of puking while reading in the car. I live in the Midwest US. I know that bored. Also, I liked Belle more in this book, but she still got on my nerves more than if Bonny had done the same things, which is probably something I need to examine in myself.
9. Sir Horley. He’s delightful, giggling away at the song “Fill, Fill, My Good Fellow,” and generally being the gay BFF. Then he’s tragic because I, like his friends, wasn’t really looking closely enough, and I will be very sad if his story ends where it did.
10. Alexis Hall’s descriptive powers are .... “It was beautiful, but it was beautiful in the way that looking at night was beautiful in winter, when it was at its blackest and coldest, and you felt as infinitesimal as the distant stars. It was beautiful as only the bloodiest sunsets and the most jagged mountains were beautiful. Terrible beauty, beauty that wanted to drive you to your knees and drink the tears from your eyes, the sort of beauty to rend the skies and topple cathedrals, as impossible as the flame of Prometheus.” I mean...

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for a review, and thank you to Alexis Hall for once again providing me with comfort, with dazzle, with insights, and with terrible beauty.

This book was a complete joy. I often find that the context in which I read a book impacts my experience, and that was especially true here. I read "Something Spectacular" simultaneously with "Flowers from the Storm," which felt like the perfect balance of angst and amusement and also highlighted how each explores issues of freedom and identity.

Things I thought were spectacular, in no particular order:

-THE POETRY SALON. I could not stop giggling. "Ode to the Hyacinth" is an instant classic. And it just got better and better.

-Peggy's parents. Parents in romance often exist on a scale of very bad/absent to neutral. I loved the Delanceys and how *they* loved: uncomplicatedly and uncompromisingly, as the book says, in their actions as well as their words.

-Bonny and Valentine (Reprise). 10/10, no notes.

-Sir Horley. I want to give him a hug.

-And Peggy and Orfeo, together and individually, with their courage to exist in the world precisely as they are and how they find ways to make themselves free. I've also been thinking about how Peggy wants to be a parent, but not a mother, and all the ways in which the identity of "mother" is limiting in its own way.

Language is such a huge part of freedom and identity, and I did take note of my own unconscious bias (if that's the right term) when it comes to the singular "they/them" in written text (apologies If I don't express this the right way). That being said, it took me awhile to stop automatically reading "they/them" as plural if the sentence could plausibly be plural. That's on me and I wanted to acknowledge it, and I do think it means I should try harder to read more diversely and create new neural pathways. It was particularly striking as I was also adjusting to the Plain Speech in FftS, which is also central to the heroine's identity and freedom.

All in all, I loved this even more than "Something Fabulous."

This delightful sequel to Something Fabulous tells Peggy Delancey’s story as she learns to let go of her longstanding love for Arabella Tarleton and falls (literally, at first!) for the opera singer Orfeo. Prepare yourself for anachronisms (explained in the opening author’s note), flamboyant humor, journeys of self-discovery, and a well-crafted (and sometimes steamy) romance as Alexis Hall delivers another whimsical yet touching romantic comedy.

It’s satisfying to watch Peggy define not just who she is and how she wants to show up in the world, but also what matters to her — including her struggle with whether it’s legitimate to make seemingly traditional life choices without accepting the entire framework that society insists comes with them. And although the narrative focuses on Peggy’s perspective, Orfeo has their own growth arc as they learn to ask for and embrace possibilities they haven’t previously let themself imagine for their life.

This is a lovely, funny romance but also an exploration of what it means to care for someone — whether a friend, a partner, or yourself.

(Addendum: I’m dying to know what happened to Sir Horley and can only hope that the next book will be about him!)

3.5

I didn’t had the best time with the first book in this series, but I am so glad I read this one. I loved our main character Peggy in Something Fabulous and she didn’t disappoint in her own story.

The romance between her and Orfeo was incredibly well done. They were absolutely charming together, witty exchanges from the very beginning, and we also saw them have deep conversations about gender and fitting into the society they live in. Peggy and Orfeo were really great protagonists and a great romantic couple.

That being said, I wish this book had stayed more focused on the romance and spend less time on side characters individual stories that didn’t add that much to the main plot.

<i>I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.</i>

Wow did I love this book! I have such a major book hangover I kind of want to read it again right now. It’s really something special and the perfect sequel to Something Fabulous. I think I loved it even more.

Where Something Fabulous was a ridiculous romp, this next book in the series is more grounded in romance, feelings, sexy times and expands the world and everyone in it. This love story is about Peggy & Orfeo, and I could not love them more if I tried, but all the characters from Something Fabulous are in this book: Bonny, Valentine, Belle & Sir Horley. They are Peggy’s found family of friends and it’s an absolute DELIGHT to spend time with everyone again.

Peggy is the romantic hero of this story told in her POV, and she’s a get things done kind of person. Her bestie Belle plays a big role and you learn more about Peggy’s feelings towards her. I found myself feeling immense sympathy towards Belle despite being irked by her in SF. Valentine has completely spoiled Bonny and they are so in love/lust for each other. Of course Bonny is still such an adorable drama llama and steals the spotlight whenever he’s on the page.

But the real star of the show is ORFEO, a castrato, non-binary, glamorous person with the most spectacular look, clothes and voice. London’s Music and Opera scene make for a lush backdrop and obviously Peggy falls for them immediately, as did I. In addition to romance, there’s real communication, a prison, a foursome, a proposal, a musical soiree and a masquerade ball, which are all the queerest things possible. The Poetry Salon scene is the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. I could not stop laughing.

Hall’s amazing ability to blend All the ThingsTM together perfectly is really on display here. I was really taken with how sex-positive the story is and loved the discussions of gender identity in this 19th Century time when modern-day labels didn’t exist and non-binary people were considered scandalous. It’s all handled with great nuance and care.

•• Thanks to NetGalley & Montlake for the ARC ••

I love the first book in this series. It was light, fun, sweet and witty. No major villain out to destroy everyone.... This book is written in the same style and it's really something fabulous and spectacular...

This book features Peggy, the ex-gf of Arabella. She reluctantly helps her ex-gf in wooing the famous opera singer Orfeo. But Orfeo likes Peggy instead.... I love how Peggy and Orfeo are with each other. So sweet and fun. Love the flirtation and banter. Definitely one of the best fictional couples in recent memory. :) Really love them together.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Huzzah, for the curricle returns. This time, the action and romance is focused on Peggy, the best friend of the Tarletons featured in a supporting role in Something Fabulous. She is introduced to a castrato who has dedicated their life to music, and neither of them can resist the opportunity to reimagine the future each of them thought possible for themselves once they are thrown together. Filled with aching pining, lots of spice, and Hall's signature badinage, Something Spectacular is a historical romp filled with queer diversity of several different types.

If I was only ever allowed, for some reason, to read one AJH book (and I've read the majority of his works). I would be fully satisfied if this was the one. Something Fabulous would be nice for the character context, however this book truly is spectacular and gives the reader the best of what his writing has to offer.. which is... so very, very much.

I came to this book like to a beautifully arranged piece of music and it had my heart from the very first notes. Like a highly skilled composer, Alexis Hall weaves seamlessly in the different tonal qualities: Here, the delightfully witty humour has the tune, there the deep meaningful reflections and emotional gravitas come to the fore, then a tinkling of desire and magnetic attraction is added to the piece.

In the second instalment of the Something something series of Regency romps, we continue to get to know Peggy Delancey, still in love with a teensy bit dramatic Arabella Tarleton. Where I struggled initially to share that love towards Arabella in the first book, her motives and conflicts are beautifully fleshed out here with the steadying influence of Peggy’s POV. Peggy was such an engaging romance hero(ine) whom it was impossible to not root for from the first page. I found all the interactions with Peggy’s found family of Bella, Bonny, Valentine and Sir Horley such a treat. Each character continues to grow here and I was left with a deep wish to continue to read on into the next instalment.

And Orfeo, the devastating, spectacular Orfeo! From their first meeting with Peggy, a solid argument was sketched for why these two and only these two should suit. Prepare yourself for some scenes of heartbreaking intimacy and smouldering desire. As well as nuanced and sensitive ponderings on identity, your place in the eyes of the society, and what a tailored to the individuals happily ever after might look like.

As a slightly epilogue resistant reader, Alexis Hall balanced the ending and a glimpse to their futures just right for me. I found this story deeply moving, wholly engaging, and with a satisfying shift in tone from the balls to the wall hilarity and ridiculousness of Something Fabulous towards the still very funny but with a little more emotional gravitas and obvious thoughtfulness we are served here. Very much an embodiment then of the hero of the book, Peggy, who is the more considerate and cautious and sensible and very very loyal and brave and fearless of this group of friends. For the love of god, will someone please brush my hair now?!

this was a great sequel in the Something Fabulous series, it had what I wanted based on the first book. The characters were well done and were interesting people. Alexis Hall has a great style for the historical genre and I'm glad I got to go on this jounrey with these characters again. It left me wanting to read more.

"This was Belle’s person. Well, Belle’s potential person. And there were rules about that kind of thing. Rules that Peggy would have cut herself open rather than break. Certainly not for as little as a night or two of passion with a beautiful opera singer. When Belle’s love—even if it came in its own shape—was worth more to her than almost anything in the world."

This book is an absolute delight! Something Fabulous was a delightfully silly romp, but Something Spectacular takes the world and the characters to a whole new level! It feels like a deeper, more meaningful and less silly story. And that would be because Peggy is a more thoughtful and self aware character than Valentine or Bonny.

This story is centered around Peggy, and her feeling of being slightly on the outside of everything, from drama to life goals to gender expectations. She does not by nature feel like a dramatic person, and therefore has been content to exist in the margins of the Tarleton's stories. However, this book is about her stepping out of the margins to become the hero of her own story.

Orfeo gets their own paragraph because, just....They deserve it! The fashion and the complexity of character, and the love they have and share with Peggy.... just so beautiful.

It is masterfully written, with subtle side stories woven throughout, which add depth to the world. And the side stories enhance and add extra dimensions to Peggy and Orfeo. Peggy's own very generous perspective also gives alot more depth to the characters around her. I really did not like Belle in the first book, and did not see why anyone would bother being friends with her. But, as has been pointed out to me, the first book was written from Valentine's perspective. Seen from Peggy's perspective, eveyone is given a much more generous take.

This is perfect for anyone interested in a slightly less seriously chronologically bound regency romance.

I CANNOT wait for Sir Horley's story!

What a charming and important tale! Alexis turns the spotlight onto a lovable side character from Something Fabulous, and we (along with the MC) have the chance to discover them in all their complexity and wholeness. Readers are brought into the comforting glow of being seen for oneself along with the MCs, included and not separate from the journey and affirmation. Perhaps this is what makes the novel not just feel good but Feel Good. Of course, it also has the wit and humor one expects of Alexis Hall with giggles and guffaws throughout. It reads swiftly and goes down easy; 100 more pages of Peggy and Orfeo would have been perfectly lovely.
It wouldn't be a Something Something novel without a kidnapping. Hopefully, this one will be the foundation for the next in series.