This was delightful. I haven't read an S. Isabelle book before, but her work has been on my radar for a bit. This was a fun place to jump in.

I'm not a hardcore P&P girlie, but I can see this appealing to that crowd, for sure. There are some pretty significant Bridgerton (show version) vibes as well, and at times I found this a little too close to Lady Whistledown's storyline.

The best thing about this book, and the thing that sets it apart, is Stella's voice. She'd clever and sharp, but she also lacks self-awareness at times, in a way that felt very 18. She's aware of social injustice, but also plays into it with her gossip column and her need to one-up everyone around her. This might have been annoying in another character, but it makes sense with everything Stella's going through: she's constantly put in situations where she's told to justify the space she takes up, so of *course* it's become second nature for her.

My main complaint is that I wish this had been longer. The last 20% or so felt rather rushed, and too many things were resolved too quickly, or even entirely off-page. Overall, though, I had a good time with this, and I hope that Stella finds her readership. In the notes, Isabelle talks about hoping that this book will fall into the hands of Black girls who deserve to see themselves reflected in a wide range of literature and historical settings. I think any girl who's tired of being told what she can and can't do will appreciate Stella's adventures, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book deserves more buzz than it's gotten so far. If you liked The Davenports, this is one to check out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick by S. Isabelle is a first person YA historical. Seventeen-year-old Stella Sedgwick has lost her mother and is now living with her aunt and cousin. When she is sent a message from her mother’s old employer to return to the manor she grew up in, Stella goes and learns she will inherit the manor if she can find a husband. Despite her desire to live life by her own terms, she is thrust into society life along with her cousin and childhood friends.

A major theme here is the layered ways in which colorism, proximity to whiteness, and anti-Black attitudes plays a part in racism. Stella has a cousin who is lighter skinned than her, Olivia, and a love interest who is also biracial and lighter, Nathaniel, and both are treated better than her. According to the cover, Stella has a deep dark skin tone which would make her ostracized in Victorian England and this does come into play when she is mistaken for a servant. Kitty Chen, a young woman who is almost engaged to Nathaniel, also deals with othering due to her race but it’s different because she is neither Black nor dark-skinned. For the most part, the book is fairly fun, but there are some heavy things that are brought up, such as Nathaniel’s sister wanting to essentially, for lack of a better term, breed out his Blackness in a few generations.

Nathaniel and Stella have a complicated romantic arc as they are childhood friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time and Stella feels abandoned by him. All contact was cut off when she left with her mother years ago and it does create tension between them no matter how much they don’t want it to be there. Stella also assumes that Nathaniel is attracted to Kitty because of their impending engagement, but gets confused when he kisses her. It wasn’t enough of the book for me to call this a historical romance as it’s more about Stella herself, but I do think that this is a great pick for readers of YA who love Pride and Prejudice because it does have some similar beats.

One thing I really liked is how Stella isn’t a big fan of the idea of romance and getting married but her cousin is into it and her cousin calls her out for pushing her views onto others. It is a very complicated conversation in regards to the forcing of the ideas of love and marriage onto young people and yet pushing back too hard can also go into saying these things have no value at all when they do to some people. It’s a good conversation that comes up throughout the book and the plot never says Stella is wrong for not holding these things in super high regard but it also says Olivia isn’t wrong for wanting them.

Content warning for depictions of racism and sexism

I would recommend this to YA readers who are fans of Pride and Prejudice and readers of historical fiction who like a romance subplot and discussions of racism that treats the subject matter with honesty

The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgewick is an entertaining read that didn’t always capture my attention, but was fun nevertheless. The protagonist, Stella, is a headstrong young Black woman living in England in the 1860s. When her mother’s old employer tells her that she is going to leave part of her estate to Stella, she discovers it will be easier legally to accept it if she is married, something she has little interest in. When she reconnects with her childhood friend Nathaniel it is a rocky start. The book elegantly balances both difficult issues like racism and the romantic plots of both Stella and her cousin Olivia. A worthwhile YA read. Three and a half stars rounded up to four!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Storytide for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

interesting, well written story with some awesome romance and plotting. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Although for most of my lifetime, Regency and Victorian England have been viewed as just about as white as a place can get, it’s now known that a non-white population did exist in the nineteenth-century UK. Some immigrants came from South Asia, increasingly under British imperial control, but many arrived as the result of Britain’s long involvement in the African slave trade, including in the Caribbean. S. Isabelle, the author of two YA fantasy novels, uses this history as the backdrop to her new historical romance, also YA, due out in early July 2025.

Stella Sedgwick, when we meet her, is an eighteen-year-old Black woman living in reduced circumstances in an English village. Unlike the aunt and biracial cousin with whom Stella lives, she has a hard time brushing off the very real prejudice she encounters. In addition, Stella has a clear goal in life: to write novels. She is not interested in high society and has no intention to marry a wealthy man—the only truly acceptable future for a young woman in 1860.

So when the father of the family that employed her mother during Stella’s childhood offers her a sizable inheritance on the condition that she wed first (for legal reasons; women could not own property in 1860s Britain), the offer thrusts her into a genuine dilemma. Accept the gift and have money to support her writing, or refuse, knowing that may lead to the death of her dreams. An alternative presents itself, and Stella snaps it up, but hard as she tries, she still has to deal with the “great misfortune” of her inheritance, including a childhood friend who might help her resolve her problem if the two of them could ever get through a day without quarreling.

Stella is just delightful—not an easy person to live with, I suspect, but captivating as a heroine. And the rest of this cast of characters is equally appealing and wholly believable as they navigate a Victorian London that may not be exactly like the one you expect.

I hope to chat with the author on my blog (link below) after the book comes out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

YA is not usually my genre but I had a lovely time with this book. Historical fiction is a genre that I really enjoy and this was a great surprise.

Stella was a spitfire and a trailblazer. She was a lovable and rebellious and wonderful. In this time she faced many challenges and really faced them head on as did the author. Regency romance environment Stella faces is intriguing and exciting.

I really enjoyed Stella's journey and her existence as a black girl navigating this high society.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
While I could not get into the previous S. Isabelle book I tried, I figured I’d give her another chance, especially as The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick is historical romance, a genre I enjoy much more than contemporary fantasy. However, while I enjoyed aspects of the book, it still fell short of expectations.
There’s definitely somewhat of a Bridgerton influence here, although it’s set well into the Victorian era as opposed to Bridgerton's Regency. I appreciated the diverse cast, albeit with a bit more social consciousness and context for the racial issues at play at the time. However, the book doesn’t pretend to be accurate, and it definitely also has a somewhat modern feel too, which definitely works in its favor.
Stella is a standout heroine, feeling akin to her predecessors, like Elizabeth Bennet and Eloise Bridgerton. However, she also has additional depth to her character, as she reckons with her mixed-race and illegitimate identity, and how this impacts her prospects. She’s also very passionate about making her own way, with her pursuing her writing throughout the book, which was one of my favorite aspects of the book.
However, as a romance, it fell flat. While her love interest technically is a large presence in the book, I can’t say he stood out to me.
The plotting and pacing was also kind of odd. The writing made it an easy read to engage with, but I can’t say much happened, especially in the middle? Despite comps to some very intriguing, standout stories, this book seemed to have all the style those had, without the substance that made those memorable.
While I was underwhelmed by this book, I’m not shocked that it didn’t work for me. Between the “heroine focus” that’s become so common in romance in both YA and adult, and the fact that I’m not the target audience for YA anyway, it’s just not the book for me. However, I do like what it does with its focus on its protagonist, and would recommend it based on that, especially as that likely is the appeal for the target audience.

I can't think of the last time I stayed up late to finish a book in a day, but I absolutely devoured this historical romance courtesy of the Harper Collins! I could NOT put this down once I started. It is a must read if you like Bridgerton (think exact same vibes but without the spice-but you won't miss it!), Pride and Prejudice, regency romance, etc-but add in so much emotional depth from the characters as they come into London society’s cutthroat, and prejudiced marriage scene. I appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from hard topics including grief, loss, racism, and sexism while still creating a story that felt romantic and enthralling. I will absolutely be back for more by this author!

actually, utterly delightful. it took me a little time to get into this world, probably because our lead was prone to a lil too much modern speak (and that’s a minor issue i ran into sporadically throughout), and the stakes or goals aren’t always as clear as i would have liked. but the characters are bursting with life, the romance is swoonworthy and left me smiling, and our author’s grasp on precarious london society kept me invested. this is definitely a better bridgerton in that race relations here feel more natural. truly a pleasure to read a story about a black woman finding her way through this world — it’s not without its racist encounters but it adds to the naturalism here in a way that isn’t triggering. very good historical romance! thank you netgalley and harpercollins for the advanced copy!

Everything I hoped for and more. A delightful and important edition to the YA historical genre. I was rooting for Stella SO DANG HARD and grinning like a fool the whole time. All she wanted was her quiet and independence and wound up a beneficiary. She is reluctant but handles everything like a boss. The author does not shy away from the important discussions of racism and classism. What a great book, I can't wait to see what else this author gives us!!

More of this please!!

Thank you S. Isabelle and Net Galley for this ARC! A YA romantic fiction with people of color? Yes more please! Recently, a lot of my reads haven’t been this fun and lighthearted, and it brought me back to why I enjoy reading. To fall in love with characters who remind you of yourself, yet take you far enough away from the struggles of your own reality.

The main plot revolves around Stella being tossed back into her old life amongst the people she grew up with the reality that she has a great fortune she can inherit as long as she marries. Yet Stella has no desire to marry.

Stella wants it all. Her future in her hands, but doesn’t know how she can do that when everyone is dictating how she must live it.

The relationship between Stella and Nate left me swoon in for a man who could appreciate my own smart mouth. Their ending of not making stella compromise who she is but also allow herself to fall in love was perfect. It didn’t feel like she just changed for a man, but found out how to be her true self with a man.

Stella Segwick is so much like Eloise Bridgerton, head strong and against what society wants for women. Stella in that aspect reminded me so much of myself, so goal driven, but can’t figure out how to balance it with what society expects of women. But similarly I also relate to Livvie and the desire to be a wife and mother. Their relationship as cousins and best friends reminded me so much of my own relationships with my cousins. The way they bump heads for being so different but support each other through every struggle. Although it wasn’t the main plot it was one of my favorite things the book perpetuated the importance of female friendships.

Overall, this book spoke to so many different underrepresented communities and told their stories without making it a story of struggle. It perfectly encapsulated how one triumphs.

"Bridgerton meets The Davenports in this wildly entertaining standalone romance, following a young Black woman trying to balance her independence with her future in 1860s London's high society.

Stella Sedgwick is a lost cause.

Banished from etiquette lessons and unsure of her future, Stella dreams of a writing career and independence, but 1860s England offers little opportunity beyond marriage or servitude for a sharp-tongued, dark-skinned girl.

When her late mother's former employer summons Stella to London, he tells her of his intention to bequeath one of the family's great estates to her. It's a life-changing inheritance, but one that will precipitate a legal battle that would be easier if Stella were married. With her cousin Olivia by her side, Stella is thrust into London society and must navigate fashion and balls, insults and stares, and a rekindled connection to Nathaniel, her childhood best friend with a rakish reputation.

Beyond the marriage market, living in London presents intriguing opportunities to Stella, like picking up her mother's anonymous advice column to guide readers through upper-class perils. As new acquaintances are made and old secrets are uncovered, Stella must decide when to play by the rules, when to break them, and when to let herself follow her heart."

That cover and this story are just the summery breath of romantic air you've been waiting for.

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sedgwick has no desire for marriage, despite that being the expectation for girls in 1860s England. Despite the obstacles facing a Black woman at the time, Stella is determined to make her own independent way through a writing career. But when her late mother's former employer, a wealthy family, unexpectedly leaves Stella a large inheritance, Stella must consider marriage if she wants to keep it.

I have to say, I'm not totally the right audience for YA novels anymore, and found myself getting a bit fed up with Stella's naïve worldview and actions throughout the book. That being said, the writing was well done and I felt that the book's depiction of the racism and other obstacles that a Black woman would have faced at the time felt realistic without being the sole focus of the book. It's refreshing to see a Black teen portrayed in a historical and the book isn't totally predictable in how it will end, either. Teens who are fans of Bridgerton should check this one out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stella is an incredibly brave and ambitious character. I loved how she called out others for their racism/sexism and pursued her own passion. Her relationship with cousin Livvie and friend Gwen were sweet and believable, and the overall plot wasn't incredibly predictable.

Stella Sedgwick wants to be a writer. She has no dreams of marriage or children. But 1860s England makes this difficult for a young Black woman with no wealth.

To her surprise, her late mother's former employer grants her one of his properties and an allowance while on his deathbed. But it will be hard for her to inherit without a husband. Stella and her cousin head to London for a summer of balls, country outings, and courting, but Stella still has no interest in marriage. She does, however, begin to write while in London, and rekindles friendships with her mom's employer's kids, including the suddenly-grown-up Nathaniel.

I found this story to be both charming and deep, as it tackled topics ranging from racism to women's rights to sexual orientation to friendship and love. Stella's time in London isn't easy, and there are cruel moments, but also a lot of joy as she grows her community. I also loved the ending -- without saying too much, she grows and learns, but the ending still felt both true to her core and satisfying for romance readers.

This was really good! I loved the writing style, Stella was such an interesting and funny character, and there were several discussions here that reminded me what was so enjoyable about historical fiction - with the added bonus of the cast being primarily characters of color. This centers a young Black female writer which already made this a slam dunk for me. There's a romance here, as well, but it wasn't the biggest part of what made this book so enjoyable.

Stella is one of the most complex, dynamic, and funny characters I've read in a YA novel. She's intelligent, well read, and unapologetic about her lot in life. She also had a great introduction that told you immediately what kind of person she was. The book contrasts her personality with those of other women of color - Kitty Chen, a newly rich daughter of a businessman, Stella's aunt Eleanor, and Stella's cousin Olivia. Kitty and Olivia were more apt to bite their tongue and accept racist things said around and to them. Eleanor seemed to live through Stella because she felt unable to hit back at unacceptable things said/done to her. It was an easy way to discuss respectability politics as Stella seemed resentful of Nathanial Fitzroy seemingly turning into the very people they used to make fun of.

The book even touched on colorism as Olivia is described as much lighter than Stella's skin tone and was treated considerably different right off the back. I found it interesting Désir was described as having rich, dark skin. His family served as an example of how even rich Black people held reservations about those born in "lower" standing. This book frequently described how even wealth couldn't buy respect and standing. Kitty was constantly referred to as having "new money".

I liked that the book combatted the strong Black woman trope - Olivia and Eleanor see Stella at her lowest several times, but there's an actually conversation about it with Kitty at the end that I found really important. I wish we could've had more conversations with Kitty about what it was like being a woman of color in that space, but it makes sense we didn't given the story.

I liked the conversation of the two types of racists: those that are openly racist and those that have the same beliefs and think their subtlety in displaying them makes them better.

The trip to Paris was probably the most interesting part to me outside of the drama of Jane's wedding. The big emotional bits of this book were written in a really engaging way. I found it near impossible to put the book down.

The romance was not my favorite part of the book. I think was done well, of course, but I was more fascinated by the discussions of a woman's possible growth during that time period. Stella was stifled within her time period and it was so sad to see. Overall, I really enjoyed the representation of how hard it was and still is to be a Black woman. Everyone wants to see us make ourselves smaller for their benefit and it seems no one truly loves and appreciates us for how we truly are. In that regard, I appreciated the romance while also really loving that Olivia and Aunt Eleanor exist in Stella's life.

I also really want an update years down the line because I was so invested in Stella's professional dreams.

If you're interested in historical fiction, which I typically am not, I totally recommend this. Definitely one of the better written YA novels I've read in recent years.

The only negative I have about The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgewick is that it ended! Fans of Pride and Prejudice and Bridgerton will devour this absolutely delightful historical romance! And while there are so many humorous and light-hearted moments, S. Isabelle did not shy away from talking about the serious implications and social consequences of Stella being a Black woman. I love that our heroine did not hide her wit, was honest with herself and others, and did not compromise her personal morals. Not only is this story a very entertaining and cozy read, Stella is an amazing role-model for women of all ages. An absolute must-read!!

First off, thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC copy of this title!

I really enjoyed this read! It was a little bit predictable, but that didn't make it less enjoyable! I thought it gave off strong Bridgerton vibes, while still being wholesome enough for middle grade readers! Making the main character a woman of color in Vicitorian England is a bold and interesting move. Stella is a smart, sassy, and endearing main character, but she also feels very real. She isn't a perfect person, and that's refreshing. All-in-all a solid YA title which is going to be great for any reader who enjoys historical fiction, especially if you love a POC main character!

Also, the cover is GORGEOUS!!

Where do I begin? First of all, it wasn’t bad! I did enjoy it (even read it with my poor English accent). I loved it reminding me of Bridgerton. If you like historical fiction or Bridgerton, then this book is for you. I loved seeing all of the diverse characters and variety of wealth that they had (ofc it comes with its issues). I loved the suspense like with her mom and the scandals of high society. I loved seeing a dark skinned girl (like me) be loved on. Although I will say I’ve suspected Jane was trash all along. Olivia, Nate, Miss Tess were love able characters (Gwen as well). Aunt Eleanor gave that tough love we all know we need. Oh and I mustn’t forget how Stella was a writer and wanted her independence. Now onto the things I didn’t like…Stella’s attitude. Like I get it. Being a black girl (especially a dark skinned black girl)in society is hard. But did she have to be so insufferable? She had a side comment for everything was very much jaded and pessimistic about life and people and I suppose that was supposed to be the point of it all but like girl lighten up a little! I can’t put my finger on it but there were some plot holes as well which is why I can’t give it a true four. All in all, it was nice! I was hooked! Oh and shoutout to @harpercollins and @netgalley for sending this ARC. It comes out in July! I give it a 3.5/5

Coming off of my Evie Dunmore series read has really set my historical romance bar HIGH and Stella Stedwick managed to exceed it. When this book comes out, do yourself a favor and read it.

From the start, I absolutely adored Stella. You are going to love her. I am always so grateful for a non-white FMC in a period piece, especially when they deal with the ramifications of what it means to be non-white and female in a time period like this. The novel does a solid job of weaving in issues of race, class, and gender without losing its momentum, something I appreciate in Dunmore as well.

I did wish the romance had been a tiny bit more fleshed out—it had the potential for a really strong emotional payoff that didn’t quite land. But beggars cannot be choosers, and the book made up for this small quibble in spades.