Review: The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

Synopsis
Hard-drinking petty thief Dellaria Wells is down on her luck in the city of Leiscourt—again. Then she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard, and she fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

At first Delly thinks the danger is exaggerated, but a series of attacks shows there’s much to fear. Then she begins to fall for Winn, one of the other bodyguards, and the women team up against a mysterious, magical foe who seems to have allies everywhere.

What I thought
Thank you, Ace and Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy of this book for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.

I found myself struggling to get through this one. I loved this book in the beginning it was a Victorianesque story with magic. However, the pacing was super slow and it took forever for anything to happen. Maybe I just expected it to move at a faster pace because of how it is described but I think there was more about them eating than action.

I am a character-driven reader so I have to be able to at least tolerate the characters. Delly our main character evolution is like a rollercoaster. Every time I started to like her she would do something that made me just not be able to stand her again. Winn is wonderful but there comes a point where I just wanted to shake her and say open your eyes. Then you have Abstentia Dok who in the beginning I never would have thought I would like her and at some point (around 70%) I realized she was the only one that I really liked.

The story isn’t bad it just did not jive with me. If you like slow-paced stories I say go for it.

My Rating: /5