Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for A SISTERHOOD OF SECRET AMBITIONS by Sheena Boekweg! I’m so happy to share my review with all of you today, plus more information about the book and author, and after all that you can follow the rest of the tour and enter the giveaway to win a print copy! And now without any further ado, let’s get to the review!
I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions by Sheena Boekweg Published on June 1, 2021 by Feiwel & Friends
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Queer, Aspec, Romance, Thriller, YA
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram
Behind every powerful man is a trained woman, and behind every trained woman is the Society. It started with tea parties and matchmaking, but is now a countrywide secret. Gossips pass messages in recipes, Spinsters train to fight, and women work together to grant safety to abused women and children. The Society is more than oaths—it is sisterhood and purpose.
In 1926, seventeen-year-old Elsie is dropped off in a new city with four other teenage girls. All of them have trained together since childhood to become the Wife of a powerful man. But when they learn that their next target is earmarked to become President, their mission becomes more than just an assignment; this is a chance at the most powerful position in the Society. All they have to do is make one man fall in love with them first.
did i like it?
this book was so good! I LOVED the concept, and I really felt connected to Elsie and Bea! I also love love love all the fat positivity, ace and aro rep, trans rep, and all the beautiful friendships that developed!
favorite character?
Bea!!!
here’s the thing:
I loved this book, and it had one of my favorite concepts of all time, BUT, I definitely think this needed to be a series, not a standalone. If this was a trilogy, or even a duology, then there would be more time to flesh out the world building and really pull together a stronger story.
will i re-read it?
probably? if there’s ever news about this becoming a series instead of a standalone, then definitely!
three words to describe the book
support, positivity, ambition
WHAT I LOVED (TOLD IN AO3 TAGS)
- secret society politics
- baby ace
- they are fat and soft and lovely these are the rules
the gist of it all (aka my readerly review)
“Behind every powerful man is a trained woman, and behind ever trained woman is the society.” EXCELLENT concept, but it needed more than one book to expand the world building and characterization.
(if you don’t know about Readerly yet, check out their website and instagram! and I have 3 invites, so let me know if you want one!)
Let’s talk about how FUCKING BRILLIANT this cover is!!!! The way her dress fades into the wallpaper (because they’re WALLFLOWERS), the pretty paisley design, the note in her hand, the HAIRPINS omg just all of it is so so perfect!!!!
10/10 stars!!!
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About Sheena Boekweg
Sheena Boekweg grew up reading books with tree branches peeking over her shoulder. Her novels Glitch Kingdom and A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions, both with Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, feature fat positive girls with ambitions, love stories, and sometimes battle axes. She’s a contributor to Every Body Shines, a fat-positive anthology publishing May 2021 with Bloomsbury, and is an alumni of the 2015 Pitch Wars Program and was a Pitch Wars mentor in 2017, 2018, and currently in 2020. Sheena believes that beauty is intrinsic and worth is unquestionable, and thinks you can’t solve all problems with food, but it will always help.
She is well loved by a tall man with a great beard, her three kids, and the world’s most spoiled puppy. Visit her online at boekwegbooks.com, or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @SheenaBoekweg. She’s represented by Jessica Sinsheimer at Context Literary.
Enter here to win a print copy of A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions by Sheena Boekweg!
(US Only)
Have you read A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions yet? Do you love this book as much as I do? If you haven’t read it, have you added it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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