Shama M

Me: Not today Satan

Siren: OMG girl look who dumped this poor kitten here

Book: The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics

Author: Olivia Waite

This book is so much more than just a romance! It's a story of intellectual women navigating their way through a patriarchal world. It shows how science, art, and overall history having fewer female names than male is not a result of women being less capable, but rather patriarchal society actively preventing women from being recognised.

It has older queer women helping younger queer women find their identity, queer men and women protecting each other, and male allies. It has many strong, independent, and intellectual women building their own communities and businesses, not letting men's dismissal dishearten them.

The romance for which I read this book is just as good as the feminism. The lovers uplift, motivate, and help each other reach their full potential and also to heal from past traumas all while dealing with present day circumstances as a team. It was a delight seeing Catherine heal from everything her now deceased husband had put her through with Lucy's help, and Lucy in turn dealing with the Polite Science Society (who are anything but polite to women) with Catherine by her side. And they don't just help each other, but make it their mission to uplift other talented women who got sidelined.

It's a very beautiful sapphic-feminist book with a satisfying ending. There's a major twist near the end I did not see coming. It was a pleasant surprise. But of course, I won't spoil it for you.

I love Olivia Waite's writing. She's poetic and passionate, as well as witty. Her language is kind of similar to classic authors but not too challenging for modern readers to understand. I love how Lucy thinks in scientific patterns. She first analyses a clue and then draws a conclusion based on that. Sometimes the conclusion is just something like “needs more observation”. I also love all the feminist quotes. This one is my most favourite:

"Women’s ideas are treated as though they sprung from nowhere, to be claimed by the first man who comes along. Every generation had women stand up and ask to be counted—and every generation of brilliant, insightful, educated men has raised a hand and wiped those women’s names from the greater historical record."

Overall an amazing read. Yearning is through the roof (not without a little drama and jealousy), a fair amount of spicy scenes, intellectual conversations, community building, second chance at love, dealing with loss, finding one's own identity, women helping women—this book has it all! I highly recommend this amazing novel to everyone.