The Daring Adventures of Honoria Porter by Stephanie K. Clemens is a story full of adventure and excitement. It is a valuable take on one woman’s bravery and confidence at defying familial expectations, going against societal norms and venturing out into the world to develop and grow as a person.
The book never lagged, and I appreciated the small length of each chapter to maintain a great pace throughout the book and keep you hooked. It is well edited and easy to digest. Stephanie begins each chapter with a diary entry from Honoria and her experiences. It really helped break the book up and make sure you were never lost with what was going on. It was also nice to properly glance inside Honoria’s thoughts and feelings about what she was experiencing. It added a personal touch to Honoria’s already trying journey.
The way Stephanie writes her characters was lovely to read. I felt like I had gone on a journey myself with Honoria. Her friendship with Lia was satisfying to read, especially with the subtleties Stephanie included along the way that highlighted Honoria’s effort at building a genuine friendship with Lia on equal footing, even though Lia was her lady’s maid. Such as learning to dress herself and style her own hair to give Lia more freedom. I like how Honoria’s relationships with the rest of the characters slowly grew as she got to know them, which seemed believable.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book’s take on women’s rights and their right to choose who to marry in the 19th century, and what lengths this protagonist goes to for her right to make that choice and to experience any chance at freedom in her life. As well as coupling that with mystery and intrigue.
I award 5 stars