Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis is like a marshmallow: sweet, fluffy, and very, very white.
How much you enjoy it will very much depend on your ability to set your expectations and accept what you’re given.
Scales and Sensibility is a regency romance which takes place in an England that will feel very much like the England of most regency romances (which is to say, historically accurate-ish but with a gloss of wishful thinking over everything). The main difference of course, is the presence of dragons.
We’re not talking Smaug here, though. No, these are small dragons, around the size of cats, and they are currently the must-have accessory for society ladies. A colorful dragon perched on a lady’s shoulder is considered a sign of style, sophistication, and of course, wealth.
Burgis made a smart decision that allowed her to avoid a common pitfall in historical books with a fantastic element. The dragons have been only recently discovered in South America, which means they have not had a major impact on history or culture. In addition to spawning a fashion craze, the dragons have inspired a lot of scholarly study and debate, and some ill-advised investment opportunities. All three of these impacts are important to the story in Scales and Sensibility.
The Plot
Elinor is the poor, orphaned relation living with her wealthier, pretty cousin Penelope. Life is hard for Elinor. Not only did she lose her parents, but no one was willing to take her and her two sisters, so they have been scattered to different relatives. And Penelope is spoiled and awful, abusive to everyone around her, especially her beautiful dragon Sir Jessamyn.
One day, Elinor finally can’t take it anymore and she runs away, taking Sir Jessamyn and her meager financial savings with her. She has no idea where she’ll go or what she’ll do, she just knows that she and Sir Jessamyn deserve better than to be constantly yelled at and belittled.
What she doesn’t expect is a messy meet-cute when she is run off the road and into a muddy ditch and meets the dreamy Benedict Hawkins… who is determined to attend Penelope’s debut and secure her hand in marriage, thus securing her dowry to save his family estate.
You see, Benedict and Elinor have something very important in common: both of their fathers were swindled by the same dragon-importing investment schemes, and both recently died, leaving their children in dire financial straits. These two have an immediate like and respect for each other, but each needs a wealthy spouse in order to support their siblings.
Benedict is traveling with his friend, Mr. Aubrey the dragon scholar.
For various plot reasons, Benedict, Aubrey, and Elinor all end up back at Penelope’s family home. The twist is that Elinor is disguised as a famously stylish widow from London here to help Penelope make a big splash at her debut. What follows is a few stressful days where Elinor tries to keep up this charade, convince people that Sir Jessamyn is not Penelope’s stolen dragon, set up Penelope and Benedict despite her own desires, and deal with several other plot threads. It’s a lot.
How High is Your Tolerance for Shenanigans?
In some ways, this book reminded me of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series. The reader has to accept that there is going to be a certain degree of nonsense. It’s as necessary as accepting the idea that dragons exist. Characters and situations alike are exaggerated. For instance, Mr. Aubrey doesn’t just spend all his time with his nose in a book; he travels in a carriage literally overflowing with papers, leaving little room for passengers.
Oh also, Sir Jessamyn has a nervous bowel, so the reader must also have a high tolerance for the occasional awkward poo-based situation.
When I read a book like this, it usually takes a few chapters for my brain to recalibrate and settle in for wacky hijinks.
Utterly Lacking in Diversity
As I mentioned at the start of the review, this book is very white. It’s also very cis- and heteronormative. The only mention of people of color is when the characters stay in an inn owned by a Singh family, but we don’t actually see the Singhs on page! And we don’t even get mention of any LGBTQIA+ characters.
I understand this is a common issue with books set in the Regency, but a lot of other authors have found good ways to diversify their casts, either drawing on historic examples of how POC and LGBTQIA+ were present in society at the time, or deciding that if they can have far more dukes than were historically extant, or magic, or dragons, they can also have Black nobility and openly gay shopkeepers or what have you.
Burgis has not chosen to take this step, at least not in this first book. Of course, it’s set in the country with a relatively small cast. A generous reader might hold out hope that if a future book is set in London, we might see a larger, more diverse cast.
Mental Health Matters
One area this book seemed to handle well was the matter of mental health. Elinor has recently left the official mourning period for her parents, but she still feels an understandable amount of sadness over losing her parents, being separated from her sisters, and her changed station in life. She experiences a lot of distress over how Penelope has treated her and about the uncertainty of her future.
Sir Jessamyn ends up serving as a sort of emotional support dragon for Elinor; he is very attuned to her moods and provides soothing touch when she starts to get anxious. It’s actually a mutual relationship, as Elinor in turns tries to protect Sir Jessamyn and sooth him when he feels threatened by someone like Penelope. One thing I really enjoyed in this book was their relationship, how each tried to care for the other in their own way.
Later in the book, Elinor’s actions inadvertently lead to Penelope and her father seeking to have Penelope’s mother declared mad. So in addition to all of the other plot threads Elinor is juggling, she also finds herself trying to find a way to protect her aunt from basically being shipped off to a cabin with a nurse. Though honestly, Penelope is such a brat, I feel like auntie might have enjoyed a rural retreat? But in all things, consent matters.
This is a mostly fluffy book, so the threat of involuntary commitment has little teeth and the book doesn’t get into a big commentary, but it does still at least address the precarious position of women at the time, and how easy it could be to get someone (especially a female someone) declared mad if you had money and a desire to get someone out of the way.
Sweet Romance Stops at Smooching
If you are hoping for a steamy romance, this is not for you. Scales and Sensibility is a book of kisses and sweet longing. It’s not even closed door: no one progresses beyond smooches and dreams of a future together.
Because it’s a romance, there is a HEA. I’m not sure how much I really bought their romantic connection. The characters were nice people with admirable goals, but they barely knew each other and I don’t know about “We’re both nice and find the other attractive” as the basis for a relationship, especially given that Elinor is suddenly inheriting three minor younger brothers to care for.
Who Will Enjoy This Book?
If you like sweet romances, wacky hijinks, and good things happening to nice people, you will probably enjoy this book. Don’t go into it looking for anything deep, or for a diverse cast.
If you like dragons, keep in mind that the dragons in this book are small house pets. This is not, as someone of my acquaintance lamented, the Memoirs of Lady Trent. It’s also not Game of Thrones or Dragonlance. This is an Austen-inspired romance with cute dragons that may have some surprising undiscovered abilities, but nobody is hoarding any treasure or kidnapping any maidens or even terrorizing any livestock.
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