"To win a rich husband, a woman needed to be either sufficiently wealthy herself or be an incomparable beauty. Some women believed in a third option: convincing a rich man to fall in love."
- A Scholar of Beauty, Jen Lynning
☆☆☆☆
Another fantastic book by Jen Lynning! A Scholar of Beauty is the second book in the Great Balance World series. I had the honour of getting an ARC for book one and another ARC for book two. This was a great follow-up to the first book. It takes place in the same world but follows some different characters. You are able to read book two without reading the first, but I recommend you do so to get the full effect. It seems the second book falls chronologically after the first because some events from the first are mentioned as if they recently happened.
The main character of the novel is Ketira, who is a scholar. She has a crush on her best friend's brother, Makev. Ketira is a great character. She's nerdy, loving and intelligent. I liked how she was not driven by men and romance but instead by her family and her career. Though she needs to court a man, she does it out of her love for her siblings to provide for them. The story is told through her point of view. She is a great female protagonist, as all of Jen's characters are. I liked that this book has women supporting women. Makev is the brother of her best friend and instead of jealousy and no communication, they talk it out and have a good relationship. Just for me personally, I couldn't connect to Makev, but he was still a good character. Nothing striking was wrong about him, but he was not overly memorable as characters go.
One of the things I noted about the first book was that there was a confusing magic system that I felt was not explained enough. In this book, we got to see a lot more of the magic system and learn the ins and outs of it. The system of balance is not something I have seen very often in books. It is a unique magic system, which was done well in the second book. This book dove into the magic system and my questions from the first book were answered. The world of Balance is exciting, and I hope we get to see many ways to use this magic system in more books.
The only criticism I have of this book (not even this book but just standalones in general) is that it followed all the same plot points as the last.
**MINOR SPOILERS**
The boy and girl have a past, they are put together, they fight, enemies to lovers, they admit their attraction, secret relationship, something tragic happens, they admit their love, happily ever after.
**SPOILERS DONE**
There is nothing wrong with this plotline per se, but it can get tedious if every book in the series follows the same pattern. This is only the second book in the series, so there is room for the series to grow. I hope with the continuation of the series, we will see different story beats to avoid them from becoming predictable.
One thing I want to commend Jen on is her writing style. Her writing style is clear and concise but is still interesting to read. Reading her books, I never have to go back and reread a page to understand what happened. I appreciate her clear writing, giving the reader a great mental picture. For someone who struggles with reading comprehension and sometimes will have to reread books to understand them, I appreciate clear and concise writing. The best part is she makes it exciting and enjoyable to read!
Overall this was a great read; I liked the characters, the world was very developed, and it had an interesting magic system. There seems to be an overarching storyline about a group trying to return to True Balance, so I hope in future books we get to learn more about that. This is a great book for romantasy lovers with a steampunk twist. I'm excited to see where this series goes and any new series Jen gives us. Again a huge thanks to Jen for the ARC!
☪ Received an advanced copy but all thoughts and opinions are my own, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Kidnapping, torture, manipulative relationship
RATING: 16+ high school readers
SPICE: 2/5
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