REVIEW: ‘Something Fabulous’ by Alexis Hall

If ‘Something Fabulous’ by Alexis Hall isn’t the next Booktok obsession then I’ll eat my socks. I have not binged a book so hard in a long while, even after a shaky start I found myself awake until nearly 3am to finish it. Think Bridgerton meets your favourite juicy lemon fanfics. Are you there? Good.

Here’s the blurb:

Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.

It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.

Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.

Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

This book. Where do I begin with this book?

Maybe we talk about the elephant in the room first which is the cover. I’m a shallow book whore, I’ll admit. Covers mean a lot to me. On the surface I really dig this cover design. It’s different, and yet still pulls on the current style trends for books in this category. But if you zoom in on the guy on the right (who I assume is supposed to be Valentine) the face… THE FACE.

Imma just leave this here for comparion…

Trololololo…

Look, it’s just lols, ok? Becuase I ended up enjoying the heck out of what’s on the inside of this book.

It’s important to just have fun with this read. If you go about trying to pick it apart because of historical inaccuracies or linguistic liberties you’ll only give yourself a headache, but that’s not the point of this book. This book is butterflies in your tummy, heart wildly thumping in your chest, giggles, blushing, and just a desperate need to keep reading.

What I loved the most was that we, as the reader, fall in love with Bonny just as Valentine does (not really a spoiler alert is it, really? See: the cover). At first I wasn’t sure if the writing style was for me, having not read the ever popular ‘Boyfriend Material’ or anything else by Alexis Hall yet, I started off wondering if their way with words was going to be a good fit for me.

But then I suddenly found myself emotionally invested in these characters and I knew I was a goner.

NSFW? Well. coughs that depends on you’re disposition, doesn’t it? One of my favourite scenes, forever burned into my mind, involves Bonny and a certain ostler. It was beautifully done.

What I truly appreciate about ‘Something Fabulous’ is how it turns a phrase, makes me laugh, and then urgently yanks on my heartstrings. It’s got queer representation coming out of every oriface, and it keeps it grounded in just enough reality to make it so utterly believable while also creating the most outrageous adventure.

It’s an absolute riot of a romp. And as I said in my Goodreads update, I was glad to see someone finally looking after their horses in a period drama. Crissakes. Horses need to REST sometimes. See: Poldark.

I gave it four stars on Goodreads and I highly recommend it. If you’ve been on the fence about picking it up, just do it. And then come back to me, so we can discuss it (and flap our hands excitedly in the language of “oh my gosh this book” that only readers understand) together.

Written by Sarah