I was willing to overlook the opening with the cliche "lacing up the corset so tight you can barely breathe" (which to my understanding is a tired misconception and /not/ how corsets were actually worn historically, but hey, this book isn't claiming to be historically accurate), and the main character looking in a mirror to describe herself (also cliche, but hey, we've all been there, sometimes you just need to get that description out to the reader, I'll allow it). 

In the second chapter I started to question if I would have the patience for the main character's "I'm not like /other/ historical girls!" attitude (can you believe, she can't /stand/ needlepoint? And you're not going to believe this, but she has /no/ interest in shopping for ribbons, and thinks the whole thing is silly and pointless! How unique!). 

And then this just made me go "What?!" out loud as I was driving (any formatting errors are mine, since I'm transcribing from the audiobook): 

"'Florence, I love your new dress!' I heard Poppy squeal to the shopkeeper's daughter, who wore a yellow muslin with so many flounces it was a wonder she could fit through the doorway. I found an unobtrusive corner near her handkerchiefs and stared hard at Florence, trying not to giggle. In truth, she looked like a giant buttercream iced teacake.

'I agree.' An amused reply came from behind me. 'So much buttercream can't be good for anyone.'

Oh, good gracious. Had I said my thought out loud? 

'You did,' the voice said. 'I heard that too, if you're wondering.'"

I know this isn't the first book to do the whole "inner narration but oops I guess I accidentally said it out loud without realizing!" thing, but it kills my suspension of disbelief so bad, has anyone ever actually done this? Especially twice in a row??

The final straw for me came a little later in the scene: 

"Poppy [supposedly her best friend at this point in the story btw] was squealing about Florence's matching ankle boots now in a voice that could break glass. Heavens, could anything be more nauseating?

A low chortle made me blink. 'You have a bad habit of speaking your thoughts.'"

And that's when I realized that while I might be able to get past some cliches and silly tropes for the sake of a fun story, this main character was going to genuinely irritate me, and I didn't actually want to listen to her for another nine+ hours. Oh well!