Enjoyable overall, Heyer is a good writer and the characters are vivid and dynamic. The plot was engaging and not what I was expecting, but it was fun.

I did find it a bit odd that Leonie was 19 but everyone kept referring to her as a child, and Justin always calls her 'infant.' But in other Heyer novels, women are 'on the shelf' when they are like 24, so its a pretty narrow line between 'infant' and 'crone' lol. Especially since Leonie had a somewhat traumatic upbringing, but everyone describes her as innocent and naive. It seemed more likely that she was not naive/innocent but just refused to conform to society's expectations.

It is interesting to read the novel and Leon/Leonie as gender-queer. They were living as a boy for 7 years, and throughout the novel, they are extremely resistant to being forced to live as a girl. Although they do eventually agree to present as a girl, they always seem to identify as gender-fluid, and everyone seems to appreciate how different Leon/Leonie is. However the reader is also repeatedly reassured that Leonie is very beautiful as a girl so there is a limit to the gender-bending.