Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 Of Noble Family is the final book in the Glamourist Histories series books by Mary Robinette Kowal. The first book, Shades of Milk and Honey, was a Jane Austen-style romance with a touch of fantasy. Subsequent books have been more focused on action and intrigue, but the focus on the main characters Jane and Vincent gives every book a strong romantic element. They are established as a couple, but seeing their marriage grow stronger in every book is as compelling as the courtship narrative of the first book. 
 I was so pleased to see Kowal tackle the topic of slavery, given the fact that Regency romances tend to ignore the fact that many of the wealthy people in England made their money from the sugar plantations in the West Indies. I dislike the convention of having stories of people of color told from the points of view of well-meaning white people, but for Kowal to discuss slavery as part of the Glamourist History series, she had to make Jane our point of view character, as Jane has been the point-of-view character in all of the other books. In the future, I would love to see Kowal write a future story from the point of view of a character of color - several in this novel leap to mind as possibilities. 
 The book is beautifully written, the relationship between Jane and Vincent finely drawn, and the stakes high. The one criticism I have of the book is that it's very careful not to offend, and in the process the characters become one-dimensional. The bad guys are easily identifiable and completely irredeemable. The slaves and free people of color are all intelligent, kind, and full of common sense. Vincent and Jane, who in the past have had plenty of foibles, are unrelentingly noble, supporting each other through thick and thin with nary a cross word. They have no prejudices against the slaves, not even prejudices of class. Any false assumptions they have are quickly corrected. It's nice to see people behave decently for a change, but it felt like a bit of a cheat. This is a feel-good story in which everyone good is all-good and everyone bad is punished, and everything ends perfectly, whereas reality was and is much more complicated in so many ways. It felt nice, but not honest. 
 You could dive right in to this book without reading the others and catch on just fine, but I encourage readers to start at the beginning so they can see the characters evolve. Am so sad the series is over but glad Jane and Vincent are finally getting some peace and quiet! 
 - Carrie S.