I'd heard a lot of great things about A Mad, Wicked Folly and was eager to delve into it. 
 Overall, I was impressed. Unfortunately, I didn't love it as whole-heartedly as many other readers, but there was a lot to like about it. In truth, the things I didn't like are probably more personal preference than anything else. There's not much Sharon Biggs Waller could have done to this book to make it better. 
 First of all, we're thrust into a tantalizing and yet horrific 1907-1909 European setting. While the book starts of in France, the majority takes place in London. Honestly, those words would be enough to hook me. I have a bit of an obsession with turn of the century, early 20th century history, fashion, and fiction. Needless to say, I had no issues with the setting or time period of the novel (except for the fact that her dress and hair are so obviously inaccurate for the period. I mean, really. And the early 1900's had such awesome fashion, too! Tsk tsk.) 
 As for the plot of the novel, I definitely enjoyed some aspects more than others. The early suffragettes' movement was inspiring to read about. I never knew that the women in jail would go on hunger strikes and then be force fed through a tube in their stomach. The classism and the misogyny were shown in an ugly, true light. I found this all very interesting. 
 Vicky's main journey, however, was not to become a suffragette. It was to become an artist. She seeks to draw the suffragettes, to draw the extremely good looking coppers (okay, just one,) and whatever else catches her fancy. I admired Vicky's love for her art, but I can't say it really captured me. Maybe since I'm not really an artist... Still, I was able to appreciate her passion and some the things she said were similar to how I relate to my own writing. 
 Obviously, for a rich, high-society English girl, getting into a college of art and then proceed to get a degree in art is almost impossible. First, she has all of the family hoops to go through. Second, she's a girl, and at this time it's not very common for girls to be accepted into the college. Her quest to do so is muddled, riddled with mistakes, entertaining, and even painful at times. One of the best things in this book was to watch her grow as a person, but more on that below. 
 Characters! 
 We have a cast of fascinating characters. 
 Some of my personal favourites were Freddy, India, Lucy, and Sophie. 
 Notice I did not include the main character in my list of favourite characters. 
 While it was a pleasure to watch Vicky grow up, I didn't find her like-able. She's snobby, selfish, and spoiled. Reasonably, she did grow up with everything just handed to her on a platter, so it's not very surprising. More than that, she uses everyone in the way that best benefits herself. She uses her fiance, Edmund. She uses Will, Lucy, Sophie, and Freddy numerous times. She never seems to think about how her actions will affect anyone else. She just lives in this self-centered bubble. True, she eventually had to grow up, but I would have liked to have just a little bit more progress towards her character growth before the end. I would have liked her to do something I could admire in the first half of the book, just to keep my invested in her until the end. 
 That's my only disappointment. The writing style was utterly charming and flowed perfectly. The other characters were all quite fleshed-out and realistic. The book was filled with humorous scenes as well as scenes full of action. The suffragettes! Yes, there were a lot of things to like about this book. 
 4 stars.