Feather Sky's Reviews > The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“Because women don't have to be men's equals to be considered contenders; they have to be better. That's the lie of it all. You have to be better to prove yourself worthy of being equal.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“You deserve to be here. You deserve to exist. You deserve to take up space in this world of men.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“You're trying to play a game designed by men. You'll never win, because the deck is stacked and marked, and also you've been blindfolded and set on fire. You can work hard and believe in yourself and be the smartest person in the room and you'll still get beat by the boys who haven't two cents to rub together. So if you can't win the game, you have to cheat. You operate outside the walls they've built to fence you in. You rob them in the dark, while they're drunk on spirits you offered them. Poison their waters and drink only wine.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“It is not a failure to readjust my sails to fit the waters I find myself in.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“No one calls a girl spirited or opinionated or intimidating or any of those words you can pretend are complimentary and means it to be. They’re all just different ways of calling her a bitch.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“I have spent so long building up my fortress and learning to tend it all myself, because if I didn’t feel I needed anyone, then I wouldn’t miss them if they weren’t there. I couldn’t be neglected if I was everything to myself.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“Percy sees me off at the door with more affirming words but no hug or even a pat upon the shoulder. Thank god for friends who learn to speak to you in your own language rather than making you learn theirs.”
― Mackenzi Lee , The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“I think I want a house of my own," I start, the words a discovery as they leave my mouth. "Something small, so I don't have much housework, but enough room for a proper library. I want a lot of books. And I wouldn't mind a good old dog to walk with me. And a bakery I go to every morning where they know my name.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“I don’t know what you’re referencing, madam,” the chairman says, his voice raised over mine.
“I’m talking about menstruation, sir!” I shout in return.
It’s like I set the hall on fire, manifested a venomous snake from thin air, also set that snake on fire, and then threw it at the board. The men all erupt into protestations and a fair number of horrified gasps. I swear one of them actually swoons at the mention of womanly bleeding.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“It's my whole childhood, being sneered at by watery girls for a joke I didn't understand because I was reading books they could never understand”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy