'Tis Thee, Not Me: A Modern Medieval Guide to Bad Dates and Worse Decisions - Clarice Tudor - ★★★★

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Clarice Tudor

GENRE: Satire

PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2026

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A humorous book about contemporary dating misadventures but worded and illustrated in medieval English style. Funny in content and illustrations, though the humour is also a painful reminder of the travails of dating (men in particular.) Recommended to readers with a funny bone and a frustrated love life.

One look at that title, cover art, and blurb was enough to make me grab this book. I am long past my dating days, but no woman can resist a chance to empathise with other women’s dating mishaps. Reading this book is like a virtual gossipy session with a fellow woman, bitching about the male specimen of our species.

While there might be many books with dating misadventures, what sets this one apart is the medieval style. The tagline calls this “A Modern Medieval Guide to Bad Dates and Worse Decisions”, and the content sticks to this agenda. The author says the content was inspired by true tales from her “time as a single maiden”. This initially made me sorry for her that she had such pathetic dating experiences but on further reflection, I felt happy that she could cut off the potential relationships at the dating stage itself. I appreciate that she also includes her own mistakes in the book, like when she broke off a relationship for superficial reasons only to regret it later.

The cover art and the title clearly tell you that the style is historical. The whole book takes the medieval tone very seriously. Heck, even the introductory note by the author and the acknowledgements are written in medieval-style English. It takes some time to get used to the oxymoronic experience of reading such old-fashioned English but applied to modern-day situations. Expect lines such as “What art thou looking for on this courting app?” and chapters titled “The Doths and Doth Nots of Revenge.” 😅

The book covers not just dating fiascos but also offers relationship advice in a tongue-in-cheek way. The organisation of chapters is clever, with a good mix of general advice and anecdotes. A few of the anecdotes left me longing to know what happened next! “The Ick” and “The Fart” were my favourites. “The Ick” sounds frivolous but it is actually thought-provoking! Coming to think of it, while I was amused by many pages, I didn’t actually laugh out loud because the exasperations of the woman protagonist felt too close to reality.

I loved the classic vocabulary and needed to use the dictionary only once. (I won't tell you what word I needed to look up. It’s embarrassing, and one that I won't ever use in real life! 😂) However, readers who aren’t as word-nerdy might struggle with some of the language. Just keep Google handy because you wouldn’t want to miss out on this witty work.

The typeface also matches the medieval theme, with beautifully illustrated drop caps at the start of some pages and letters styled in the medieval alphabet. While I absolutely adore this typography as it offered a more immersive feel of the old English, I think some readers, especially younger ones who aren’t so used to cursive or patterned fonts, might struggle to decipher the writing. Of course, a major part of the content is in a simpler print typeface, which is still in old style but more easily legible.

This leaves with the most important medieval component of the book: the illustrations. These are outstanding! I read online that some readers accused the author of using AI for the illustrations. Just pick up the book and see the artistry for yourself! No AI-generated images can be so consistent and so intricate. Every single illustration of the book (all 144 pages of it) is hand-drawn, and this is clear to anyone with a discerning eye and common sense. I loved the art, though perhaps the women’s frustrated expressions were my favourite part of the graphics. 😆 The graphics truly elevate this illustrated book; the content alone wouldn’t have created the same impact, even with the humour.

I guess one more thing in which the book is accurately medieval is in its ribald nature. Given that the content is a sarcastic look at relationships hurdles, there are many adult situations in both the text and the art. This book would hence be better suited to adults.

Oh, and I ought to acknowledge the unintended historical component of the book. The author’s last name is actually “Tudor”. How fantastic is that! She was meant for historical stuff! As I am not much active on “Ye Old Instagram”, I wasn’t aware of her webcomics, so this book came as a wonderful surprise.

The physical copy, with its all-colour art and stunning illustrations, is lovely to look at. It ought to be a wonderful gift, though I cannot decide whom you could present this to. Perhaps someone who just had a breakup? 👀 Or maybe a gag gift for your gal pals on Galentines Day!

Definitely recommended. This is a quick and funny book that ought to work well for most women who want to feel seen in their frustrations of modern-day relationships. I think it would be a hilarious choice for a book club discussion as well. (All the more if the book club comprises a mixed gender group. 😁)

My thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for providing the DRC of “Tis Thee, Not Me” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.