Reviews with content warning for Death - The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband by Julia Quinn

20 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I don’t usually like tropes related to lying, but this story kept me hooked. Unfortunately, I feel like the ending was rushed and the consequences of the lying were downplayed.
Not sure if this is *spoiler* because I tried to be vague.
Edward is such a noble gentleman, I loved him so much! And I liked Cecilia too, though I felt a bit frustrated that she waited so long to tell Edward the truth. He’s such an honorable person I feel like he would have played along to get answers about Thomas but also kept them separate enough to prevent ruining Cecilia’s reputation. And they would have still fallen in love because they were half there already before the book began. So I am happy with how it all turned out, but I feel unsatisfied with the pacing of the story.

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haley49's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved everything about this romance from the start of the relationship to the spice scene to the individual characters—even the third act was well-done. It was such a fun read. The grief could’ve been done better but there are worse flaws.

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kbpfaulkner's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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littlewishling's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm loving this series' stronger female character's. It did frustrate me how long it took for the main lie of this book to be revealed but otherwise did really enjoy it.

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marionlundqvist's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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cepbreed's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This has to be my favorite Bridgerton book. I know I haven't read enough of the series to even say that, only two books. Also this isn't even a part of the main series, its a prequel, but DAMN. The miscommunications, the deception and the romance above all! All of it was perfect. One of my favorite tropes is fake marriage or marriages of convenience and the amnesia piece just took this to a whole other level. I swear I was hooked from the first word. Cecelia is messy. She's a slob kebab, but this girl has a heart of gold. Edward is everything. A man of honor who falls in love so deeply that it makes him irrational is my favorite genre of man. Julia Quinn is a godsend. There are so many Bridgerton adjacent books I have no clue how she does it. Regency era must get boring to write at some point, yet each of her books are set apart from the rest.

5/18/23 reread:
I didnt think it was possible for me to reread a book this soon after my initial read but somehow the universe told me to pick this up again. Against all odds it wasn’t only just as good, it was better. I was never once bored rehashing the same details between Cecelia and Edward in fact I was literally clenching my teeth in stress over the lies and miscommunication. All of that anxiety over a story I knew had a happy ending.

Song:

All My Love - Noah Kahan
False God - Taylor Swift

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izzyf16's review against another edition

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5.0

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kkalicky94's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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co_reads's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I was very interested to see how this worked out - the fake-marriage trope but only one member of the marriage knows that it is fake. I was looking forward to the reveal, both parties sharing their true feelings and a happily ever after. However, that didn't happen.

Instead, her brother died, the mystery as to where Edward was when he lost his memory was that he got clobbered over the head by a fisherman (that is never really explained) and both characters lie to each other repeatedly over and over again. They mystery seemed to be building up to something much more exciting and then everything just fizzled out.

Even the ending left me cold - she runs away and he follows abandoning his spot in the British army (although he does give notice, it is out character). Then they get married on the ship. That's it. He even lies to her during the reconciliation scene.

The only reason I kept writing is because I love Julia Quinn's writing style (but even in this book found some anachronisms extremely distracting which is not usual for me at all). I don't imagine I will ever reread this one but I will still try out some others.

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ariannam's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

So, Julia Quinn CAN write a couple with chemistry that you actually root for. I think this novel still had some glaring flaws—i.e. heavy subject, but then it's All Romance All The Time even when the book should've given more space to other feelings, and let more time elapse. Still, I really liked this couple and believed in their romance, so that is lovely!

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