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sarahcophagus's review
3.0
Incredibly silly premise. Lying about your own intelligence to all of your acquaintances and loved ones for 13 years sounds exhausting. Feels like there are at least a dozen smarter and simpler ways to seem unassuming in order to spy effectively. The cartoonishly evil uncle was perfectly menacing and his threat always looming was really well done. You could really feel Elissande’s desperation to get out from under his thumb. I wasn’t too on board with their love connection until after Elissande and Vere were married. Before that, we’re pretty much just told that they think the other one is hot (we’re told Elissande looks like Vere’s dream girl), but they’re otherwise lying to and manipulating each other into getting what they want out of them. And even when after they’re married and it’s finally time to put their cards on the table and atone for the ways they’ve both screwed up with each other, that’s when the external drama re-emerges and shifts focus away from dealing with any of that satisfyingly.
amotoquinha's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
fringebookreviews's review against another edition
2.0
I KNOW there was such a compelling story there but good god he literally took his act so far that he left her in the company of her uncle that he knew scared her and the uncle proceeded to BEAT HER UP. She then got punched later in the book. I hate violence towards heroines like this. The uncle also ruined the life of her aunt and it made me sick.
There was so much potential but it was ultimately a book that started off SO FUN but was really such a downer. Why did he wait so fucking long to explain his act to her?? We barely got to see them be a couple when both of them were being honest about who they were. ROBBED. Even the sex scene after all the revelations was fade to black so we didn’t get that chemistry !!
Also His at Night??? There were not many nights!! Is it bc he was “himself” at night? Bc I needed MORE. He wasn’t even really himself those times he veered more into jerk territory.
It was so cruel to keep Freddie in the dark like that too!! On that note, the secondary romance ATE the main one for breakfast.
I’m also just thinking about how he played that charade for 13 years and then it was all undone so easily?? It just seemed so goddamn pointless to not be honest with his brother and Ellisand once they were married. That would’ve made the book drastically different.
The beginning and his grand gesture account for the two stars. The rest was so disappointing 😩
There was so much potential but it was ultimately a book that started off SO FUN but was really such a downer. Why did he wait so fucking long to explain his act to her?? We barely got to see them be a couple when both of them were being honest about who they were. ROBBED. Even the sex scene after all the revelations was fade to black so we didn’t get that chemistry !!
Also His at Night??? There were not many nights!! Is it bc he was “himself” at night? Bc I needed MORE. He wasn’t even really himself those times he veered more into jerk territory.
It was so cruel to keep Freddie in the dark like that too!! On that note, the secondary romance ATE the main one for breakfast.
I’m also just thinking about how he played that charade for 13 years and then it was all undone so easily?? It just seemed so goddamn pointless to not be honest with his brother and Ellisand once they were married. That would’ve made the book drastically different.
The beginning and his grand gesture account for the two stars. The rest was so disappointing 😩
falulatonks's review
4.0
2022 review: Gotta say 2013!me nailed it. Does it count as a full reread if I skipped - not skimmed, fully hit next page 10 times - every time I saw the second couple's POV chapters?
But Vere and Ellie were both great this time, too.
==
3.5, probably. Two general Thomas complaints: what is up with these titles that are 5x raunchier than books with this level of emotional investment/drama really need?!?! and secondly - Thomas keeps writing side stories that are nowhere near as engaging as the main romance, and they're both too short to get me interested and too long that I get annoyed skipping through them. these books are already so short, man, why would I want to spend less time with couples I generally really like?!
HAN's main 'ship is really great. I generally like stories about people who wear masks, in a way, and have to pretend, and realise they can pretend together (this is also my preferred reading of Taming of the Shrew, incidentally)! and I loved that this was about how these masks can grate and stifle, without getting into overly angsty territory - I liked that this was about consequences, like how both of their facades irritate each other, too. Their relationship is what's pushed my rating up to 4 stars - they're good for each other; they exasperate each other but they're both so similar, they're both help each other so well. that was nice to see - especially in a way where the book didn't spell it out, didn't force us into understanding it that way.
I do have to say that Ellie's awful uncle made me feel kind of sick - wish I'd been better-warned for that, so I'm saying it here - and at the same time, being about someone who was watching and experiencing abuse firsthand I expected more awareness and exploration of that? which felt lacking here. it wasn't portrayed loosely or as a foundation to the romance, which is what I usually worry about when this kind of thing happens in romance novels, but there could've been more.
I did love her, though, and I liked Vere, too - he's got that usual Dude Roughness as in most historical romances, which I'm not a fan of, but I liked his backstory, and I liked that Thomas explored it without getting into standard mainpain territory - a little more restrained, a lot less ready to excuse his other faults. and they're both so honest! and so simultaneously quick to get frustrated and so good to the people they love! and they're intelligent, and they're not warm, but I loved them being together. love stories about similar people, about people who aren't that good, but are kind of great. man I dug them a lot.
But Vere and Ellie were both great this time, too.
==
3.5, probably. Two general Thomas complaints: what is up with these titles that are 5x raunchier than books with this level of emotional investment/drama really need?!?! and secondly - Thomas keeps writing side stories that are nowhere near as engaging as the main romance, and they're both too short to get me interested and too long that I get annoyed skipping through them. these books are already so short, man, why would I want to spend less time with couples I generally really like?!
HAN's main 'ship is really great. I generally like stories about people who wear masks, in a way, and have to pretend, and realise they can pretend together (this is also my preferred reading of Taming of the Shrew, incidentally)! and I loved that this was about how these masks can grate and stifle, without getting into overly angsty territory - I liked that this was about consequences, like how both of their facades irritate each other, too. Their relationship is what's pushed my rating up to 4 stars - they're good for each other; they exasperate each other but they're both so similar, they're both help each other so well. that was nice to see - especially in a way where the book didn't spell it out, didn't force us into understanding it that way.
I do have to say that Ellie's awful uncle made me feel kind of sick - wish I'd been better-warned for that, so I'm saying it here - and at the same time, being about someone who was watching and experiencing abuse firsthand I expected more awareness and exploration of that? which felt lacking here. it wasn't portrayed loosely or as a foundation to the romance, which is what I usually worry about when this kind of thing happens in romance novels, but there could've been more.
I did love her, though, and I liked Vere, too - he's got that usual Dude Roughness as in most historical romances, which I'm not a fan of, but I liked his backstory, and I liked that Thomas explored it without getting into standard mainpain territory - a little more restrained, a lot less ready to excuse his other faults. and they're both so honest! and so simultaneously quick to get frustrated and so good to the people they love! and they're intelligent, and they're not warm, but I loved them being together. love stories about similar people, about people who aren't that good, but are kind of great. man I dug them a lot.
saltycaroline's review against another edition
5.0
Sherry Thomas you are so sick and twisted for making me feel all of the things that I felt
CW: Domestic abuse, addiction, confinement, murder, sexual content, drug abuse
CW: Domestic abuse, addiction, confinement, murder, sexual content, drug abuse
maggiemaggio's review
3.0
3.5 stars
A quick review of this one. Nothing wrong with it, it was a fun, entertaining, easy book to read. The premise of a very intelligent man pretending to be an idiot to fulfill his duties as an agent of the crown (read: spy) was kind of a little out there, but I thought Sherry Thomas did a good job with it. I was actually more bothered by Elissande, who had pretty much zero interaction with humans outside of her aunt, uncle, and their servants, being able successfully plot to force someone to marry her and then be as comfortable with strangers as she was.
The romance part of the story fell a little flat for me. The sexytimes scenes were fine, but nothing special, and I never really felt any type of connection between the characters. I've definitely read better.
A quick review of this one. Nothing wrong with it, it was a fun, entertaining, easy book to read. The premise of a very intelligent man pretending to be an idiot to fulfill his duties as an agent of the crown (read: spy) was kind of a little out there, but I thought Sherry Thomas did a good job with it. I was actually more bothered by Elissande, who had pretty much zero interaction with humans outside of her aunt, uncle, and their servants, being able successfully plot to force someone to marry her and then be as comfortable with strangers as she was.
The romance part of the story fell a little flat for me. The sexytimes scenes were fine, but nothing special, and I never really felt any type of connection between the characters. I've definitely read better.
meringued's review
1.0
I both love and hate Sherry Thomas's books, so inconsistent.
The plot is ridiculous and contrived, but whatever, this is a romance and the plot doesn't even matter. But the couple and their emotional journey certainly does! Vere is a dick, and any amends he makes come too little too late. Elissande has been abused her whole life, making the romance seem more like Elissande idealizing the first man to show her affection.
The plot is ridiculous and contrived, but whatever, this is a romance and the plot doesn't even matter. But the couple and their emotional journey certainly does! Vere is a dick, and any amends he makes come too little too late. Elissande has been abused her whole life, making the romance seem more like Elissande idealizing the first man to show her affection.
readingwithhippos's review
4.0
This is almost as much a historical mystery as it is a historical romance. Got a little bit suspenseful there at the end!