Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - El corazón de una Bridgerton

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

El corazón de una Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

62 reviews

penandpaper's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

4.0

Definitely the best of the series, but the author dropped the ball with some of the plot points. The emotional resolution felt rushed and insufficient, but the couple made up for it.

Content Warnings

markedwithanm's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

kassidyreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted 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? No

3.0

Content Warnings

bookedinsideout's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I’ve both ~~loved~~ liked and hated my journey of reading these books. Liked because after finishing the second season of Bridgerton, I just wanted to watch the next, and since that wasn’t possible, I’ve enjoyed spending my evenings keeping up with the Bridgertons in print. Hated because there are some things I just have to try to ignore, and some so misogynistic and egregious that I can’t.

For example, after an attempted sexual assault, a man “squeaks” after having his head slammed into a tree. “Rather like a girl, Francesca thought dispassionately. She’d known he wouldn’t make a good husband, but that clinched it.” Yes, taking advantage of a woman isn’t great, but forget about his desirability altogether if he’s going to “squeak like a girl.” In this same scene, it’s lightly suggested that it wouldn’t have happened in Francesca didn’t go alone with him into the garden in the first place. Good grief.

But I was glad that they addressed one of my lighter concerns: that these heroes hardly ever ask for their heroine’s hand in marriage — they either assume after they’ve essentially “ruined” her or tell her that’s what’s happening.

“’You never did answer my question last night.’
She didn’t turn. ‘What question was that?’
‘I believe I asked you to marry me.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ she replied, her voice quite calm, ‘you informed me that you believed we should be married and then proceeded to explain why.’”

So it still wasn’t a perfect romance for me, but it was still by far my favourite book yet.

A love story for someone who’s lost their partner can be great if it’s done right, but often it saddens me to see the current partner being compared to the one who’s died, and of course the current one has to be better and we have to point out the previous partner’s flaws and how this one makes up for them. I was pretty impressed because really neither man was pitted against the other. Both Francisca and Michael mourned John, and it was never about one man taking the other’s place or having to be the same kind of partner or a better one. It was a story of grief and guilt and she didn’t come to a conclusion easily, but she was able to love them both at the same time and not put either of them down.

In the vein of being able to hold two things as special at the same time without weighing them, one thing I did like from Eloise’s book was both her and her family’s (especially Violet’s) whole-hearted acceptance of Eloise’s new step-children as her children. They immediately became part of the family and that was that. In the epilogue where there is talk of children and whether they are biological or not, Eloise says:

“Before I had Penelope, and even when I was carrying her, I thought it would be different. It is different. But it’s not less. It’s not a question of levels or amounts, or even…really…the nature of it… I can’t explain it.”

I usually cringe at

baby epilogues because (1) even in a romance I don’t think the HEA always has to be marriage and also babies, and (2) when there is infertility and then a miracle epilogue baby it feels insensitive at the very least, as if true love will fix everything. So while I can’t speak to the pain of infertility, I did at least appreciate in this one that, first of all, while there was talk of infertility throughout the book, there was no further mention of a pregnancy in the “proper book.” And then in the second epilogue there was, but we got to see the real pain of witnessing people get to have their own dreams realized and still not get that yourself after 3 years of trying. Yes, it does end up happening, but it still wasn’t without its challenges. I was expecting an adoption storyline too though and I wish that had been a part of it.

Though the Bridgertons are mostly always one big happy family, I have appreciated seeing how a big family (probably any family) can sometimes make you feel lonely in your differences. Eloise, a proud spinster, suddenly feeling alone and a little insecure after all her siblings are marrying off and then her best friend, her partner in spinsterhood, does too. And Francisca feeling separated from her family by distance, by her isolating grief, and then both happy and sad at the same time watching them so easily conceive.

After feeling fed up with the men of Bridgerton in the last book, Michael Stirling was not perfect, but a welcome surprise. He gives massages, he’s not threatened by a woman taking charge, and he’s not opposed to period sex.

Content Warnings

cepbreed's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

I don't think I've ever seen the word wicked so many times in one book...great New England representation LOL. The release of season two of Bridgerton on Neflix, and the mere 48 hours it took me to finish it inspired this read. Poor Francesca is rarely mentioned and I was extremely curious over this unfortunate forgotten sister. She is so much better than I ever imagined, the show is so unfair to her. And oh god Michael, where to begin about Michael. When it came to his character it was easy to sympathize with him and his mental anguish, but I didn't find him as compelling as Colin. The smut on the other hand...wicked indeed.

Content Warnings

georgiaisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I quite enjoyed this book and that was a little bit more serious than it’s predecessors.

Content Warnings

claudiajean's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

onegirlandtheworld's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense 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

3.75

This story made a nice change from the previous bridgerto books which were beginning to feel formulaic and samey. I also read some reviews when I was about half way through that said this was the steamiest one of them and was thoroughly puzzled by this but they were in fact right! Once it gets going it definitely does so in a way that perhaps only Daphne's story has.

I would have liked the characters to have more discussion about their feelings earlier especially about the marriage and it did make some of the sex feel not 100% consensual as it felt like Michael was pressuring her a bit to change her mind through sex

It was good to hear more from Francesca as she has been notably absent throughout the series so far.

Content Warnings

kkalicky94's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted sad 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? No

4.0

Content Warnings

aqtbenz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

More...