Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

65 reviews

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

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Boring, uninterested

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el_thegoblinwitch's review against another edition

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

1.0

I dont even know what to say about this one 😅 I knew going into it that it was going to be ridiculous, and at the start it was in a good way. But as Daphne and Simon's relationship progress I spotted so many red flags that I almost DNFed it. 

*some spoilers below*

I get that Simon's upbringing wasn't great, and he's obviously got trauma, but wow I hated him. His anger was often justified, but the way he kept threatening to kill/strangle people (including Daphne) was so not a good vibe. The sex scenes were so possessive and at times definitely not consensual, which obviously was very uncomfortable to read. 

I honestly struggled to see the romance in their relationship at all and found myself struggling to root for them. I understand that the 1800s was a very different era, but as a modern book, I thought this series would at least be a little more progressive than classic regency novels. 

The whole thing was just so problematic and uncomfortable that I don't think I'll be continuing the series 😬

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jackyda_neer's review against another edition

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

0.25

Daphne is manipulative and conniving. After she finds out why Simon "can't" have children, they have a fight because he lied to her, which it understandable that she would be upset because he new she wanted to be a mother and there is a huge difference between not wanting to have children and not being able to have children. What is not acceptable is that when Simon comes home utterly drunk after their fight. Daphne rapes him the next morning when he’s still somewhat drunk and half-asleep. And  it's played out as ok because, Daphne "probably didn't know what she was doing" since she didn't know anything about sex before getting married. WHAT?!!! When I watched the show I immediately didn't like Daphne's character especially after the rape scene, and it always got to me that some fans still tries to make excuses for it and say it wasn't rape, because he consented to it before saying no, but if the roles were reserved they wouldn't say that. So I decided to read the book, and OH My....It's so much worse. The characters have no depth, and the rape scene it's a thousand times worse, and out of all the sex scenes it's the most detailed, and written in a way as if the readers are supposed to find empowering, because Daphne is "taking charge of what she wants". Again...WHAT?! and they try to play it like she didn't understand what she did wrong and as if Simon was the one being unreasonable, for leaving her. It made me so angry. He also have bad moments and red flags but after being raped he never should have even gotten back with her.

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yona260's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.5

Look if you enjoy reading a book with romanticised SA this is the book for you! Triggerwarnings:
rape

sexual assault

non consensual

What blows my mind is the fact that nobody cares about the SA because
it was the woman (Daphne) that raped Simon
all that because after two weeks of marriage she wants a child that he wouldn't give to her (for valid reason) and SHE FREAKING KNEW he didn't want any before marrying him. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

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its_thekla's review against another edition

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1.0

I'll preface this with knowing next to nothing about the series going in. Needed a light, fluffy book to come out of the trend I've been in recently and, being a human in possession of a Netflix account, was aware of this series and seemed to fit the bill. Picked it up from my local library and went to work.

The first bit was super formulaic, but fun and light and cheesey and everything I was looking for. The whole Bridgerton clan was super fun and I enjoyed them quite a bit. We get to MMC's hang ups, and cool, ok, whatever man, makes sense. It's a regency romance, not a Pulitzer Prize winner. The whole pacing of this book was like it was sthe byproduct of rote memorization. No real substance, but fun.

THEN

Well, I'm sure most people know by this point but what the heck???? How are people ok with that??
Say it with me:  rape is rape is rape IS RAPE. what was the author thinking?? And then to treat it with such caviler attitude like it's part of their love story? No ma'am. </Spoiler> Sure, yes, suspension of belief, you can't modern scope historical ideologies/events/whatever but come on. COME ON. It was wrong then, it's wrong now. To add insult to injury and actively romanticize it? I have several choice profanities for that. 

So yeah. That kind of settled it for me. Kept reading because, well, there has to be SOMETHING right? Nope. Nothing. Nada. 

Won't read any of the others. 


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kaseyvickers's review against another edition

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The SA scene it was already sexist then he threatened to SA her then she SA’d him I’m appalled

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kayleejanes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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kkylezzz's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a good read. I thought the humor and banter and character back-n-forth in general was great. The first half was really good, I enjoyed the length of scenes and the dedication to detail and consistency with the characters and descriptions. There was tons of dialogue which I love. I really enjoyed the how the first half too felt them growing together.
Obviously in our timeline, "dating" for more than a couple weeks is conventional before even becoming a real couple let alone considering marriage, but for translatable purposes, this felt well told in that regard.
The second half was enjoyable too, but more so for the pitiable, dramatic love story elements.
I was alright with the separation and then pregnancy scare and the heart-to-hearts getting more in depth each time it was brought up.
The last couple of chapters and Epilogue(s) was (were) redeeming, I enjoyed them.
I liked that it ended on a positive note, the extended pregnancy brining in extra drama, and the possibility of Geogie being afflicted with Simon's same drama without actually confirming that.
The sex scenes weren't too terribly bad either.

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linashnewer's review against another edition

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

3.0


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rapturelittlesis's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25


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