Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Duke and I

As an enthusiastic fan of Shondaland’s Season One of Bridgerton, I am happy that I did not read this first, because I’m not sure that Regé-Jean Page could have convinced me to give a TV adaptation of that nonsense a go. Blessedly, Shondaland was only exceptionally loosely inspired by the source material and redid it in such a tremendously better way. The original work just barely squeaks into the arena of something *vaguely* tolerable, in a second-wave white-lady feminist, “look at the plucky white lady getting away with doing not thoroughly feminine things while perpetuating an exclusionary world order” kind of way, not in the (preferable) third-wave, “imagine we all learned and did better” kind of way (where the Shondaland version seems to exist).

And I will never get over Daphne

attempting to garner sympathy from herself and others after raping Simon.

That was thoroughly not okay. I get why it is a plot line that even made it into the Shondaland version but it’s gross and at least Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne seemed to grasp more firmly that she was wrong.

Given that the Shondaland team had trouble breathing life into Anthony’s story and they improved so thoroughly on the source material, here, I’m not sure I’ll bother with reading the rest of the series. I have better things to do than spite-read until Season Three drops, like catch up on all of Alexis Hall’s releases . . . or watching Regé-Jean Page breathe life into Dungeons & Dragons.

Suffice it to say that I am even more impressed with the Shondaland team’s ability to succeed as they have with the adaptation after reading this.

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sophia_irene's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-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

Okay so here’s the thing.
The Duke and I (and Bridgerton in general) is sold to you as a sappy, fluffy romance that will make you happy and giggly… and yeah. The inside is literally what is on the package. The Duke and I is basically a good ol’ historical romance.

Julia Quinn is (unexpectedly?) a really good storyteller! Her dialogues are very well crafted, the relationships and personalities of her characters take form just from their speech. It’s incredible and a skill like only 5 other writers have.

An overall 4 ⭐️ but I deduced one for the LITERAL CRIME that was committed and never addressed.

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livbugg's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.5

wow Netflix made a book better, that’s shocking

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Bridgerton: The Duke & I by Julia Quinn

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5

The writing is manageable and succinct, but nothing outstanding.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

I think the characters fell short for me. I wanted much more from each of the characters. Several characters felt flat during the course of the book when I feel like small moments could have been used to draw out various characters’ personalities. This might be a result of comparing to the show too much, but I felt like a lot of the characters didn’t have any personality that was deep and meaningful.

Plot: 3.5⭐️/5

While the plot was fun to read, parts of it were a bit less fleshed out than I would have hoped. It reads nicely and smoothly, but certain scenes could have been more detailed and thought out. In particular, I would have loved for the plot to explore Daphne and Simon’s connections.

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Fun read. Easy read. Cute.

Who Should Read This?

Readers looking for a fun, fluffy read
People who love romance novels
Those looking for a fake-dating, period novel

CW: Misogyny, emotional abuse, violence, domestic abuse, pregnancy, sexual assault, rape

Final Rating: 3.25⭐️/5

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sophluvs's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

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taika_tuuli's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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jessicaoreads67's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

The writing was great, it was so fast paced it was easy to be sucked into the book. I just didn’t think *that* scene wasn’t needed. I mean I get the reason it’s there but I just think it slightly ruined the book for me.

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littlewishling's review against another edition

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funny 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? Yes

3.75

I loved the sibling relationships in this and the romance was fun but I didn’t love the male aggression and the 1800’s version of almost stealthing.

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