abby_can_read's review against another edition

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

4.0

đź“–
This is probably my favorite book in the series. I had a good time reading it.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial 

This is basically the tv show/limited series but you get to read the inner thoughts/context behind certain moments, such as George’s experience running into the gardens naked late at night and Charlotte claiming she was Venus. We get the third-person, past-tense POVs of Brimsley, Agatha, Charlotte, and George. 

It was a tender and bittersweet read, and I teared up while reading because I could vividly remember the scenes from Netflix lol. I definitely winced each time characters were discussing George’s mental health because he is called “broken” and “a mad man” multiple times. He never receives a specific diagnosis and everyone talks around it, but it was frustrating to hear mental health discussed as such a horrible, disdainful, shameful thing. I recognize that is representative “of the times” but it still felt uncomfortable reading the ableism and prejudice they all possessed. 

Overall, this was a quick and easy historical romance to read, mostly because I was envisioning the tv series the entire time. I highly recommend the audiobook as the narration was excellent! 

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_alyssar_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0


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_evyn_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense

4.0

This book was so distressing and interesting to read. I had to listen at 2x speed because I felt so sad and I didn't want to stop because I thought I might not finish it. I'm emotionally drained for sure and while I do 100% recommend the book, I don't know that I have the courage to see the show now despite that being the main reason for reading it. I couldn't bear to actually watch the torture that my mind has already imagined into being. Or rather I don't want to watch and find it even worse or more real ig than what my brain could build up based on the written imagery. 

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I honestly liked this book the least out of the Julia Quinn books I have read. It didn’t read like her other books did, almost like someone else wrote it. There were a couple moments I loved, but the miscommunication trope is HUGE in this book and frustrating. The different perspective of the royalty in this time period was interesting, but the medical treatments included in the book were appalling to read about, and not enjoyable at all. This audiobook dragged on forever; I actually checked to see how much longer it was than the Bridgerton books, and it was actually about the same length! I didn’t like the narrator’s voices either, and the accents left something to be desired. I liked Charlotte’s and George’s personalities at first, but throughout the book they seemed so immature. I found Agatha’s conniving to be really interesting and clever and wanted more of her. The portrayal of mental illness bothered me because it was vague. I know we don’t have a lot of information about King George III’s mental health, but the book portrayed more of a psychosis than a bipolar disorder, which is what historians are leaning towards. I guess I needed more closure about what exactly the authors were trying to portray. I like how this book tried to show that the struggles didn’t disappear like love was a magic cure, but so much of the book was in turmoil that I didn’t get enough romance or even enduring love. Overall, kind of a disappointment.

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onefineelephant's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

7/10. I'm glad I read this book because I appreciated some of the parts that we didn't get to see in the show and I liked getting to know the intimate thoughts of the characters (especially Brimsley). However, there were certain (small) parts of the book that differed from the show which really irked me. Also, the book completely erases the whole Lord Ledger plot line which I think completely changes Lady Danbury's character. I was really looking forward to getting to know Lady Danbury's thoughts and feelings about her illicit affair and then there was not even a hint of it in the book which was incredibly disappointing. Overall, I'm glad I read it but I doubt I will read it again and I much prefer the show to the book.

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venusf1ytrap's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful tense
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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