Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Duke and I

It's dumb fun. The conceit is ludicrous, the characters aren't thinkers, and there is very little care taken to realism for the Regency era. Turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. Know ahead of time that Daphne sexually assaults her husband while he's drunk.

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cupofteenspirit's review against another edition

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relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

as a casual fan of the show since season 2 release, books hitting as expected: outdated romance novels that think mans folly is charming and not toxic (gross).

around the moments of Simon giving me the ick for yelling at the help there were some moments not depicted in the Netflix adaptation I did like:

Anthony and Daphne at a ball looking at each other's list of suitors their mother gave them and telling them which ones to avoid and which ones are actually cool
Violet being the best character.
Simon's father didn't let him go to college, so Simon showed up at the college he wanted to go to and pretended to be a student and played the "do you know who my father is" card when the headmaster asked him about his enrollment and fees and went on to graduate on that
wow he even went off to be prom queen (popular and top of his class but you know same thing)

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bluedreamer's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.0

Well, the beginning of the story was light and romantic. A quick read without any complicated twist and low-commitment.

But then the rape scene just ruined it. Especially since Simon was also traumatized afterwards while Daphne was unapologized.

You can feel that this book was written in the early 2000s with the way the characters were described and romanticized. While I do enjoy a cliché story, this one had too much stupid and unnecessary drama with little character development.

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I was thoroughly unimpressed by this. I am that person who is actually offended by great books being adapted for screen. This book is not great by any stretch of the imagination, and the TV adaptation is so wildly more layered and nuanced in the storytelling (not to mention…the writing is simply better: less hackneyed, less repetitive, less trite and gender-stereotyped and overall gross).

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