Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Bridgerton - De ongetrouwde hertog

Not the best written book I’ve ever read, but the plot is interesting. In all fairness to the author, Im reading the book after watching the show, and I found the show much more compelling, as I feel it gives slightly more depth to the characters and reasoning behind their actions. I wonder if I’d have continued reading this book/series if I hadn’t seen the show. Read out of curiosity, and while this is now satisfied in one respect, I would likely not reread.

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estella44's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-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

2.5

I mean, meh...it was a about love. It's not something revolutionary; it doesn't break barriers. For what it is, I liked it...kinda? But of course, there is that scene (fellow readers will know) that just took this book from a casual 3 to a 2.5. I lost all respect for Daphne the moment it happened, and while I don't think either character is the pinnacle of what we today consider modern ethics, I was startled. It really left a bad taste in my mouth. It's never addressed other than for her to often mention she isn't ashamed of it.
It's not a great start to the series with scenes like that....I might read book 2, but honestly, I'm not sure.

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theinkedpath's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

ES:

A ver, yo con este libro estoy haciendo el ejercicio contrario a lo que se suele hacer: He visto la serie y ahora me atrevo con la saga. Creo que la serie se atreve con más cosas y cierta complejidad que se ajusta más a los estándares sociales y culturales del siglo XXI.
Sin embargo, quería hacer la prueba de leer el libro también. Y, si bien es cierto que ya sabía lo que iba a pasar, y que ciertas cosas quedan un poco anticuadas porque hace mucho que se escribieron estos libros, me ha resultado entretenido.

EN:

First of all, I previously saw the show, so I knew what I would find, but I wanted to read it nonetheless. I liked the book despite its predictability and simple plot, because of how quick narrative is. Now I want to see if the following books, as the author got experience, get better.

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pauline79's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

The boom that starrred it all. I liked it but could be better. The scene where she takes advantage isn’t any better in the series or book.

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readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

3.0

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lou_loo'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

1.5

This wasn’t good at all. I think Julia Quinn could write a contemporary romance, but historical, nope. She tries to incorporate language and words from the 1800s, but it feels super forced and unnatural. Complicated words are coming up in sentences that feel very modern and sometimes, the characters talk as if they were born in the 21st century. The writing style was weird and there were some incoherencies, which I was able to figure out and understand because I have watched the series, but with the book alone it is not enough… For example, there is Whistledown, we are told a few times that she has the power to ruin people with her column, but I was able to believe it only because I have seen the 3 seasons… In the book, she never actually ruined anyone or wrote anything detrimental to anyone. (because no, writing that the Bridgertons all look alike and it cannot be doubted that they all have the same parents, that there are no illegitimate children, is not an insult)

In my opinion, this is not a love story between a Duke and a Lady, but it is a story between two unwell people with their problems, problems which they decided to share and blame on the other person rather than sorting it out and working on themselves before starting this “relationship”. Daphne is used to being the first girl in the family, always cared for by her mother and 3 older brothers, she cannot understand “no” and things not going her way, hence her not understanding Simon’s issues and not giving him the time he needed. Simon is clearly traumatised but he doesn’t really want to admit it and therefore cannot figure things out for himself and get better.

Moral of the story, they both need therapy and we all know that only meeting up in a park and saying everything is now alright isn’t enough. We are told in the epilogue that they have 4 kids, but my question is how will the kids grow up in a dysfunctional family like this one? Their parents might have figured that they had issues to be fixed but never actually fixed them before having the kids.

I gave it 2 stars because I still quite enjoyed my time reading it, but I think it’s also just because I watched the series and saw it play in my head, it compensated for the lack of atmosphere written by the author. And I know that I will still read the other books because I want to see if the writing got better and leave another chance to the other Bridgerton siblings since I know that even in the Netflix series, I hated Daphne and season 1 was my least favourite.

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thebyelingualteacher's review against another edition

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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

2.75

I would've rated this higher if it weren't for the part of the book where it glorified r*pe. Everything after that one chapter is just awful. Both main characters trying to justify what happened, totally ignoring the gravity of what Daphne has done. I'm not normally the kind of person to say this, but if the roles were reversed and it was Simon who had done it, Julia Quinn would not have gotten away with writing this.

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nicole_zx's review against another edition

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medium-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

3.0

if daphne bridgerton has no haters i’m dead

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