Reviews

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

brianna_mackey's review

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

teodorasocean's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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? Yes

3.25

michellechien930's review

3.0

I just went through another Regency era of late after I watched Emma (2020)/Northanger Abbey/Sanditon back to back! I'm not a Regency era expert, save my love for Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and Bridgerton, but always looking for more I would like, so I was pretty excited to start this series. Bringing Down the Duke focuses on women's suffrage and the dawn of women being educated at colleges, etc. It's a bit deja vu, the era is similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, which I've been playing daily, (1899 in America) vs. 1879ish in England, and both feature women that are admirably lobbying for the vote against patriarchal protest. It's a very interesting historical backdrop, and while I admired the characters, I felt like the suffrage plotline was really merely a plot device for the titular duke and the vicar's daughter to have a "meet cute", and once they were, the plot was abandoned. I feel like in almost every piece of Regency literature it features the lady being sick and kept at the great manor and she reads the books in his bookshelves and they fall in love. I still find it endearing but it does get kind of tiresome, sped through this book fairly quickly though, enjoyed the characters a lot.

dea080020's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.0

indigoblue777's review

I really wanted to like this book, but there were so many issues with Sebastian, who is the love interest, and his views on sex.

I don’t care about how this story ends, so I am DNFing it at page 203.

leahalwall's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

catisbookish's review

3.75

There were many issues that I had with this book.  The scenes of the heroine and the hero making out and then deciding they couldn’t, over and over, throughout the whole book was repetitive.   Very picky, but saying twenty-and-five is just wrong, it’s supposed to be five-and-twenty, and that bothered me everytime anyone mentioned their age.  The hero was kinda toxic at times and very stereotypically brooding hard-hearted rich man who is super possessive and shit, and normally that would bother me.  Normally, most of these things would bother me.  So someone tell me why I ATE THIS THE FUCK UP!!!!  I am shook, I am kicking my little feet and screaming and crying and throwing up.  Am I a historical/regency romance girlie????  This genre has truly unlocked something unhinged in me that I didn’t know existed and I need to gobble up 20 of these books and not emerge from my room for a solid week.  Thanks.

harleyrae's review against another edition

4.0

I absolutely loved this! I was slightly hesitant heading into this because historical fiction is not really my thing anymore, but I absolutely adored this! I can’t wait to pick up the second book in this series! This was well worth the read!

zeelvora's review

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

3.5

moonkidren's review

In chapter 2, when one of the characters is asked why she joined the suffragette movement, she says “I wanted to join the Ladies’ Committee for Prison Reform, but Mama would not let me.” And maybe this is historically accurate! But it gave me weird “written by a white woman” vibes that I simply could not shake.