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bzliz's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I never could have predicted how absolutely batshit this book was going to be. It started out slow and stereotypically Bridgerton-y but about halfway through, things start to speed up. By the 2/3 mark, shit is absolutely popping off. We’re talking hands being thrown, blackmail, treason, gunshots, and of course a little interrupting weddings to top it off. They don’t even get peace in the epilogues! Gregory is not even 40 and they have NINE KIDS, including two newborn twins, and Lucy damn near bleeds out after giving birth.
I kind of loved the drama of it all but I can’t forgive how completely boring Lucy and Gregory are as people. They don’t really have personalities and I wasn’t able to invest in their love like I could for most of the other Bridgerton siblings. He only gets a tiny pass for busting into a church to stop a wedding and propose to the bride himself. And I guess Lucy has some OCD tendencies too.
Unfortunately, I don’t know who I’d recommend this final book in the series to. Spice lovers will not be satisfied at all. I think maybe self deprecating messy gays could enjoy, since they finally have a little representation. That said: I had a good time and I’m ready to say goodbye to the series.
I kind of loved the drama of it all but I can’t forgive how completely boring Lucy and Gregory are as people. They don’t really have personalities and I wasn’t able to invest in their love like I could for most of the other Bridgerton siblings. He only gets a tiny pass for busting into a church to stop a wedding and propose to the bride himself. And I guess Lucy has some OCD tendencies too.
Unfortunately, I don’t know who I’d recommend this final book in the series to. Spice lovers will not be satisfied at all. I think maybe self deprecating messy gays could enjoy, since they finally have a little representation. That said: I had a good time and I’m ready to say goodbye to the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Pregnancy/medical trauma in the 2nd epilogue.haleysversion's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Medical content
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
3.5 Stars! This was... A LOT in the most melodramatic of ways. The premise is that youngest Bridgerton son, Gregory, is a romantic and is looking for love, when he meets Hermione at a house party. Unfortunately, Hermione’s heart is “inappropriately engaged” with someone “ineligible” and so her best friend, Lucy, bands together with Gregory to get Hermione to notice him as a far more eligible match. But then Gregory and Lucy catch feelings (after lots of sideways hijinks happening with Hermione) but by this time she’s engaged to an Earl and her uncle won’t let her back out. But Gregory won’t take no for an answer, not when he knows Lucy loves him too. Wedding crashers, please apply!
This book had a lot of very dubious consent issues. Not in the sexual way, that was fine with consent. But consent issues in the sense that the hero frequently inserted himself into spaces where he wasn’t welcome. When a heroine said what she wanted (like “go away,” of if she wanted to be left alone, he frequently tried to convince her otherwise. He wasn’t aggressive about it but he was somewhat spoiled and didn’t understand “no.” To me, that’s not cute, even when it’s clearly for the heroine’s “own good.” I can’t go into how deeply troubling this gets without giving away spoilers but suffice to say, it is a little more uncomfortable than cute.
What I did like was the fact that for once we got a historical romance hero in love with the idea of love, someone who is looking for a match and wants to be married and have a family - not for money or convenience, but because he actually believes in the magnificence of love and wants that for himself. It’s so rare to get a hero in romance that has that goal. I liked that the hero is protective of the heroine but also respectful of her strength and not ashamed to acknowledge her superiority in many ways. I feel like this wasn’t one of those where he liked the heroine because of her looks but because of her unique personality and things he had gotten to know about her.
I found Lucy to be an interesting enough heroine, though I think she could have been firmer with Gregory. I think she could have shown a lot more agency in her story but I did really relate to her people-pleasing personality and her wanting to smooth things over with everyone and keep the peace and order around her. But she might not be for everyone.
The epilogue and second epilogues which look at Gregory and Lucy’s family and their more than 8 kids were really good and indeed the 2nd epilogue is a real high point to this book. The pain and dangers for regency era women related to childbirth are explored in a really sensitive way and I’m in awe of what this author has created, having read the 8 books of this series in the past 2 weeks, they’ve all been ace and they are favourites!
This book had a lot of very dubious consent issues. Not in the sexual way, that was fine with consent. But consent issues in the sense that the hero frequently inserted himself into spaces where he wasn’t welcome. When a heroine said what she wanted (like “go away,” of if she wanted to be left alone, he frequently tried to convince her otherwise. He wasn’t aggressive about it but he was somewhat spoiled and didn’t understand “no.” To me, that’s not cute, even when it’s clearly for the heroine’s “own good.” I can’t go into how deeply troubling this gets without giving away spoilers but suffice to say, it is a little more uncomfortable than cute.
What I did like was the fact that for once we got a historical romance hero in love with the idea of love, someone who is looking for a match and wants to be married and have a family - not for money or convenience, but because he actually believes in the magnificence of love and wants that for himself. It’s so rare to get a hero in romance that has that goal. I liked that the hero is protective of the heroine but also respectful of her strength and not ashamed to acknowledge her superiority in many ways. I feel like this wasn’t one of those where he liked the heroine because of her looks but because of her unique personality and things he had gotten to know about her.
I found Lucy to be an interesting enough heroine, though I think she could have been firmer with Gregory. I think she could have shown a lot more agency in her story but I did really relate to her people-pleasing personality and her wanting to smooth things over with everyone and keep the peace and order around her. But she might not be for everyone.
The epilogue and second epilogues which look at Gregory and Lucy’s family and their more than 8 kids were really good and indeed the 2nd epilogue is a real high point to this book. The pain and dangers for regency era women related to childbirth are explored in a really sensitive way and I’m in awe of what this author has created, having read the 8 books of this series in the past 2 weeks, they’ve all been ace and they are favourites!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
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