Reviews with content warning for Ableism - It's in His Kiss

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn

5 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

lighthearted 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

2.5

Not my favorite. There were some aspects that I enjoyed- the jewel hunt and translating the diary- but the romance aspects felt like recycling previous books and Frankensteining them together. Most of the MMCs are reformed rakes and Gareth is no exception, his father isn’t really his father, he feels the need to trap Hyacinth into a marriage so his cruel father will be proven wrong, etc. I did like Hyacinth though. She has admirable tenacity and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. And getting more of Lady Danbury is fantastic. I genuinely think she’s my favorite character from the whole series.

On the other hand, I could have done without the other “engagement”. It’s heavily implied that Mary has some kind of mental disability so Gareth’s evil father trying to trap him into marriage with her to get his hands on her dowry is downright despicable. And just plain stupid. Even if he’s your second son, even if he’s technically an illegitimate child you’ve legitimized, something can always happen to your heir. For someone so obsessed with appearances, it would never make sense to put your family lineage in jeopardy. It feels like a cheap plot point made to show that underneath his exterior, Gareth has a kind heart. There were other ways that could’ve been done.

Unfortunately, the book’s biggest sin is that it feels incomplete without the second epilogue.

The jewel search/heist was the most interesting part of the book so to leave it fruitless was deeply unsatisfying. It feels even weirder that in the original epilogue, their daughter finds the jewels almost by accident and doesn’t tell anyone.

All I can say to sum it up is that it’s probably good that this is the second to last book in the series.

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readyforit's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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

3.75

3.75⭐️1.5🌶️
This book had a bit of a mystery/treasure hunt plot to it, which was fun! I enjoyed all the sneaking around and scheming. I think hyacinth has a really funny personality and she has great banter with Gareth. I loved the friendship between lady Danbury and hyacinth as well! This wasn’t my favorite in the series though, I liked some of the other books a bit more. I noticed the author reused the exact plot line from Simon in book 1 where Daphne points out

he is living his life to spite his father, and not making choices that are really about himself.

Could she not think of anything else? I liked gareth but I think I liked Michael in Francesca’s story more. It seemed like Gareth was meant to be another handsome, witty rake. It’s the same story recycled again. Something different that happened was that hyacinth chose to have

sex before marriage, knowing what that would mean for her reputation.

Other than that there’s not a whole lot of spice in this one! Whenever hyacinth’s season gets made on Netflix I hope they leave out the bit about Gareth

being forcibly engaged to who sounds like a mentally disabled woman bc she has a large dowry.

I could do without the ableism for “plot.” I probably won’t reread and will opt to watch the Netflix show instead, but I might reread in a few years whenever hyacinth’s season comes!

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