Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Duke and I

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

73 reviews

starcrossreverie's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-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

1.0

I DNF'ed this book at 77%.

The rape scene was worse than I thought it would be. I've legit seen people defend Daphne in the book making it seem like Simon was the one who initiated the sex, so I thought Simon would be drunk and awake but NO he was asleep with morning wood. It's literally written that she felt a rush of power in the situation, of how happy she was to be in control, and how she felt nothing but pleasure when he tried to get her off of him the moment he realized she was forcing him to cum inside her.

I waited for this book on Libby for a month, probably longer, and told myself to finish the book for that reason but one chapter after the rape scene I realized that finishing the book means I'll have to read Daphne get her happily ever after and that Simon would have to push aside his feelings in order to make HER happy. That is beyond fucked up.

And it wasn't just the rape scene that made me give this book a 1 star.

It's bland and boring. With a fake dating trope, it NEEDS drama. It needs more than just one scene where one becomes jealous at the romantic attention the other is getting, and that scene in Daphne's calling room was not it due to how soon into the fake dating it happened.

Daphne tells Simon that the fake dating wouldn't work on the Mamas as they'll continue pushing their single daughters at him but we don't get a scene like that! Even if it was just Daphne's self consciousness letting her say that, we still don't get to experience Daphne getting jealous of the attention he's getting.

They fall in love too quickly, which goes against the fake dating trope. They're supposed to have that realization that makes them go into denial over their feelings, only to realize that they can't escape how they feel, and then there's supposed to be a moment where they wonder how on earth are they going to turn this from fake dating into real dating, wondering if the other person even feels the same way about them.

The fake dating trope is supposed to come with drama and angst, but everything goes perfectly without any bumps in the road. I wouldn't even call the duel a bump because it was so dumb.

I knew she was going to rape him before I started reading but I liked her siblings and Lady Whistledown from the show a lot, so I read it for them and figured I'll push past this book to get to the other ones. Wasn't worth it, plus I've since learned that her brothers are trash to women.

My curiosity to see how bad the men in these books are makes me want to try reading the other books. I don't see myself finishing them either.

Overall, Daphne is a POS. I hate this book. And to the defenders who say "this is what happened in the 1800s.", this book wasn't written in the 1800s, and y'all aren't reading it in the 1800s. I would not be surprised if fans of these book also love Haunting Adeline. I am legit mad that the book fans talked about this dark romance series as if everything was sweet and wholesome, y'all really have people thinking these books are normal romances.

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fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Ugh I don't know, okay. I am reading them out of order because I didn't like the Daphne assaults Simon storyline in the show and guess what! Shonda was true to the text for that, for some freaking reason. As someone who is childfree by choice, the idea that marriage would be enough for my spouse to decide otherwise makes me want to run into the woods never to be seen again.
I do think Simon's motivations sucked, but there is quite literally nothing that he could have done that would excuse Daphne's behaviors.

I did like Daphne's relationship to her siblings and the banter was fun, but god. I just can't get over how territorial every single man in these books is, and that they are constantly dick measuring about something. That with a literal spousal rape???? Count me OUT.

I'm finishing the series but only because I feel like I have to at this point.

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kbio's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

4.0

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meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to love this book because I love the tv show, but it landed on just a like for me. It's clear that Julia Quinn is a talented and very descriptive writer, but the story dragged at times. I also didn't love some of the characteristics of the characters (the men were a bit too overbearing and protective, for example), and the content in certain scenes left a sour taste in my mouth.

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eva_vva's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-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

3.0

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

Dearest Gentle Reader, this book wasn’t what I was expecting. While it did bring to life the characters and their stories, I feel as though it fell rather flat compared to the show. I did enjoy the epilogues and the audiobook was narrated rather nicely, I don’t think I will be continuing this book series as of now. It was entertaining just not really worth it to me, perhaps I’ll revisit this series later though.

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