Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - An Offer From a Gentleman

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

104 reviews

sarahsreadinglist's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I enjoy a good Cinderella story, and this was a mostly fun and easy read, but I have a few gripes.

Benedict’s behavior in this book is more than a little concerning. He dismisses Sophie’s thoughts and concerns throughout the book, cannot accept no for an answer, and exhibits an incredible amount of entitlement over Sophie. In his anger, he is quite toxic. This all is only ameliorated by his introspection, self awareness, and apology towards the end of the book.

I also wish we saw more of Sophie’s interactions with other servants after being cast out by Araminta. Or, I wish we even saw a mere mention of those servants who held Sophie dear (like the housekeeper Mrs. Gibbons, or the caretakers of Benedict’s cottage). I’m not at all surprised by the minimization of servant characters, but I think the focus on Sophie being different/above the rest of the servant class took away some really meaningful elements of the class-difference romance as well as the kind of friendship that (could have) existed between Sophie and her fellow servants.

That said, I enjoyed other parts of the book; the Bridgerton family (and Violet especially) is delightful as always, and their interactions amongst themselves and with Sophie brought a smile to my face. Benedict could be quite charming when he wasn’t a total ass, and his tender treatment of Sophie (again, when he wasn’t being a total ass) was quite cute.

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emiliemhr's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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pauline79's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn’t like the beginning as it seemed very like Cinderella and the evil stepmother but I really got into the storyline after chapter 2. Loved the ending of it. My favourite book of the series, so far anyway!

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