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mariskyjy's review against another edition
Tw: noncon, child abuse, mention of post partum depression below
• said he hadn't had sex in a long time and went to visit wife marina. "She didn't say no," (I think the implication was PPD) but seemed disinterested. He felt awful afterwards, which is a *great* excuse (sarcasm)
• the kids are terrified of him. "His" son asks, upon getting in trouble, "are you going to hit us?" And Philip is a menacing presence to them, and doesn't know how to parent them. Like even if you have never hit your kid(s) (which Eloise is convinced that she's *such* a good judge of character, despite only meeting this guy within the last week, that Phillip could *never* abuse his kids), they shouldn't be terrified that you're going to. End of sentence. No, wait: fuck this guy. Now end of sentence.
• spoiler, the "reasoning" for this is eventually that his father was horribly abusive towards him, and Phillip is trying not to be like him. Cool reason, bro. I get that therapy was not a huge thing back then (assuming) but my god. Work on yourself to not be like your father.
Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual content, Death, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse
Minor: War
ambrosiablue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Death
lerl_'s review against another edition
- 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
eloise deserved so much better than a man that sexually assaulted his suicidal wife and then neglects his children after her death.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
ntanash's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
fenkje's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The previous Bridgerton books spoke more to me than this one did. Don't get me wrong: it wasn't bad at all, but it was just not completely what I expected. Eloise is one of my favourite Bridgerton siblings, so my expectations were a lot higher. I loved the beginning of the book, but I found it a bit boring after a while. The end made up for it in some way, but it wasn't enough for me.
Also: the s*x-scenes were so unrealistic, reading this as woman. Women don't 'explode', as described by Quinn, as easy or at all in the way the couple made love. I would have loved a more realistic representation.
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
bzliz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
On the other hand, I adored Eloise. She felt so human to me. She constantly spoke her mind and took action. Her ability to handle Oliver and Amanda was certainly due to growing up in a big, loving family, but I think her growth mirrors that of the children. All three are in desperate need to attention and Phillip has to grow himself to give that to them. They also support each other; Eloise is a parental presence that the twins desperately needed, who was firm but understanding as needed, and the twins give her a challenge and the adoration that children give their heroes. The second epilogue cements that for me as Amanda so wonderfully illustrates Eloise’s devotion to their family, pulling it all together and bringing light and life to a sad group that had previously been crumbling.
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Child abuse
Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault
Though it doesn’t occur on page, I have tagged sexual assault becauseboundbyemily's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
“This—us—is heaven. And I can’t bear to hear you say otherwise.”
I understand what Quinn was trying to do, but the execution was not there. There were good moments, but overall it dragged and just fell incredibly flat.
Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
readyforit's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.0
I’ve really been enjoying the series up until Eloise’s story. This book missed the mark for several reasons for me, mostly because I just think the whole premise of Eloise running away to marry a man she’s never met doesn’t sound like her at all. In the book, marina is a bridgerton cousin, still married to sir Phillip crane instead of his brother George who died in the war. She dies young and Eloise writes to Phillip, and they begin a year of correspondence before Phillip asks her to visit to see if they would be a good match for marriage. He only seems concerned with having her be a mother to his two unruly (and neglected and abused) children, and not as having her as a wife or partner. You expect some misogyny with historical fiction books but this one was especially bad, and I never found myself rooting for Phillip. In fact, I’d say he’s the villain of this story. Eloise deserves better and so do his kids. I am curious about how they will incorporate this book into the show. Before reading any of the books I had hoped they would allow Eloise to remain unmarried and maybe she would pursue writing or something, and after reading her story I can say I do NOT want it in the show without SIGNIFICANT changes to Phillip’s personality, the kids’ storyline, and how they insulted marina for having depression. I won’t be rereading this book and this was unfortunately the first in the series that I didn’t enjoy.
Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Minor: Pregnancy
allison87's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Phillip is a piece of work. Anger issues, SA of his late wife while she was suffering from post pardom depression, absent fathering, asking for a wife for the express purpose of getting a homemaker/nanny/warm body but withheld that fact for an entire year of courting.
Once they are together and married, consent is hazy. He's not interested in her as a person but as a body. To the point where he hardly lets her speak/avoids her all day prior to bed time. (When Eloise has a major concern about the children's care, instead of pause his pursuit of her body to listen to her, he throws a tantrum and leaves.) So, yeah, it's extremely romantic?
I get that these were issues that were/still are common. But that doesn't make it conducive to a love story. It's more horror than anything. Even if this were written in the 1800s it would still come off extremely bleak and hardly romantic.
Shondaland has a ton of work ahead to turn this story into anything good. Personally I would scrap most of it.
Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, Child abuse, Rape, Suicide, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
barbiedreamlibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Suicide