Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - My Darling Duke

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

4 reviews

ivegotyourpaperback's review against another edition

3.75

I quite enjoyed this story, mostly due to the hero, Alexander. While he could play the part of the brash and crass Duke, this seemed to mostly be a mask that he put on for society, hiding his sweet and adoring nature beneath. He was an emotionally complex character whose POV I loved being in.

Our heroine, Kitty, seemed to fall a bit flat in comparison. She didn’t feel as fully fleshed out. I would have liked a heroine who would have challenged him a bit more rather than the Little Miss Prim & Proper.

And then came the narrator. Good god, I could barely stand her. I almost DNF’d the audiobook at 4% because of her strange over-pronunciation of words (I wouldn’t be surprised if she was an American putting on a British accent) and the melodramatic performance of the text which constantly brought me out of the story.

But I forced myself to keep going through her weird breathless tone, the sound akin to someone trying, unsuccessfully, to whistle but only able to blow air out of their mouth. The only character whose voice I enjoyed was the minor Russian side character

Content warnings:

⚠️implication of SA

⚠️physical impairment due to injury

⚠️mention of impotence

⚠️mention of past drug addiction

Content Warnings

maeverose's review against another edition

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Despite the interesting plot, this could not keep my attention. It was very slow and repetitive. Every time Kitty and Alexander interact they have the same thoughts about each other over and over: Kitty is horny for him but convinces herself she isn’t, Alexander is bewildered by how unique and unlike other girls Kitty is.

I feel unsure about the disability rep. As far as I read (39%) there was nothing outright offensive, but some things gave me pause. I am disabled but not in the way that Alexander is so I’m no authority on this, but it annoyed me somewhat that (even though I know plenty of wheelchair users can walk) he seemed to be able to do pretty much anything an able bodied person could (walk almost whenever he wanted, dance,

swim in rushing water to rescue two people plus horses

), even if it was always clearly accompanied by pain. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I don’t want to discredit his pain, but it feels like his disability was at least partially written away when convenient. He was described as having muscular legs despite supposedly needing a wheelchair for the past seven years (though considering he seems to rarely use it, maybe that does make sense). It feels like he was written to be ‘palatably disabled’. He’s very stubborn about not using the wheelchair despite how it would help him and I assume that is addressed later in the book, but I never got that far.

There was one scene in particular that bothered me as well. (Mild spoilers) In chapter seven after the dance when Kitty goes to find him on the bench, instead of strictly being concerned for him, Kitty’s mostly thinking about how sweet he was to endure the pain to dance with her, how attractive he is, how her reputation could be affected if anyone found them alone, and how ‘admirable’ he is for being able to hide his pain so well (why is that admirable? Hiding his pain to ‘appear normal’? He shouldn’t have to grin and bear it). I felt like that scene would’ve been great if she had just wanted to make sure he was okay, then helped him, then they had the romantic moment. Rather than her clearly seeing him in pain and distress but being horny for him in that moment. It felt so off.

Also, in the book it says the left side of his face/body is scarred, but on the front cover it isn’t at all…. 🤨

I don’t know if any of these things are corrected later in the book, they could be, but it’s not holding my attention enough to read the rest of it to find out.

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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emotional relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

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kim03's review against another edition

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3.5

My thoughts.
Positive:

Truly adored the writing style.
The characters. Even side characters were well fleshed out and felt like their own people instead of just a means to an end for the plot and main characters.
The portrayal of chronic illness. Also the insecurities that come with it.
The development of the relationship. Well paced, though I wasn't quite d'accord with everything. (Meaning I would've made different choices)

Negative:

What in the everliving shit was the main man thinking. I do not support a lot of his choices.
The things he said in anger were inexcusable for me and the fact that the main woman's friends encouraged her to go back to him??? She deserves better (was my opinion after he behaved like the typical proud douchebag). Still happy for their happy end tho.
His pride (and that is what I identify this as) was my main problem. It stops him from true intimacy, from trusting her and himself, and though I can understand the origin of his insecurities, I still find his reactions... Questionable.
Case in point: why would anyone insult the woman they love? That made it so hard for me to believe that he actually loved her. This was me during the Fallout scene: 🤨

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