Reviews tagging 'Grief'

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

9 reviews

kathleenmcg's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

theportalmaster's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

This was actually… so different from other books of the sort! I’m positively surprised. I needed something light and without much thinking needed after all the finals stress. 
Also what a breath of fresh air to see a heroine be unapologetically herself and not a shy, annoying damsel in distress. Loved that part! Also a little less “I love you so much XY” towards the end would have been wonderful in my opinion. I know it’s a romance book but one and done would suffice.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Self harm, and Addiction

cepbreed's review

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The first half of this book give or take had me in a chokehold. I loved Kitty's brash actions, her devotion to her family, but I also had many complaints. There was a lot of unnecessary exposition, like, I get it's the first book in a series but all the descriptions of her friends felt out of place. It was weird to mention so many names when readers would have absolutely no recall when they were mentioned again. I was like "who tf is Ophelia?" Also the duke's personality in the beginning felt so far removed from who he was at the end, not even, at the 3/4 mark. I understand he is hurt and too prideful to allow others to perceive his hurt or even help him, but how did that manifest so differently so quickly? Character development is a thing, but the key word here is development, which Alexander was evidently lacking. His indecisiveness was so frustrating, I did really end up liking Kitty though. She embarrassed me a bit, but she felt like a friend almost. At the end of the day this is a histrom so I can't expect something revolutionary, but somethings really ruined the reading experience, the immersion, for me.

...(I get it was supposed to be an unexpected moment but him literally collapsing mid stroke???? I was so cringed out I had to detox on TikTok for a couple minutes).

Song:

• cowboy like me - Taylor Swift 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

chrisljm's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Infertility, and Medical content

Minor: Grief, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

ellie_murdock's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Addiction, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexism

alice_gibson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

the_vegan_bookworm's review

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.75

I found the text to be overly wordy and flowery, which made it tough to get through. The plot was also very reminiscent to "The Duchess Deal" by Tessa Dare, though this book was less polished and the plot was much slower. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Ableism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Grief and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, and Medical trauma

marylinaris's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-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

I flew through this book so fast - and what a delight it was! 

Going in, I was sure the set-up of the story wouldn’t quite work for me, it just sounded like a giant second-hand embarrassment. Yet it worked and lead into a funny and charming story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Ableism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Death of parent

ashleycmms's review

dark emotional funny sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma