Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

10 reviews

wanderingtales's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Violence, Sexual content, Gun violence, Murder, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, War, and Grief

ajb24's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

5 stars bc we looooveee unexpectedly-supportive family members and cheesy happy endings (despite hostile times) for our mixed-race, M-M couple!!! 

there's just something about the proposal/vows at the end that makes me sooo!!!! they're saying such cheesy things, but considering the era they live in, it's just so special to me that they would still make these "traditional" promises to each other!! they just love each other that much!!!

Small things I NEED to mention:
1. kind of obsessed with how Gareth's truth (that he was just wandering the marsh looking for bugs) from an outside perspective literally sounds like a bad lie 🤣
2. I found it v funny when Gareth was telling Cecilia "I'd hope that a man would be on my side....if I was a young lady, of course!" like...hahaha,,,,gay 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment

Moderate: Murder and Classism

Minor: Racism and Slavery

crystalisreading's review

adventurous emotional hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

More violence and tension than i expected, but nevertheless absolutely delightful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Abandonment, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Outing, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, Colonisation, and Misogyny

thereadingoutlaw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.75

the one where gareth moves back, becomes a baronet, wants to but then doesn't give testimony against Josiah 'Joss' Doomsday's sister for smuggling, and the continues to fall in love with his former London several-night-stand while they unravel

a plot involving money laundering, smuggling, kidnapping, and inevitable murder, although only of people you're okay seeing be murdered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Slavery

ramakn22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Bullying, Alcoholism, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Child abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Confinement, Ableism, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Outing, Grief, Infertility, and Homophobia

galleytrot's review against another edition

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

4.5

READ: Apr 2024 

FORMAT: Audio 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

In this book, a sudden and unexpected death pulls Gareth from his life as a clerk in London into his birthright position of Baronet out in the smuggler-infested back country of Romney Marsh. He’s left with managing a half-sister he never met, a home he never got to live in, accounts that don't make sense, and social expectations that no honest man ought to be asked to uphold. The marsh and his home are in Doomsday territory, and the clan's gaffer – Josiah Doomsday himself – turns out to be a man with a very intimate (and rather recent) knowledge of Gareth's own law-breaking interests. Blackmail, secret dealings, and unpaid debts haunt Gareth, who wants nothing more than to simply observe the bugs and the newts that captured all of his father's attention when his very own firstborn son could not. 

I'm honestly not sure where to begin with this review. This book’s intricate story, its intriguing characters, and its strange and wonderful setting all converge together to create an incredible experience from cover to cover. I've read it twice now, and the second pass was not made any less interesting by already knowing what was going on or who was hiding what secrets. Poor Gareth has been pulled into a world he’d never expected to be a part of, with debts and responsibilities he could never have predicted, inheriting a wide and varied set of enemies he had no hand in making. 

KJ Charles writes some of my favourite historical fiction romances out there, and I’m happy to add this one to the stack. I’m also very excited to move into the second book of the series at some point, although I am waiting for a day where I can truly focus all of my attention into it. One of the things that really interested me about this book was the growth and understanding of Gareth’s father’s character, a man who never has a single moment on-page (and in fact, spends the entire length of the book very much not alive). I love that he is never redeemed for his failures as a father, and while we learn enough to have some theories about his potential neurodivergence, we also end the book with the certainty of his involvement in nefarious plotting and profiteering. 

This book has representation for gays. One of the main characters is mix-raced, with several other mixed-race and non-white family members. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

parent deaths (past, recent, off-page); child abandonment; mentions of war; mentions of deaths, fighting, and injuries; intimidation, blackmail; sexual assault (off-page); alcohol use; weapon violence (knives, cane, fists, gun); assault; mention of past slavery; homophobia; child abuse (physical); serious injury, blood; body shaming; kidnapping, confinement; and, murder (off-page).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Medical trauma

Minor: War, Slavery, and Sexual assault

katelynnelawson's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.75

Opposites attract when self-righteous, upper-class London and plain-spoken, working-class Kent enjoy a splendid week-long affair together... that ends terribly when the two argue. But weeks later, Gareth (London) must travel to Kent after his father dies and he inherits his title. It's not until he testifies against Joss (Kent)'s sister in court that the two reunite, and despite the tense circumstances, the two eventually regain the connection they had against the backdrop of the Kentish marsh. But it's not just beetles the two uncover - it's dangerous secrets.

This romance will leave the reader swinging their feet in joy while also turning the pages out of a desperate need to uncover the mystery of what exactly Sir Gareth's father was up to alongside Gareth and Joss. It's both exciting and romantic, with beautifully described scenery and an interesting cast of characters sure to show up in the author's upcoming works.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Bullying, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Child abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and War

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

An open-door, LGBTQ, Regency romance between a new baronet and the leader of a smuggling operation. High-stakes adventure, high-heat encounters, family support and family betrayal, lovely respectful communication (after requisite miscommunication), marshland entomology, Kentish dialect lessons, thoughtful discussions of the philosophies vs realities of war policies... As always, KJ Charles delivers an emotionally resonate, well-researched, entertaining historical with great diversity rep. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Classism, Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Deportation, Gun violence, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Colonisation

loveinpanels's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexism

Minor: Sexual violence and Slavery