Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - De verliefde graaf

I DID IT! I FINISHED THE SERIES! i’m freeeeeeee!!
um this was….fine! i guess? idk at this point, honestly. 2.5, rounded down.

As always, the base archetype is that the rake doesn’t want to be in love (this time because Anthony is 100% sure he’s going to die young like his father, which….okay but also bruh) plus the virginal, always overlooked beauty (but this time, she’s the older sister of the girl the rake first has eyes for). The general idea is that they hate each other - Kate hates Anthony exclusively due to his reputation, and Anthony hates Kate because she isn’t falling all over herself in his presence. And this continues for ages. There’s physical violence between the two of them, hate-lust, and so many arguments about the same things that my vision blurred.
Then, the infamous bee scene hits and they’re engaged because a man can’t put his mouth on a woman to suck out venom without it compromising the woman, i guess.
Anthony’s worst scene yet occurs right after the wedding, when Kate asks for a few days to get her bearings wrt being married and having sex, to which he replies “no.” And then proceeds to be a massive dick about his rights and how she doesn’t have a good enough reason (in his mind) to deny them.

There is more drama (as usual), she falls first (as usual), and then they have happily ever after.

i’m so glad to be done with this series, i cannot articulate this enough. i’m blaming my 2am brain for eyeing the smythe-smith series with anything other than resentment.

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neurospicy_mama's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.5

I gave this book 1.5 stars instead of 0 because it provided enough fodder for Shonda Rhimes to work with. Otherwise, this was my first book by this author and it will be my last. I found the combination of misogyny and violent imagery/ references both juvenile and harmful.

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pauline79's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

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

Confused me as completely different to the series. Too much focused on their fears so seemed odd when they finally got to the end. Prefer the series to the book on this one.

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escsmith's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This made big improvements on the previous book.
Lady Whistledown was used much better in this book but I still wish she had been a bigger part of it.
Anthony and Kate were an engaging couple and I felt that they had strong chemistry. However I did feel that there was too much hate from Kate towards Anthony with no real foundation, this made the story feel flimsy and superficial at first. Their relationship and tension does grow well though and it becomes more believable.
I don't like that in both books a compromising position has led to a proposal. I'd rather see love before the marriage.
There were still some phrases in this book that I felt uncomfortable with, that I know are of the time but totally took me out of the story.

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ojudge's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I truly enjoyed this book - as I do most enemies to lovers reads. I enjoyed this Bridgerton book much more than I did the first. I believe this must be where the author truly found her footing and I am excited to continue my journey through the series. The book seemed to start out a bit slow, but at some point (and I didn’t even recognize at what point exactly) the plot and the characters took off and I found myself unable to put the book down!

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