Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Daphné

the homoerotic tension between you, an emotionally constipated duke with daddy issues, and your wife’s brother, an equally emotionally constipated 28-year-old man with small dick energy 🤩

that was 12 hours of my life I’ll never get back </3 I’ll miss Simon’s ICY blue eyes very deeply

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anitacaldez's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

2.75

Honestly would rate it higher if it weren't for

Daphne's actions

. Absolutely ruined the book for me and I can't bring myself to rate it higher even if I enjoyed 70% of the book.
But loved the sibling interactions, I laughed a lot with them.

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littlebug1122's review against another edition

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

2.0

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lucyatoz's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn is the first in a wildly successful book and now television series featuring the Bridgerton family.

This novel tells the story of Daphne, the fourth child and eldest daughter of the family, with her Mother, Violet, desperately trying to find a husband for her before she becomes much older! During the 1813 season of balls, she is being pursued by Nigel Berbrooke, a Baron, who has high hopes of marrying her, much to Daphne's sanguine.

Enter Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, who, after dispatching the Baron, makes an interesting proposal to Daphne, which peaks the interest of many in high society, including Lady Whistledown, an anonymous writer of a social pamphlet detailing the gossip of "the ton" and her three elder brothers, Anthony, Benedict and Colin, who collectively decide that Simon is a completely unsuitable suitor for their sister.

I owned copy of this book and listened to it on Audible. I read this for the 52 Book Club Summer Reading Challenge 2024, for prompt 14, water polo, book that made a splash.

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emilyvictoria_'s review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have to say I enjoyed reading this book, despite having watched the series and honestly, thinking the series is better. The series diversifies the cast and gives the side characters so much more depth and story, whereas the novel is very whitewashed and purely focuses on Daphne and Simon. I also found both protagonists really frustrating, and particularly for the first 3/4 I found Simon way too stubborn and egotistical, and whilst Daphne was naive, her actions were unforgivable. The ending might have been sweet and wholesome but I could not get past how they brushed over what Daphne did to Simon, that definitely needed addressing more before Simon unquestionably returned to her. However, regardless of these issues I did find the book an interesting and enjoyable read and liked how it was structured around Lady Whistledown’s papers. Even though I preferred the series, I think I will be reading the following books (especially out of curiosity as to how they compare to the series).

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