Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

2 reviews

bookish_kori's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Loved the book! Bridgerton has become my go to “escape the world for a bit” romance series and it definitely works for that! I’ve gotten a little frustrated that all the Bridgerton sisters (and female love interests with the exception of Penelope so far… sorry Kate) seem to assume the same personality once it’s their turn to be the main character. They all have different personalities within the family dynamics and it just would’ve been cool to see a lot of those play out more in their interactions away from their family. Same with the Bridgerton men, all originally having different personalities but turning fierce and slightly aggressive when it’s their turn to be the POV character. 

Not a reason at all to skip the series, in fact I’d still recommend it, just be prepared/trigger-warned for some Womanizer Lite behavior from the men and some personality shifts from all characters book-to-book. Seems to be smoothed over well in the show so far :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Gaslighting, Child death, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Blood and Terminal illness

Male behavior towards their partners throughout the series is aggressive bordering on coercion/non-consent at times in intimate scenes before basically yelling “DO YOU CONSENT?” to which the woman agrees. This book had some straight up coercion

(out of wedlock that could ruin the woman and not the man)

that I would NOT consider “clear and enthusiastic” consent despite Francesca agreeing/participating later on. And he is NOT admonished for it. Francesca seems to be the one criticized by the book for being hesitant. This coercion happens with

Sophia and Benedict

in their book too. I understand the timing for the books release is far earlier than the show, but still it gave me the ick. Most of the women are painfully and weirdly portrayed as innocent and uninformed with regards to steamy scenes (even in this book when she had been married before) and the men get off on that. Women are 99.9% of the time enthusiastic participants but completely uniformed (or in this book, she’s informed but “it was never like this” with her first husband so she has to relearn everything a new way). Despite their lack of knowledge, which I guess makes sense given the period it’s set (*cough cough* EVERY single male character is considered super experienced and not shamed for it in the slightest), the women ALL suddenly and randomly become “temptresses” who take control of the situation. Books praise the men as being exemplary because they care about the pleasure of their partners and not just themselves and appreciate the woman taking control. LOW BAR. Idk it’s just happened enough by now that I feel the need to comment on it all. It’s weird. So TW sexual coercion and sexual exploitation I guess. Though some of the women do it too.

hmlongstreet's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-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

4.25

This one. This book, oh wow. This has to be one of the best Bridgerton books in the series that I have read so far. If you are reading the books in order like me you'll know that Francesca is not mentioned very often in the other books leading up to this one, giving her a sense of mystery. I understood Frannie, and could see where she was coming from which made me feel connected to her and the story. All I can say is this book had me feeling so many things at once (the intimate scenes especially if I can say that >///<). While the second epilogue made me swoon, with how endearing it was. 

My negatives are the reoccurring themes, scenarios and character traits from previous Bridgerton books. It seems to be a common issue with this series but I can't really blame Julia Quinn, it's hard to be original sometimes! However I can say this one stood out to me as being much different than the previous five, especially when it comes to Francesca as an overall character. Michael was literally a mix of Anthony and Colin with the ability to realize that they are in love.

In conclusion I like this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood, War, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail