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mrsbooknerd's review against another edition
1.0
I'm wavering at 1.5 stars but because the author is Julia Quinn I think that I will round up rather than down. I'm a massive Julia Quinn fan. Not only have I read most of her books I own them so that I can read them again and again. If I'd been given this book without a cover I never or would have guessed the author. I would have fluttered my fan as though offended if told that it was by Julia Quinn and turned my nose in the air with a brisk, you must be mistaken.
Julia Quinn usually has a uniqueness to her stories and characters, a warm and witty sense of humour and most importantly spark and chemistry. All of these elements were lacking in this novel. Andrew and Poppy were so bland that it would be an insult to vanilla to describe them as such. They had no personalities, no unique voices, I won't remember them in a week. There was absolutely no chemistry between them at all, and their meeting and romance was all so very tenuous and forced. They bored me utterly.
The only plot was the romance between Poppy and Andrew, there were no subplots to run alongside or intertwine with the main romance. The book was largely set on a boat and in one room, so there was a heavy reliance on dialogue to progress the story. Essentially it became a series of conversations between Andrew and Poppy which were forced, not funny and trying to be clever but failing to have that witty banter that I usually love in Quinn novels.
Not only were they boring, they were also repetitious. There was too much gawping and gaping, he was surprised by her, she by him. Their jaw dropped, their mouth opened... repitiuous and dull.
I thought for sure that Andrew's double life would somehow get Poppy into trouble, that he would be seen delivering a message or be taken down as a known agent but it was introduced a backstory for Andrew and then had absolutely no impact on the plot until one minor incident at the very end if the book. It wouldn't have taken much to write in some shadowy bad guy that he had been working against for ages, and have Bad Guy kidnap Poppy to get to Andrew or some such. Just to give everything a neatness and some foreboding and foreshadowing to sink our reader's teeth into. Andrew is guilty for bringing Poppy into it, Poppy is angry he lied to her and got her into trouble... but no.
There was one 'dramatic' incident, but it had nothing to do with his role at all, and was just a case of wrong place wrong time. Even this incident wasn't written with much excitement or drama. Also, there was this totally odd 'secret' introduced, in which Andrew knew Poppy indirerectly. He kept it from her and he kept changing the subject when acquaintances came up in conversation. This built up and up, and then fizzled out without any impact on the plot at all. Literally the whole way through the novel it was there, and then had no bearing on their romance. There were no real obstacles, no real interest. They met, they were besotted, they had babies and lived HEA. No blips, no emotion. Just bish, bash, bosh romance novel done.
I never thought that I would be this disappointed by a Julia Quinn novel. It was completely lacking in plot, characterisation and that liveliness that Quinn novels almost always have. When I finish a Quinn novel I am usually smiling and happy and I want more, but I barely made it through this novel. In fact had it been anyone elses name on the cover I'd have stopped. Ahhhh man, actually I'm going to lower to a one-star rate because I really didn't like it.
Julia Quinn usually has a uniqueness to her stories and characters, a warm and witty sense of humour and most importantly spark and chemistry. All of these elements were lacking in this novel. Andrew and Poppy were so bland that it would be an insult to vanilla to describe them as such. They had no personalities, no unique voices, I won't remember them in a week. There was absolutely no chemistry between them at all, and their meeting and romance was all so very tenuous and forced. They bored me utterly.
The only plot was the romance between Poppy and Andrew, there were no subplots to run alongside or intertwine with the main romance. The book was largely set on a boat and in one room, so there was a heavy reliance on dialogue to progress the story. Essentially it became a series of conversations between Andrew and Poppy which were forced, not funny and trying to be clever but failing to have that witty banter that I usually love in Quinn novels.
Not only were they boring, they were also repetitious. There was too much gawping and gaping, he was surprised by her, she by him. Their jaw dropped, their mouth opened... repitiuous and dull.
I thought for sure that Andrew's double life would somehow get Poppy into trouble, that he would be seen delivering a message or be taken down as a known agent but it was introduced a backstory for Andrew and then had absolutely no impact on the plot until one minor incident at the very end if the book. It wouldn't have taken much to write in some shadowy bad guy that he had been working against for ages, and have Bad Guy kidnap Poppy to get to Andrew or some such. Just to give everything a neatness and some foreboding and foreshadowing to sink our reader's teeth into. Andrew is guilty for bringing Poppy into it, Poppy is angry he lied to her and got her into trouble... but no.
There was one 'dramatic' incident, but it had nothing to do with his role at all, and was just a case of wrong place wrong time. Even this incident wasn't written with much excitement or drama. Also, there was this totally odd 'secret' introduced, in which Andrew knew Poppy indirerectly. He kept it from her and he kept changing the subject when acquaintances came up in conversation. This built up and up, and then fizzled out without any impact on the plot at all. Literally the whole way through the novel it was there, and then had no bearing on their romance. There were no real obstacles, no real interest. They met, they were besotted, they had babies and lived HEA. No blips, no emotion. Just bish, bash, bosh romance novel done.
I never thought that I would be this disappointed by a Julia Quinn novel. It was completely lacking in plot, characterisation and that liveliness that Quinn novels almost always have. When I finish a Quinn novel I am usually smiling and happy and I want more, but I barely made it through this novel. In fact had it been anyone elses name on the cover I'd have stopped. Ahhhh man, actually I'm going to lower to a one-star rate because I really didn't like it.
kateconnor19's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
natalia86's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
dollyshouse97's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
3.25
kierstanryan's review against another edition
4.0
Who doesn’t love a love story with pirates (or I mean privateers)?
cjeannette's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
smsienk's review against another edition
4.0
Another enjoyable Bridgerton book!
These characters feel like friends to me by now. Quinn excels at creating characters who are likable, vexing, and real enough within the strictures of the romance novel structure. They tend toward a similar dynamic, but I don’t mind. Such fun, lighthearted reads.
These characters feel like friends to me by now. Quinn excels at creating characters who are likable, vexing, and real enough within the strictures of the romance novel structure. They tend toward a similar dynamic, but I don’t mind. Such fun, lighthearted reads.