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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
I wanted to read this book before I watched the movie, and I honestly didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I loved Selina, and Julia was ok shes got the typical childish 1800s personality down that's always entertaining. Mr. Malcom was ok for me. I wasn't as in love with him as I would be with Mr. Darcy or some of the Bridgerton men. There was never really an explanation for his list, and he was constantly portrayed as arrogant, which was, of course, off-putting. I feel like none of the characters had any meaningful changes by the end of the book. The pacing was very slow towards the middle, and I had to speed up my audiobook to get through some of these chapters.
I hope the movie is better.
I hope the movie is better.
Enjoyable read!
Plot and writing are far better than the characters, in my opinion. I really enjoyed the writing - and the audiobook narrator executed the audio version perfectly! The plot was also compelling- lists! Secrets! Disgruntled not-even-really-exes! But the characters… they were not super compelling to me. The parents of the main characters were my favorites, far and away. Jeremy’s mother? Selina’s mother and father? Superbly done! Selina and Jeremy? Kinda meh for me. Jeremy was a not super awesome there at the end, and he never really redeems himself fully; Selina has a backbone but only at the worst moments for it.
Overall a fun read with the proper expectations.
Plot and writing are far better than the characters, in my opinion. I really enjoyed the writing - and the audiobook narrator executed the audio version perfectly! The plot was also compelling- lists! Secrets! Disgruntled not-even-really-exes! But the characters… they were not super compelling to me. The parents of the main characters were my favorites, far and away. Jeremy’s mother? Selina’s mother and father? Superbly done! Selina and Jeremy? Kinda meh for me. Jeremy was a not super awesome there at the end, and he never really redeems himself fully; Selina has a backbone but only at the worst moments for it.
Overall a fun read with the proper expectations.
Such a fun, quick and witty period romance. I enjoyed every second & the movie adaptation is
Started off strong and quite funny but never went anywhere quite frankly.
3.5 stars.
Spoiled brat Julia is incensed when Mr Malcolm does not submit to her charms, and is angered further when her cousin Lord Cassidy discovers Malcolm has a list of traits for his ideal woman against which he rated women of his acquaintance. The list has the feel of criteria Malcolm would use to rate horses for purchase for his stable, so, even if Julia is self-centred, she does have cause for anger and hurt.
Where she goes too far is when she recruits her much less wealthy friend, Selina, to help her play a trick on Malcolm. Unfortunately, the whole plan goes off the rails fairly early on when Selina and Malcolm fall for each other. Julia tries a variety of tricks, and things only go from bad to worse, with Selina and Malcolm becoming annoyed with each other and Malcolm feeling ill-used by Selina (what about his stupid list and treating various young ladies somewhat poorly??....Ah well, he should not have to deal with the consequences of his actions!)
There is swooning, clever conversations, verbal cuts, while two couples dance around each other, and yes, there is a happy ending, despite Malcolm being pretty much a dolt from beginning to end. Selina's too good for him...
Spoiled brat Julia is incensed when Mr Malcolm does not submit to her charms, and is angered further when her cousin Lord Cassidy discovers Malcolm has a list of traits for his ideal woman against which he rated women of his acquaintance. The list has the feel of criteria Malcolm would use to rate horses for purchase for his stable, so, even if Julia is self-centred, she does have cause for anger and hurt.
Where she goes too far is when she recruits her much less wealthy friend, Selina, to help her play a trick on Malcolm. Unfortunately, the whole plan goes off the rails fairly early on when Selina and Malcolm fall for each other. Julia tries a variety of tricks, and things only go from bad to worse, with Selina and Malcolm becoming annoyed with each other and Malcolm feeling ill-used by Selina (what about his stupid list and treating various young ladies somewhat poorly??....Ah well, he should not have to deal with the consequences of his actions!)
There is swooning, clever conversations, verbal cuts, while two couples dance around each other, and yes, there is a happy ending, despite Malcolm being pretty much a dolt from beginning to end. Selina's too good for him...
It's not my favorite read of 2022 but I do think it'll be a fun movie.
This was a sweet and light romantic comedy. The characters are the usual cliched and the plot is very standard. I was hoping for a bit more fleshing out of the characters but many of them were the standard back of the room and step forward when a quip or throwaway comment is needed. This was a fun and quick read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I probably should've looked more closely at reviews for this book instead of jumping in blindly. It didn't take very long to decide it wasn't for me. I wasn't connecting with the characters in any way and, after taking a quick peek at Goodreads, I decided it was time to cut my losses.
I probably should've looked more closely at reviews for this book instead of jumping in blindly. It didn't take very long to decide it wasn't for me. I wasn't connecting with the characters in any way and, after taking a quick peek at Goodreads, I decided it was time to cut my losses.
Was underwhelmed with the movie so I was curious about the source novel. Yikes. This was exponentially more problematic than the film. Manipulation bordering on emotional abuse is pretty much the name of the game. And it wasn’t just the main couple, though our ‘hero’ certainly was the worst offender.
Also, the movie basically wrapped up the story at the book’s halfway point. And let me tell you. That was a *wise* choice.
Also, the movie basically wrapped up the story at the book’s halfway point. And let me tell you. That was a *wise* choice.