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adelevarley 's review for:
The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband
by Julia Quinn
The epitome of blerg. Who cares? There are always things in Julia Quinn novels that don’t make sense, but this book seemed to have some serious plot holes. Namely, why did Cecilia think she could still get married to someone else in England after Edward’s godmother knew that they were married? You would think there would be some sort of talk. Her fake marriage wouldn’t just be erased from everyone’s minds. And her brother conveniently kept a ton of money that Cecilia could use to pay her boat fair back? Also, was her brother really a traitor? She just left that whole plot line unresolved. Where was the editor?!? Did Julia Quinn need quick money? This read like a second draft- NOT a finished novel.
The whole love story was unbelievable and kind of shallow. Falling in love with someone because you read their letters has already been done (Eloise’s story), and on top of that, it’s been done better (Eloise’s story again). There was not enough substance in the letters to make me believe that Edward would have fallen in love with Cecilia after reading them. They were so boring that I have a hard time believing he would read them at all. Cecilia has the personality of a stale graham cracker, and Edward is a watered-down version of every male Bridgerton. In fact, this book is a watered down version of a much better Bridgerton novel. It tries to do way too much, and yet accomplishes nothing. Hopefully Shondaland saves this one when they inevitably do another Bridgerton spin-off series.
It’s hard to write books that are all so similar without making them sound the same. Julia Quinn has certainly run through the Regency Romance genre. This book had promise to be different though- running away to America? A fake marriage? The redcoats? The American Civil War? Do not be excited. Julia Quinn dives into territory that she does not have any knowledge of, making her world shallow and uninteresting. She tried to write a book that she can’t write, as she has no solid knowledge of the time period. Instead of focusing on interesting historical moments or building a strong sense of place in New York, the whole book consisted of Cecilia being jealous and creating problems for herself that shouldn’t exist while Edward talks about his lost memory and not about anything interesting. This book might as well have taken place in Kent because besides for the weird Dutch bakery that showed up twice there was no sense of place (I should mention the whole military hospital thing but that was boring to read about). Also the way that Cecilia talked about people of color in New York did not sit right with me. I know the book takes place during the regency period, but… idk.
And the whole side plot that was about Cecilia’s missing (dead) brother was stupid too. Who cares? We all thought he was dead, and that being true made the book oh so boring. It would have been more interesting if he would have run off with someone in Connecticut or Haarlem- or was lying to everyone just like Cecilia. Maybe he should have been a deserter. Or a secret ally to the 13 colonies? Also Edward is able to drop everything and sail back to England to get to Cecilia? And the explanation is “I talked to the captain and got it settled?!?” Stupid. Unrealistic.
Again, so much promise, but this book fell so flat. Julia Quinn- stick to what you know!!
The whole love story was unbelievable and kind of shallow. Falling in love with someone because you read their letters has already been done (Eloise’s story), and on top of that, it’s been done better (Eloise’s story again). There was not enough substance in the letters to make me believe that Edward would have fallen in love with Cecilia after reading them. They were so boring that I have a hard time believing he would read them at all. Cecilia has the personality of a stale graham cracker, and Edward is a watered-down version of every male Bridgerton. In fact, this book is a watered down version of a much better Bridgerton novel. It tries to do way too much, and yet accomplishes nothing. Hopefully Shondaland saves this one when they inevitably do another Bridgerton spin-off series.
It’s hard to write books that are all so similar without making them sound the same. Julia Quinn has certainly run through the Regency Romance genre. This book had promise to be different though- running away to America? A fake marriage? The redcoats? The American Civil War? Do not be excited. Julia Quinn dives into territory that she does not have any knowledge of, making her world shallow and uninteresting. She tried to write a book that she can’t write, as she has no solid knowledge of the time period. Instead of focusing on interesting historical moments or building a strong sense of place in New York, the whole book consisted of Cecilia being jealous and creating problems for herself that shouldn’t exist while Edward talks about his lost memory and not about anything interesting. This book might as well have taken place in Kent because besides for the weird Dutch bakery that showed up twice there was no sense of place (I should mention the whole military hospital thing but that was boring to read about). Also the way that Cecilia talked about people of color in New York did not sit right with me. I know the book takes place during the regency period, but… idk.
And the whole side plot that was about Cecilia’s missing (dead) brother was stupid too. Who cares? We all thought he was dead, and that being true made the book oh so boring. It would have been more interesting if he would have run off with someone in Connecticut or Haarlem- or was lying to everyone just like Cecilia. Maybe he should have been a deserter. Or a secret ally to the 13 colonies? Also Edward is able to drop everything and sail back to England to get to Cecilia? And the explanation is “I talked to the captain and got it settled?!?” Stupid. Unrealistic.
Again, so much promise, but this book fell so flat. Julia Quinn- stick to what you know!!