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A review by fa1th_
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Riding the trend of the Netflix series and my love for anything Regency era, I have finally decided to read this book. I have already known some spoilers of the story through other reviews and have watched the series, so I know fully what was coming in the book, still I must say the latter half overall was very difficult to get through, especially The Scene™.
The first half was okay, it was not the best historical romance I've read but it was fun and lighthearted. There were some classic romance trope like fake dating, which was an oldie but a goodie. Perhaps Daphne and Simon were just not my favourite characters, I found the side characters more interesting like the rest of the Bridgertons, the family and sibling dynamic were lovely. However, I was sad to say I didn't care much about Anthony either, he's less likeable in the book. I understand he was an overprotective big brother type character, but he had no personality other than being overprotective. It was quite a shame because I wanted to like him so bad.
I must confess, even though I was well-aware about The Scene™, it was still hard to read. The whole situation would be resolved if they would just sit down and talk about things, you know, like any sensible adults would do. Both Daphne and Simon are wrong about their approach the matters. Simon took advantage of his wife's ignorance, and Daphne assaulted Simon when the most he could provide was "dubious" consent in a half-intoxicated state. In the book you would see a bit more about why they did what they did but it was still messy. I also would like Daphne to be a tad bit more regretful about what she did, but she was not, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. They argued about wanting to have kids so much in the latter half, but all I was thinking was neither of them was responsible enough to have children. They were both very childish and in need of a therapist, marriage counselling even, especially Simon.
It took me half a month to get through this book, and I know I was more interested in the romances for other Bridgerton siblings than Daphne and Simon before going in, but I'm not sure I would continue on the series. Probably I will pick up the rest for the TV shows. Anyways, at least the musical inspired by this by Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow was so very amazing.
The first half was okay, it was not the best historical romance I've read but it was fun and lighthearted. There were some classic romance trope like fake dating, which was an oldie but a goodie. Perhaps Daphne and Simon were just not my favourite characters, I found the side characters more interesting like the rest of the Bridgertons, the family and sibling dynamic were lovely. However, I was sad to say I didn't care much about Anthony either, he's less likeable in the book. I understand he was an overprotective big brother type character, but he had no personality other than being overprotective. It was quite a shame because I wanted to like him so bad.
I must confess, even though I was well-aware about The Scene™, it was still hard to read. The whole situation would be resolved if they would just sit down and talk about things, you know, like any sensible adults would do. Both Daphne and Simon are wrong about their approach the matters. Simon took advantage of his wife's ignorance, and Daphne assaulted Simon when the most he could provide was "dubious" consent in a half-intoxicated state. In the book you would see a bit more about why they did what they did but it was still messy. I also would like Daphne to be a tad bit more regretful about what she did, but she was not, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. They argued about wanting to have kids so much in the latter half, but all I was thinking was neither of them was responsible enough to have children. They were both very childish and in need of a therapist, marriage counselling even, especially Simon.
It took me half a month to get through this book, and I know I was more interested in the romances for other Bridgerton siblings than Daphne and Simon before going in, but I'm not sure I would continue on the series. Probably I will pick up the rest for the TV shows. Anyways, at least the musical inspired by this by Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow was so very amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and Pregnancy