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A review by yourbookishbff
The Duke's Sister and I by Emma-Claire Sunday
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This debut was uneven at times, but lush and emotional with so much potential, that I'm excited to read more from this author. Above all, this was beautifully queer, with some of the most evocative scenes of queer joy and celebration and resistance that I've seen in historical romance (the Fourth Tier?!). The tension between our main characters was so thick at the start, and I reveled in how they circle and taunt and resent each other, each wounded and wounding. The fall into longing makes sense for these characters, and there is a moment of stunning clarity for our sheltered and naive FMC that felt like a gut punch:
"You couldn't want something you'd never really seen. You could dream about it, wish for it, hope that it might come. But to really want it - well, that was something else entirely. And now that Loretta had seen it, every bone in her body trembled with want."
And this imagery?!
"This was how Loretta felt upon reading Charlotte's letter. Her limbs, her organs, her beating heart were not strung with the adrenaline of movement, but of the moment just before. She was coiled and vibrating - like a hungry snake, but without the venom."
Sunday's writing is so visceral that the longing feels physically painful, and I couldn't get enough of it.
Where this didn't succeed as fully for me is in plot execution. We drifted through a few moments that weren't fully explained, and then when we revisited them, it wasn't clear what actually happened and when (I don't mind fade-to-black intimacy, but I would swear certain "first times" happened twice?), and we really needed more time to fully develop the third act conflict and its resolution. This is under 275 pages (at least in my copy), and it could have benefitted from being fleshed out more. The relationship became rushed in the end, and it made the HEA feel slap-dash, when the beginning held so much promise.
Also, I was so disappointed by the editing, and I'm really hoping a lot of this is corrected before final publication. The formatting of the e-arc was so bad that it was truly difficult to read and understand, because line and paragraph breaks were off, chapters started mid-page, etc. There were moments we switched POV and it took me a paragraph to realize, because the break was missing entirely.
All that said, I will absolutely read Sunday's next book, because I am so optimistic for her future stories and can't wait to return to the world her prose spins up.
"You couldn't want something you'd never really seen. You could dream about it, wish for it, hope that it might come. But to really want it - well, that was something else entirely. And now that Loretta had seen it, every bone in her body trembled with want."
And this imagery?!
"This was how Loretta felt upon reading Charlotte's letter. Her limbs, her organs, her beating heart were not strung with the adrenaline of movement, but of the moment just before. She was coiled and vibrating - like a hungry snake, but without the venom."
Sunday's writing is so visceral that the longing feels physically painful, and I couldn't get enough of it.
Where this didn't succeed as fully for me is in plot execution. We drifted through a few moments that weren't fully explained, and then when we revisited them, it wasn't clear what actually happened and when (I don't mind fade-to-black intimacy, but I would swear certain "first times" happened twice?), and we really needed more time to fully develop the third act conflict and its resolution. This is under 275 pages (at least in my copy), and it could have benefitted from being fleshed out more. The relationship became rushed in the end, and it made the HEA feel slap-dash, when the beginning held so much promise.
Also, I was so disappointed by the editing, and I'm really hoping a lot of this is corrected before final publication. The formatting of the e-arc was so bad that it was truly difficult to read and understand, because line and paragraph breaks were off, chapters started mid-page, etc. There were moments we switched POV and it took me a paragraph to realize, because the break was missing entirely.
All that said, I will absolutely read Sunday's next book, because I am so optimistic for her future stories and can't wait to return to the world her prose spins up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content