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A review by shaylee_reads
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
3.0
Ratings:
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5
Writing:⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:❤️❤️❤️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Tropes: Historical Romance and Fake Dating.
Content Warnings: Sexual Assault.
The Duke and I is the first book in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. It is a historical romance that follows Daphne, who is in need of a husband, and Simon, who plans to never marry. When Simon proposes that he and Daphne pretend to form a courtship to give him a break from the endless stream of mothers- wanting to show off their eligible daughters- and to bring much-needed suitors to Daphne. Daphne not wanting to go another season without a husband agrees, unaware of how difficult it would be to keep her “courtship” with Simon platonic. Soon their feelings begin to grow way.
Let me start off this review by saying if are want to read this book because of how much you loved the TV show, please keep in mind that they are VERY different. In my opinion, they are almost completely different. Unlike the show, the book almost exclusively follows Daphne and Simon's relationship with little to no side plots with other characters. Most of the fan-favorite characters from the TV show only show up once or twice or not even at all (Eloise, Penelope, and Lady Danbury), and some don’t even exist (the queen). When going into this book I highly suggest going into it with an open mind and don’t expect it to be just like the tv show you know and love.
Personally, I didn’t love the relationship between Daphne and Simon in the TV show, I know I’m one of the very few to feel this way. I personally felt that in the show the relationship between Daphne and Simon felt very rushed and that they lacked chemistry and It made me kinda hesitant going into this book.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case, I actually really liked their relationship in the book. I found that the lack of outside characters and plotlines allowed for there to be a lot more scenes between Daphne and Simon, which in turn made it so there was a lot more chemistry and romance growth between the two of them.
Another aspect of this book that I was pleasantly surprised with was the relationship between Daphne and Colin. Out of all the brothers, Colin is the one who seems to be closest with Daphne, he was always there for her when she needed him. I could tell that he would do absolutely anything to make sure she was happy and I just absolutely ADORED their relationship.
Speaking of Colin, I absolutely loved him in this book. Every time he was on the page, I was laughing my ass off.
One thing I didn’t like about this book was the scene where Daphne quite literally sexually assaults Simon and then it's played off as though it's not a big deal. Yeah, I could have done without that scene.
Overall, this book was better than I expected it to be and I’m excited to continue reading the series
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5
Writing:⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:❤️❤️❤️/5
Spice: 🌶️/5
Tropes: Historical Romance and Fake Dating.
Content Warnings: Sexual Assault.
The Duke and I is the first book in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. It is a historical romance that follows Daphne, who is in need of a husband, and Simon, who plans to never marry. When Simon proposes that he and Daphne pretend to form a courtship to give him a break from the endless stream of mothers- wanting to show off their eligible daughters- and to bring much-needed suitors to Daphne. Daphne not wanting to go another season without a husband agrees, unaware of how difficult it would be to keep her “courtship” with Simon platonic. Soon their feelings begin to grow way.
Let me start off this review by saying if are want to read this book because of how much you loved the TV show, please keep in mind that they are VERY different. In my opinion, they are almost completely different. Unlike the show, the book almost exclusively follows Daphne and Simon's relationship with little to no side plots with other characters. Most of the fan-favorite characters from the TV show only show up once or twice or not even at all (Eloise, Penelope, and Lady Danbury), and some don’t even exist (the queen). When going into this book I highly suggest going into it with an open mind and don’t expect it to be just like the tv show you know and love.
Personally, I didn’t love the relationship between Daphne and Simon in the TV show, I know I’m one of the very few to feel this way. I personally felt that in the show the relationship between Daphne and Simon felt very rushed and that they lacked chemistry and It made me kinda hesitant going into this book.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case, I actually really liked their relationship in the book. I found that the lack of outside characters and plotlines allowed for there to be a lot more scenes between Daphne and Simon, which in turn made it so there was a lot more chemistry and romance growth between the two of them.
Another aspect of this book that I was pleasantly surprised with was the relationship between Daphne and Colin. Out of all the brothers, Colin is the one who seems to be closest with Daphne, he was always there for her when she needed him. I could tell that he would do absolutely anything to make sure she was happy and I just absolutely ADORED their relationship.
Speaking of Colin, I absolutely loved him in this book. Every time he was on the page, I was laughing my ass off.
One thing I didn’t like about this book was the scene where Daphne quite literally sexually assaults Simon and then it's played off as though it's not a big deal. Yeah, I could have done without that scene.
Overall, this book was better than I expected it to be and I’m excited to continue reading the series