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dearangela 's review for:
The Duke Undone
by Joanna Lowell
The cover is my favorite part of the whole thing. I have not read this author, but I love historical romance and the plot sounded interesting.
I really wanted to DNF this so many times. I kept saying, maybe if I finish this chapter, it'll be better. Reader, it was not. It was also so much longer than it needed to be. There were about 5 subplots, with varying degrees of relevance to the story.
I am not usually one to fault a book for inaccuracies, but I can't abide character inaccuracies. They abound in this book and it was so frustrating. Example... This book is about a woman who finds a naked man (Duke) in an alley, and draws his naked form (for art!). Is this kinda terrible? Yes, but, she leaves a shawl over him, so it's fine. Next, she sells the naked picture (high art!) without his consent. Awful? Yes, buuuut, no one sees it because the Duke gets to it first. It's as if the author has decided to make her characters flawed, and make unlikeable choices, but pulls back from it to save their likeability. Its incredibly frustrating.
Now the Duke. He gets so blindingly blackout drunk he loses his clothes, misses appointments and hides his Breakfast liquor. Is he an alcoholic? No, obvs. You know, war, it's fine. He gets along with animals, children and every drunk at the bar. Somehow he's going to save the heroine's home from being condemned. How? Duke-ness? Honestly, I don't follow. There are a lot of discussions about the planning boards. Like, more than two.
I also want to talk about Kate... She's the heroine's BFF, but consistently dresses as a man. This was an opportunity to have some kind of sapphic, nonbinary or transgender representation, but, again, came to nothing. It's just a fun quirk of her personality.
I really wanted to DNF this so many times. I kept saying, maybe if I finish this chapter, it'll be better. Reader, it was not. It was also so much longer than it needed to be. There were about 5 subplots, with varying degrees of relevance to the story.
I am not usually one to fault a book for inaccuracies, but I can't abide character inaccuracies. They abound in this book and it was so frustrating. Example... This book is about a woman who finds a naked man (Duke) in an alley, and draws his naked form (for art!). Is this kinda terrible? Yes, but, she leaves a shawl over him, so it's fine. Next, she sells the naked picture (high art!) without his consent. Awful? Yes, buuuut, no one sees it because the Duke gets to it first. It's as if the author has decided to make her characters flawed, and make unlikeable choices, but pulls back from it to save their likeability. Its incredibly frustrating.
Now the Duke. He gets so blindingly blackout drunk he loses his clothes, misses appointments and hides his Breakfast liquor. Is he an alcoholic? No, obvs. You know, war, it's fine. He gets along with animals, children and every drunk at the bar. Somehow he's going to save the heroine's home from being condemned. How? Duke-ness? Honestly, I don't follow. There are a lot of discussions about the planning boards. Like, more than two.
I also want to talk about Kate... She's the heroine's BFF, but consistently dresses as a man. This was an opportunity to have some kind of sapphic, nonbinary or transgender representation, but, again, came to nothing. It's just a fun quirk of her personality.