A review by sadie_young
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

lighthearted medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I’m going to say something very controversial… I think the tv show might actually be better than the book 🫣. The book was good in its own way, but the tv show definitely explored more and I felt I got to know the characters in a much more in-depth way. I think I preferred that as compared to the book. Actually I know I did because the casting was incredible and the acting and directing really enhanced what is a bit of a lackluster story. 

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it right off the bat (and the reason I have struggled to give this a star rating): rape is rape. Doesn’t matter who is the perpetrator. So I can’t really be cheering for a main character who assaults their intimate partner. So… Daphne isn’t a “good person” but any stretch of the imagination. She admits later in her own thoughts that she doesn’t regret sexually assaulting her husband because it made her feel good. She’s going to have a baby whether he wants her to or not. That’s a big enough of an issue. But the even bigger issues….. Daphne suffers literally zero consequences for RAPING her partner. He isn’t mad at her for that (WHICH IS A HUGE BREECH OF TRUST), he’s mad that she made him stutter in their argument. She doesn’t even feel bad for what she did, but she does act surprised that he leaves and doesn’t want to be around her. Her actions are horrendous and I’m horrified that people sexualize assault. Just because Simon isn’t the perpetrator doesn’t mean it’s okay. 

[Honestly, if the rolls were reversed and a male ejaculated into a woman without her consent after she explicitly told him she didn’t want to have kids people would be freaking out. No one would call that romance. It’s assault. And the fact that people ignore it because it’s a woman is just disgusting.]

Setting aside what are some of the largest issues with this book. The plot is rather weak. The characters (especially Daphne) are just dumb. Her brothers were all far more interesting and as much as I want to see their stories progress I think I’ll just stick to the TV show and leave these books alone. I just can’t be bothered enough to care about Daphne anymore, she’s a shit character. Clearly the author is better at writing male characters and leaves her female to be complete stereotypes (all blushing virgins with no knowledge what so ever). And I’m not interested in wall flower females or the “I’m not pretty why won’t anyway marry me except people I don’t like” type women. Uh huh. We ain’t here for that anymore