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A review by ginger_cricket
A Duke by Any Other Name by Grace Burrowes
2.0
I picked back up with this series because I wanted something light, easy, and a bit charming. The books so far have been wobbly but manage to hold together well enough. This one was less convincing.
Althea has been rejected and bullied by the ton in London and has not faired better at the Yorkshire estate to where she withdrew. Despite multiple attempts and adherence to her understanding of social norms, she has failed to be welcomed by her peers in the area. This aspect felt very realistic. Althea’s background and its ramifications for her acceptability among nobility and feelings around her desire for acceptance feel logical. The entire premise of the series seems unlikely, but given that readers have accepted the unlikely rise of Quinn Wentworth and his family, Althea and her circumstances are understandable.
After that, though, nothing about this book seems to hold water. Althea, in an act of desperation, turns to her neighbor, Nathaniel, to… tutor? …her on becoming popular. This immediately feels like a 1990’s teen movie. Nathaniel is a reclusive ‘bad boy’ who dresses in all black. He enters through her window instead of the front door. And so forth.
Without revealing too much of the plot, Nathaniel’s got a lot going on with his personal life, which leads him to shun society all together. This plotline is outlandish, but we’re already buying the Wentworth storyline, so I’ll excuse it.
What I can’t excuse is the non-sensical way that somehow a bizarre arrangement of comebacks, sidelooks, and invitations is going somehow win everyone over to Althea’s side. Or, how at the end Nathaniel drops major news to local society and everyone seems to take it in stride.
Stephan again is a winning character. And for the first time, a religious figure is shown in positive light.
Althea has been rejected and bullied by the ton in London and has not faired better at the Yorkshire estate to where she withdrew. Despite multiple attempts and adherence to her understanding of social norms, she has failed to be welcomed by her peers in the area. This aspect felt very realistic. Althea’s background and its ramifications for her acceptability among nobility and feelings around her desire for acceptance feel logical. The entire premise of the series seems unlikely, but given that readers have accepted the unlikely rise of Quinn Wentworth and his family, Althea and her circumstances are understandable.
After that, though, nothing about this book seems to hold water. Althea, in an act of desperation, turns to her neighbor, Nathaniel, to… tutor? …her on becoming popular. This immediately feels like a 1990’s teen movie. Nathaniel is a reclusive ‘bad boy’ who dresses in all black. He enters through her window instead of the front door. And so forth.
Without revealing too much of the plot, Nathaniel’s got a lot going on with his personal life, which leads him to shun society all together. This plotline is outlandish, but we’re already buying the Wentworth storyline, so I’ll excuse it.
What I can’t excuse is the non-sensical way that somehow a bizarre arrangement of comebacks, sidelooks, and invitations is going somehow win everyone over to Althea’s side. Or, how at the end Nathaniel drops major news to local society and everyone seems to take it in stride.
Stephan again is a winning character. And for the first time, a religious figure is shown in positive light.