The Duke and I
Ratings332
Average rating3.3
Serie 1 was aangenaam, serie 2 was nogal matig. Licht nieuwsgierig hoe de oorspronkelijke boeken zijn, en hoe een aantal plotlijnen aflopen. Deze review is voor delen 1-4 (ze lezen nogal makkelijk weg, in een hangstoel in StJ :-)
“Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth—orderliness is, of course, beneficial in all things, but one would think that intelligent parents would be able to keep their children straight without needing to alphabetize their names.”
Eerder 2,5*, maar deel 4 trok de boel weer wat omhoog.
Deel 1, “D” - fijne dialogen, wijkt een beetje af van de (hoofdplotlijn) van serie 1.
“The duchess experienced pains a month early, and pillows were tucked under her hips. Gravity might keep the babe inside, Dr. Stubbs explained. The duke thought that a sound argument, and, once the doctor had retired for the evening, placed yet another pillow under his wife, raising her to a twenty-degree angle. She remained that way for a month.”
Deel 2, “A” - heel anders dan de verfilming, wel aardig
Deel 3, “B” - merkwaardige variant op Assepoester - meh
Deel 4, “C” (of eerder: “P?”) - de beste van de vier
the TV show was better
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-168-the-duke-and-i-bridgerton-1/
I kept receiving recommendations for this book and I am happy I finally tried it.
The book quickly sets up a witty dialog and interesting characters. The Lady Whistledown gossip clippings is such a great addition to the book. The clippings are funny and offer insightful witticisms about many characters. The large number of characters in this book can be a lot but the author does well at creating separate personalities and setting up a larger world beyond the Bridgertons.
The romance in the book was a slow friendship to romance that felt natural. The two main characters were interesting and had a good amount of chemistry. The only thing that stops this book from being great is a scene where the female lead takes advantage of the drunk male lead. This was a big subtractor to the book and it is not taken as seriously as it should as the book only views it as a breach of trust. The male lead also withholds information on reproduction from the female lead. They do work through these issues, but I wish they were not included at all.
I did like the book overall and the ending was good. It stands out among the other historical romance I have read.
I did not like this book, but I couldn't stop reading because I loved the show. Really disappointed with how rape-y it is in the end though.
Removal of Consent
The way that they each removed each other's ability to fully consent to life altering decisions ruined the end of the book for me. Ps don't read the second epiolog if you wanted to see this without spoilers for books to come.
I'm not a big romance reader, but sometimes life calls for it. I read this in my back yard over about a day and a half. It isn't demanding, but it is enjoyable. My one major disappointment with it was that there weren't any explicitly non-white characters as there are in the TV show. I didn't mark this as historical fiction because, although it is set in a specific historical period, there is so much about it that is anachronistic. If you read it expecting it to be historically accurate in any way, you'll be disappointed. However, it does deal with some real issues that challenge people's relationships with loved ones, especially shame and unresolved anger. I liked it.
casi rompo todo el libro con ESA escena, horrible, una cosa es ser ingenua e inexperimentada y otra muy diferente ABUSAR a tu esposo que te dijo que NO quiere tener hijos; nlno repugnante y el un machista, irrespetuoso y altanero del orto con tremendos problemitas de ira; me caen para el orto los dos.
4.5!!! i loved this so much :,) this world is my favorite. it was hard to get used to the third person pov, but still enjoyed it nevertheless!!
Watching Bridgerton along with reading the books and oh my god, the Netflix series moves so fast while the books are slow burn, they really stretch out an entire scene.
Reminds me of Evie Dunmore's Bringing Down the Duke!
Their miscommunication and opposite levels of experience are both madly infuriating!!
I love the bonus chapters we get. The gap between the couple getting pregnant then suddenly having a child felt so drastic.
Very easy fun read (until the much discussed scene at the end of course). I can see why this is the series Netflix chose to adapt. There's a lot of great banter. I hated Antony in season 1 of the show but I can see he's written that way. I enjoyed the family dynamics in this one more than the couple.
3.5 stars
URGH. Flat characters, flat writing, flat sex scenes and marital rape!! He was drunk and she took advantage of him! Hope the next ones better.
3.5 stars
This book has been on my TBR for years. I've wanted to watch the adaptation of it since it was released but I refused to watch it until I read the book. Thank you to Ashley for buddy reading this one with me and getting me to finally read it. This is the first book in an 8 book series and it follows Daphne the the only Bridgerton daughter. This is Daphne and Simon's story. I liked the romance and the banter. Honestly I don't really have a whole lot to say about this one. It was ok and I definitely want to continue with the series but this one didn't blow me away. There was also something that happened toward the end that I totally didn't expect and is very problematic and controversial.
“—El tipo de mujer sobre la cuál los hombres escriben poesía.
—Ya eres el tipo de mujer sobre la que los hombres escriben poesía.”
asdfghjklñ
One of the only times the show was better than the book. I loved the characters from the show much more than the book, the show also had a lot more content. Book was a quick entertaining read.
As a romance novel, this is a good one. I'm OK with the sex descriptions, and I'm glad about the fact that her first time didn't hurt. It's romantic enough and ends happily :-)
Llevo mucho tiempo queriendo leer esta serie de libros, pero por algun motivo (por la cantidad de libros que son y la temática, la cual no pensé que me fuera a enganchar tanto) la venía posponiendo.
Las adaptaciones me gustan bastante asi que supuse que los libros me gustarían igual o incluso más.
También otra razón por la cual venía posponiendo la lectura es que siempre leía varias opiniones negativas sobre el primer libro (justamente este) por lo ocurrido en esa escena que supongo ya todos sabemos... Pero, dejando eso de lado, me gustó, es una novela ligera y fácil de leer, que te puede hacer reír y pasar un buen rato. Me parece un buen libro para dar inicio a la serie.
Ya quiero leer los demás.
Rating: 4.5/5
Rounded down to 4 stars
I was pleasantly surprised, I truly enjoyed this one. I looked forward to reading this and enjoyed it throughout the experience. I rated it 4.5 stars due to the fact that the switch from “fake courting” to actual feelings felt really quick. I would have liked to see more scenes of them talking, but that's just me personally.
This whole thing would've been 5 stars, if it wasn't for the absolutely abhorrent way the author handled the conflict between the two main characters.
Chapter 18 - worst “romantic” scene ever. I was so pissed, I had to take a break from reading. Made me hate the main character and from then on, I just wanted it all to end.
The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is the fact that, much as I hate to admit it, the author is good. Her writing style is on point and the banter in this book is top shelf. And because in comparison to all other “romance” books I read this week, this one actually was romantic and worked. Until chapter 18 that is.
Utterly delightful.
Like many, I watched the Netflix series first then picked up the book, and I adore them both.
I can identify with Simon, the duke, from personal experience, and all his insecurities.
Daphne is a witty, bold heroine who's perfect for him.
Loved it!
I'm not that big a fan of romance novels, so the romance-y bits took away some of my enjoyment for me at reading this book. But if you like romance novels, you will probably give this five stars. I find it feels very like the show, so if you enjoy watching Bridgerton, you will enjoy this book. I very much like the characters and the base story, but would have personally enjoyed a more trimmed down novel more.
Yeah this is going to be full of spoilers but I'm going to put my thoughts here, because why not.
I didn't identify with Daphne at all. She comes from a family that doesn't know want, need, or dysfunction that hurts you.
I identified with Simon, and I felt weird watching his problems get minimized(with author choice, because he wasn't actually raised by his father much) and then swept under the rug, there's very little focus on him healing so much as him sweeping aside his trauma to give Daphne what she wanted.
I'm not going to say the book is bad, I'm giving it a 5 star review because it's a cute romance book outside of the parts that triggered me deeply–I don't want children, and as a woman it would be horrifying to go through a situation like this–where I marry someone telling him I don't want to have kids, that I have really hard pregnancies, only for him to force me into having kids for him, despite how awful the pregnancies are. Starting the marriage knowing that I would struggle to parent knowing my father is much like Simon's Father, only he didn't send me away and I had to deal with him every day.
I don't think this is series is for me, I guess I am glad I read about it and wish it dealt more directly with Simon's trauma rather than narratively minimizing it.