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brittbee07's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
There is a lot to unpack on this one. I love Eloise. I love how she is part of everyone's story but also apart from everyone's story. Because of this, I was excited to read her story. And most of it was interesting and didn't make me cringe. But there was about 15 pages that should have been rewritten because it made me hate Philip and no amount of "I love yous" would change the damage he did.
Eloise is a strong and independent woman which I love. And, even though Philip does so much to extinguish her fire, he never does. I am glad she was never bowed to him. Even when she went to Benedict and Sophie's she left for her own sake, to help herself. That being said, she was not a great mother to start - fighting fire with fire is rarely if ever the answer. Revenge is a dish that escalates and is a terrible strategy for childcare.
I loved that Sophie was featured in this story. She was a treat in her own book and continues to be one now. She is sane in the midst of insanity and doesn't brook the bull. She's also a nice counterpoint to Eloise's brassiness.
The relationships felt more real in this story. Philip's rationalizing his treatment of his children because he knows it's wrong, Eloise being taken aback that the person wasn't the imagination, the slow build of their love for each other. Even the ways the Bridgerton brothers interacted with Philip felt more real.
I think I have written this in my reviews before, but Julia Quinn is not a great "spice" writer. She has one style for writing the "spicy" moments of her books and she always has to do something to make it weird. "He slid her finger into his mouth and suckled." Or, from this one, "What did one say to a man after he'd had his tongue in one's ear? Never mind that it had been a very nice tongue, indeed." "She screamed." No adjectives, no prepositional phrases, no figurative language. Just, "She screamed." in the midst of spice. That isn't spicy. Just odd little details. And then men always pry the woman's mouth apart with a flick of the tongue and a nibble on the corner of her mouth. Um...what?
But then she laid this at the feet of the reader:
What's up with Julia Quinn and emotional manipulation - Philip's life has been worse and therefore Eloise isn't allowed to complain? I think not. He literally tells her, "Until you've lived through all that don't you ever complain about what we have. Because to me...to me...This-us-is heaven. And I can't bear to hear you say otherwise." Dumping his unresolved trauma on Eloise is not okay, and she deserves much better. He's the worst of the husbands so far (either married into or not). She can't have feelings or opinions because Marina was not Philip's ideal wife. Ew. This was the same emotional manipulation Penelope laid at Colin's feet. Maybe Penelope and Philip should have ended up together.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent
cwerber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Death of parent
annelihghh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
wyrmwood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Gaslighting
adelaparra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
walkingcha0s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
zeynus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
mariskyjy's review against another edition
Tw: noncon, child abuse, mention of post partum depression below
• said he hadn't had sex in a long time and went to visit wife marina. "She didn't say no," (I think the implication was PPD) but seemed disinterested. He felt awful afterwards, which is a *great* excuse (sarcasm)
• the kids are terrified of him. "His" son asks, upon getting in trouble, "are you going to hit us?" And Philip is a menacing presence to them, and doesn't know how to parent them. Like even if you have never hit your kid(s) (which Eloise is convinced that she's *such* a good judge of character, despite only meeting this guy within the last week, that Phillip could *never* abuse his kids), they shouldn't be terrified that you're going to. End of sentence. No, wait: fuck this guy. Now end of sentence.
• spoiler, the "reasoning" for this is eventually that his father was horribly abusive towards him, and Phillip is trying not to be like him. Cool reason, bro. I get that therapy was not a huge thing back then (assuming) but my god. Work on yourself to not be like your father.
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
esv_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Grief