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lavins's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
After reading a lot of books with lots despicable people (including the ones that were supposed to be the victims), this book feels like a breath of fresh air. It is good to see beautiful aspects of people, not only the traits that make them get to rock bottom.
This is a heartwarming story about a sister who loves dearly his brother, about a woman that is struggling to find her place, about a lost soul that feels abandoned and unloved.
The characters are nice and sweet and genuinely kind.
A great regency story.
After reading a lot of books with lots despicable people (including the ones that were supposed to be the victims), this book feels like a breath of fresh air. It is good to see beautiful aspects of people, not only the traits that make them get to rock bottom.
This is a heartwarming story about a sister who loves dearly his brother, about a woman that is struggling to find her place, about a lost soul that feels abandoned and unloved.
The characters are nice and sweet and genuinely kind.
A great regency story.
annabethjoy23's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
winemakerssister's review against another edition
3.0
I liked aspects of this, but it's hard to fully endorse a story when one of the main themes is lack of communication. I'm not particularly fond of that trope. And I wanted to like Esther more than I did - she seemed to react to many things in a negative or immature way. But the cover is lovely.
user613's review
4.0
A statue of the Greek Hermes comes falling off Esther's neighbor's roof. Silas, an old childhood friend of Esther, is walking underneath, and Esther pushes him out of the way and saves his life. She lands on top of him and falling unconcious from a blow to her head. Esther's and her family hope that people will forget about this compromising situation and it won't stain her name. (Esther is not happy when her sister-in-law suggests she and Silas marry).
Then, a few weeks later, Esther falls into a lake, with Silas present, and walks back to the main party dripping wet and wearing his coat. Silas decides there's only one way to keep Esther's reputation clean, and announces they're engaged.
However, Esther how quite strong feelings about people making decisions for her. Especially Silas, her brother, Isaac's friend, who always considered her a baby.
And, Silas doesn't even ask her what she thinks before they're married.
She's sure that Silas married her because he feels responsibility towards Isaac (who's away at war) and not because he feels anything towards her. And she hates how he treats her no better than anyone else.
The lack of communication between the two, and Esther's self-doubt were annoying at first, but ultimately they added to the charm of the story.
We watch Esther and Silas overcome their feelings and past memories, understand where they went wrong and apologize to each other, learn to communicate, and slowly but surely fall in love.
This was a sweet romance touching on themes of frienship, family and mourning. We even got to learn about the end of the French revolution.
Content warnings:
Romance:
Silas and Esther, once married, share some kisses and she lies her head on his chest a few times and he holds her in his arms. There are many subtle alludings to doing more one day, mostly mentions of the door between Silas and Esther's rooms, and a few mentions of having children which cause Esther to blush. It all felt sweet.
Both Silas and Isaac hug their female friends once. (When Silas does this in front of her Esther is jealous).
Violence:
Esther gets a bloody head injury. Isaac, Esther's brother, is fighting in France. He's thought to be dead for a week and Esther and Silas mourn, then he appears at their house missing an arm. He gives a brief summary of how it happened.
Religion:
Mention of Lazarus, raised from the dead. Silas and Esther are married in a church and their banns are read.
Mention of pagan statues. Silas is nearly hit by a stone depiction of Hermes that falls from a roof.
Then, a few weeks later, Esther falls into a lake, with Silas present, and walks back to the main party dripping wet and wearing his coat. Silas decides there's only one way to keep Esther's reputation clean, and announces they're engaged.
Spoiler
However, Esther how quite strong feelings about people making decisions for her. Especially Silas, her brother, Isaac's friend, who always considered her a baby.
And, Silas doesn't even ask her what she thinks before they're married.
She's sure that Silas married her because he feels responsibility towards Isaac (who's away at war) and not because he feels anything towards her. And she hates how he treats her no better than anyone else.
The lack of communication between the two, and Esther's self-doubt were annoying at first, but ultimately they added to the charm of the story.
We watch Esther and Silas overcome their feelings and past memories, understand where they went wrong and apologize to each other, learn to communicate, and slowly but surely fall in love.
This was a sweet romance touching on themes of frienship, family and mourning. We even got to learn about the end of the French revolution.
Content warnings:
Romance:
Spoiler
Silas and Esther, once married, share some kisses and she lies her head on his chest a few times and he holds her in his arms. There are many subtle alludings to doing more one day, mostly mentions of the door between Silas and Esther's rooms, and a few mentions of having children which cause Esther to blush. It all felt sweet.
Both Silas and Isaac hug their female friends once. (When Silas does this in front of her Esther is jealous).
Violence:
Spoiler
There is mild violence in this book, none described.Esther gets a bloody head injury. Isaac, Esther's brother, is fighting in France. He's thought to be dead for a week and Esther and Silas mourn, then he appears at their house missing an arm. He gives a brief summary of how it happened.
Religion:
Spoiler
Mention of Lazarus, raised from the dead. Silas and Esther are married in a church and their banns are read.
Mention of pagan statues. Silas is nearly hit by a stone depiction of Hermes that falls from a roof.
excel_spreadsheet_book_nerd's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
3.25
thenovelbook's review against another edition
4.0
This book starts with a couple that feel forced into marriage to protect their reputations, in ways that felt overly contrived to me. However, once I hit the halfway mark, I couldn't put it down and really wanted things to work out right between them. Although stories like this could always use a hefty dose of honest communication between the hero and heroine, there was enough emotional depth that I enjoyed being along for the ride.
rock_hyrax's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- 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
hebberelle's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of eye rolling. Girl tells boy repeatedly that she doesn't like people to plan her future without asking her, boy proceeds to do it again after every time she tells him. He is confused about why she's angry about getting zero say in her own life.. again. He continues to be shocked every time she's not grateful he's planned everything for her and left her out of all decisions. Wow, shocking.