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cupofteenspirit's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
abby2503's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
notbambi's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What I'm learning about Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels is that she likes to ruin perfectly appealing romances with people acting like abusive dickheads. There's a lot to like about this book as long as you can ignore the couple of scenes about halfway through where Benedict gets to be this round's abusive dickhead.
MOST of the book is very sweet, with the star-crossed lovers from different social spheres falling for eachother, and for the first half, I was 100% Team Benedict and Sophie. Then Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, gets very reasonably rejected, and starts blackmailing Sophie to keep her in his life. It gets better, and Quinn at least has him realise he was a dickhead by the end, but man, this could have been a five star for me if it just weren't there in the first place.
I await season 4 of the TV show with bated breath and sincerely hope they leave out the parts of the story that make you hate Benedict.
MOST of the book is very sweet, with the star-crossed lovers from different social spheres falling for eachother, and for the first half, I was 100% Team Benedict and Sophie. Then Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, gets very reasonably rejected, and starts blackmailing Sophie to keep her in his life. It gets better, and Quinn at least has him realise he was a dickhead by the end, but man, this could have been a five star for me if it just weren't there in the first place.
I await season 4 of the TV show with bated breath and sincerely hope they leave out the parts of the story that make you hate Benedict.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape
luna_a's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Aside from the obvious plot holes in this book, the last 20% are just a bit much... But if you ignore that and also some toxic masculinity it's a fun book. Liked some banter between the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual harassment
ojudge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.75
This has been my favorite Bridgerton book so far! It truly felt like reading a fairytale…as Benedict and Sophie’s story has a strong similarity to one of my favorite princesses - Cinderella! I so enjoyed this story. There were times when Benedict’s behavior was less than admirable, which is why I’ve chosen to give only 4.75 stars. While book two began to dive into other characters within the Bridgerton universe, this book truly solidified the feeling of the books being a series and not just standalone books existing in the same universe. Scenes throughout the book helped to introduce what could be expected from other books down the line, while still having the love story between Benedict and Sophie be the MAIN focus of the book. I enjoyed getting some of the side stories as well though, while still feeling fully immersed in the main story. The story was truly beautiful and I enjoyed it so!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
allisondoesntread's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Classism
Minor: Emotional abuse and Rape
fromthefoxhole's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I rated it 4 stars, then i thought about it some more and lowered it to 3.
I’m willing to own the fact that the show has gotten me a little twisted from the books, but Benedict really frustrated me in this book.
Sophie i loved, truly. Her muttering wit, her resilience, her heart all shine from the first page to the last. (Plus, i love a girl with a solid right hook!!)
Seeing her get the literal cinderella treatment was fun and engaging, and all of her apprehensions regarding Benedict make perfect sense.
The problem here is that Sophie makes her stance abundantly clear, and Benedict quite literally kidnaps and blackmails her because he can’t take no for an answer. Where is my gentle and kind artist?? I can’t imagine that Violet would have been happy with him had she known the truth of their story either, she raised him better than that. Instead he acts like such a spoiled brat any time Sophie tells him no, to the point that she literally has to run away from him multiple times.
I’m glad they’re happy by the end of it, but good lord, I wanted to get a few punches in myself with the way Benedict acted.
I’m willing to own the fact that the show has gotten me a little twisted from the books, but Benedict really frustrated me in this book.
Sophie i loved, truly. Her muttering wit, her resilience, her heart all shine from the first page to the last. (Plus, i love a girl with a solid right hook!!)
Seeing her get the literal cinderella treatment was fun and engaging, and all of her apprehensions regarding Benedict make perfect sense.
The problem here is that Sophie makes her stance abundantly clear, and Benedict quite literally kidnaps and blackmails her because he can’t take no for an answer. Where is my gentle and kind artist?? I can’t imagine that Violet would have been happy with him had she known the truth of their story either, she raised him better than that. Instead he acts like such a spoiled brat any time Sophie tells him no, to the point that she literally has to run away from him multiple times.
I’m glad they’re happy by the end of it, but good lord, I wanted to get a few punches in myself with the way Benedict acted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
aramisdherblay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i only started reading this because i was intrigued by what benedict's storyline could be and i was not disappointed.. i literally read this in two days, it was so addicting i couldn't stop. i was gagged and giddy the whole time, benophie the couple that you are! there were some icky moments though where you're like yeah this was clearly written in the 2000s.. but still, i think the show is gonna remove these and i can't wait to see their adaptation.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual harassment
cielosiluminado's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
this was basically a captive-captor and forbidden romance cinderella retelling. you cannot change my mind.
i adored sophie and wanted to protect her forever. i didn’t hate benedict… but he wasn’t my favorite eitherand sometimes i wanted to throttle him. so yeah, their story was… interesting. all in all, i must say that i was still massively entertained throughout the story despite the shortcomings.
i adored sophie and wanted to protect her forever. i didn’t hate benedict… but he wasn’t my favorite either
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Fatphobia and Rape
ducktofu's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent