Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - To Sir Phillip, With Love: Bridgerton

3,75⭐

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The previous Bridgerton books spoke more to me than this one did. Don't get me wrong: it wasn't bad at all, but it was just not completely what I expected. Eloise is one of my favourite Bridgerton siblings, so my expectations were a lot higher. I loved the beginning of the book, but I found it a bit boring after a while. The end made up for it in some way, but it wasn't enough for me.

Also: the s*x-scenes were so unrealistic, reading this as woman. Women don't 'explode', as described by Quinn, as easy or at all in the way the couple made love. I would have loved a more realistic representation.

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readyforit's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

2.0

2⭐️1.5🌶️(open door, not very descriptive)
I’ve really been enjoying the series up until Eloise’s story. This book missed the mark for several reasons for me, mostly because I just think the whole premise of Eloise running away to marry a man she’s never met doesn’t sound like her at all. In the book, marina is a bridgerton cousin, still married to sir Phillip crane instead of his brother George who died in the war. She dies young and Eloise writes to Phillip, and they begin a year of correspondence before Phillip asks her to visit to see if they would be a good match for marriage. He only seems concerned with having her be a mother to his two unruly (and neglected and abused) children, and not as having her as a wife or partner. You expect some misogyny with historical fiction books but this one was especially bad, and I never found myself rooting for Phillip. In fact, I’d say he’s the villain of this story. Eloise deserves better and so do his kids. I am curious about how they will incorporate this book into the show. Before reading any of the books I had hoped they would allow Eloise to remain unmarried and maybe she would pursue writing or something, and after reading her story I can say I do NOT want it in the show without SIGNIFICANT changes to Phillip’s personality, the kids’ storyline, and how they insulted marina for having depression. I won’t be rereading this book and this was unfortunately the first in the series that I didn’t enjoy.

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tessamcevan's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Ugh. I so wanted to like it because I like Eloise in the Bridgerton Series.

Sir Philip is the last man whom Eloise would ever marry.

A man who constantly talks about needing someone to have sex with and to mother his children. Really?!

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annahamburger's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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ameydireads's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad 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

3.0

“Eloise blinked with surprise when she realized that she had reached the end of her page. She didn't recall a single sentence, and in fact wondered if perhaps her eyes had only slid along the words without actually reading the letters.”

Been there, done that…

Now we finally get to know why Eloise was acting so strange in the previous book. Society thought Eloise would end up a spinster, but then she meets Philip. Philip is an interesting character who does not know how to handle people but knows exactly how to be a good scientist and spends too much time with his plants. Eloise on the other hand is very sociable and knows how to deal with people. Philip has two children and he finds it impossible to control them. Whilst Philip mainly wants someone to run his house and take care of his children, Eloise came to Philip looking for love. This of course causes a lot of problems that they need to overcome. To someone who has not been happy for a very long time, Philips starts to realise what a pleasant addition Eloise is to his life. On top of all the hurdles, we also have Philip’s children who have to get used to Eloise. I really liked how Eloise’s relationship with the children grows over time!

Another thing I like is that this story is set far from London and that there are some important issues mentioned in this story. One of them is depression and perhaps even postnatal depression.

“She'd been so melancholy following their birth. Marina had always seemed fragile and overly pensive, but it was only after Oliver and Amanda had arrived that she'd sunk into her own world of sorrow and despair.”

We don’t see how Marina deals with this and the impact depression has on her but we do see it from her family’s perspective.

The other issue is child abuse. Clearly, it shows how important it is to not only hear what children have to say but to truly listen.

What I didn’t like is something that comes back in all of these Bridgerton books. Men are portrayed to have mainly two sides. They can be either angry or full of lust and that isn’t fair.

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