Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Francesca by Julia Quinn

22 reviews

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

2.75

Oh this is probably tied for my least favourite of the series so far. I really liked the first half where Francesca and Michael are trying to grapple with their grief. It felt so raw and emotional, you end up caring a lot for the characters. How they grow, their desires to show up for each other, but how shame, fear and sorrow hold them back. But the last half was a brutal slog. I did not like the latter half of Michael’s characterization, which was brutish, mean and seemed pressuring in a way that made me uncomfortable. And it’s like Francesca lost all personality, other than becoming some sort of “oh my” kind of character. It also felt like it was just rehashing some of the same issues at the beginning of the book without adding anything new to the plot. I ended listening to the last third of the book on 1.8x speed just to get through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abandonment

britwalsh16's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed Francesca’s story. I wish we had gotten more of her & Johns relationship at the beginning. But I do love her & Michael & them being best friends, makes me really happy to read about. I liked watching their internal struggles dealing with their feelings for eachother in the wake of John’s death too, very realistic. 

The only part I didn’t really like was the whole "seduction" plot Michael started when he got to Scotland. It seemed so out of character. He spent the first half of the book fighting his feelings for Francesca & how he couldn’t be with her cause it "disrespected" John. I agree with them getting married making sense & him proposing & trying to convince her, but when the convincing became seduction, it just felt wrong, & it just surprised me coming from Michael who deeply respected Francesca, but that didn’t feel like respect at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infertility, Violence, Alcohol, and War

esv_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

ameydireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.0

“This thing between them, this bond–it wasn't just passion, and it wasn't wicked. It was love, and it was divine.”

An interesting story and different from the other Bridgerton books. I don’t think I will read this again, mainly because of the red flags. Acknowledging the fact that everyone is flawed coud enhance the reading experience. 

The main characters are Francesca Bridgerton and Michael Stirling. 
Francesca was married to John, Earl of Kilmartin, and after only two years of marriage she was left a widow. She has always loved John a lot and griefs him deeply. She would not even think of remarrying if she didn’t have an immense desire to have a baby. So marriage is now on the table and she is determined to find someone to marry even if she has to settle for a marriage without love. Because in her opinion, a woman would not simply find love like that twice in a lifetime. 
On the other hand we have Michael, John’s cousin. He has loved Francesca since the moment he laid eyes on her. Incidentally, this was just a few days before she got married to John. Michael would never hurt or betray his cousin, so his love for Francesca remained hidden and instead a great friendship flourished between Francesca and Michael. 
This story is woven with threads of grief and guilt. They both loved John very much and dealt with his loss in their own ways. For Michael inheriting the earldom and everything that came with it felt like he was taking over John’s life. He could not possibly also have Francesca. Michael put up such a great facade, that Francesca does not believe him to be a suitable husband. Once a rake, always a rake. Little does she know that he puts on this facade to momentarily escape from his feelings for her.

I had trouble understanding Michael’s change of heart. At first he is reluctant to even consider marrying Francesca as it felt like he was dishonouring his cousin. Then he was determined to get her no matter what, almost like he flipped a switch within himself. Too abrupt for my liking. Not to mention his approach… uhmmmm… excuse me!! I don’t want to spoil it but you can find it in the list below.

Now for the red flags:

1.  
   When Francesca miscarries her baby with John and she tells Michael that the baby was to have been his in a way too. WHAT?! That’s such a weird thing to say. Granted, she does not know about his feelings for her and in the historical context of this book it makes sense since women were mostly dependent on men. But still… It felt very manipulative and off-putting when reading this in modern times.
    
2.  
   Michael’s approach to get Francesca to marry him. His intentions and love for Francesca are pure, but despair makes one do stupid things. If he can’t sway her into marriage using logic, then he would do so by using passion. He decides to compromise her and get her pregnant so that she has no other option than to marry him. In the end, the passion that they both share is what unites them and they realise that they’re perfect for each other. The final destination is great, but the journey itself had me rolling my eyes.
    
3.  
   Francesca is hurt and feels invisible and neglected when her siblings have gotten married or are getting married without her presence. Michael uses this to convince her to get married immediately.
    

The mothers in this story on the other hand were green flags! It’s no surprise that Violet is a good mother who gives Francesca great advice and support. But it’s a blessing to have a great mother-in-law! Janet understands Francesca and wishes her the very best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

meghanm404's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bookish_kori's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Loved the book! Bridgerton has become my go to “escape the world for a bit” romance series and it definitely works for that! I’ve gotten a little frustrated that all the Bridgerton sisters (and female love interests with the exception of Penelope so far… sorry Kate) seem to assume the same personality once it’s their turn to be the main character. They all have different personalities within the family dynamics and it just would’ve been cool to see a lot of those play out more in their interactions away from their family. Same with the Bridgerton men, all originally having different personalities but turning fierce and slightly aggressive when it’s their turn to be the POV character. 

Not a reason at all to skip the series, in fact I’d still recommend it, just be prepared/trigger-warned for some Womanizer Lite behavior from the men and some personality shifts from all characters book-to-book. Seems to be smoothed over well in the show so far :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Terminal illness and Blood

Male behavior towards their partners throughout the series is aggressive bordering on coercion/non-consent at times in intimate scenes before basically yelling “DO YOU CONSENT?” to which the woman agrees. This book had some straight up coercion

(out of wedlock that could ruin the woman and not the man)

that I would NOT consider “clear and enthusiastic” consent despite Francesca agreeing/participating later on. And he is NOT admonished for it. Francesca seems to be the one criticized by the book for being hesitant. This coercion happens with

Sophia and Benedict

in their book too. I understand the timing for the books release is far earlier than the show, but still it gave me the ick. Most of the women are painfully and weirdly portrayed as innocent and uninformed with regards to steamy scenes (even in this book when she had been married before) and the men get off on that. Women are 99.9% of the time enthusiastic participants but completely uniformed (or in this book, she’s informed but “it was never like this” with her first husband so she has to relearn everything a new way). Despite their lack of knowledge, which I guess makes sense given the period it’s set (*cough cough* EVERY single male character is considered super experienced and not shamed for it in the slightest), the women ALL suddenly and randomly become “temptresses” who take control of the situation. Books praise the men as being exemplary because they care about the pleasure of their partners and not just themselves and appreciate the woman taking control. LOW BAR. Idk it’s just happened enough by now that I feel the need to comment on it all. It’s weird. So TW sexual coercion and sexual exploitation I guess. Though some of the women do it too.

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

reflective 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

2.0

This got off to a good start, but gradually went downhill. I didn't like Michael's entitlement or the way he lost his temper with Francesca over small things. It felt like he seduced her into having sex with him and then coerced her into marriage, so the second half of the book was a real miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

Minor: Chronic illness, Blood, and Pregnancy

haleysversion's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

aromarrie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Grief

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage

booksalacarte's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

When he was wicked- 3.75⭐️ 3.5🌶️

This is the young widdow/remarriage/he fell first/ forbidden love book plots

The tension and pining on Michael’s part is good, but how many times are they going to be stuck in the rain? Or rained on? Or in the middle of a rain storm? 

I hated how this book messed with the timelines. With it happening while 2 of the other books are happening made it real confusing. 

The book is the most like a standalone. But in place of the bridgerton family you got John, but you don’t get to actually get to know him and why he was so great… you only get the guilt associated with him.

I liked Francesca, but I have a soft spot for typical middle children… and she definitely is one. She is barely mentioned in the other books, hardly any of her first love story is talked about while it’s happening. 

Michael is delicious, but has the Julia Quinn typical man temper. 

All this to say, I still really liked the book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Blood and Alcohol