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A review by mangosugar
When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
— 3.75 stars
i was really into this until about the 80% mark when we took a disappointing turn :/ it kind of cheapened the romance aspect and i feel like miss quinn really rushed the end to sort of up the romance value if this makes sense… if you read it you’ll know what i mean lmao.
all in all, definitely the best book of the series. the main guy, michael, still has the signature julie quinn toxic masculinity and bursts of anger that we’re supposed to find so hot. but i feel she at least *tried* to tone it down this time… although he does monologue about trying so hard not to kill someone every chapter so who knows, maybe i’ve just become desensitized to it from reading the series. that said, i like him way, *way* better than any of the bridgerton men which really says something about how damn bad julie writes them. i think it’s safe to say we’re all only here for the bridgerton women and we can watch the show to see the guys act normally.
francesca is… i don’t really know. i can’t put my finger on whether i like her or not, i never really gave her much thought in previous books and i started this one out rooting for her but she sadly got on my nerves sometimes. still, though, i think she and penelope are the easiest to empathize with and relate to in the series, so that’s something.
what really made this book fun for me, though, was the longing. i’m a sucker for longing, yearning, aching, unrequited love and all that good stuff. i think julie quinn did a fantastic job expressing that through michael. i also love the added layer of michael being john’s cousin and i think the entire situation and the grief theme was handled really well.
i was really into this until about the 80% mark when we took a disappointing turn :/ it kind of cheapened the romance aspect and i feel like miss quinn really rushed the end to sort of up the romance value if this makes sense… if you read it you’ll know what i mean lmao.
all in all, definitely the best book of the series. the main guy, michael, still has the signature julie quinn toxic masculinity and bursts of anger that we’re supposed to find so hot. but i feel she at least *tried* to tone it down this time… although he does monologue about trying so hard not to kill someone every chapter so who knows, maybe i’ve just become desensitized to it from reading the series. that said, i like him way, *way* better than any of the bridgerton men which really says something about how damn bad julie writes them. i think it’s safe to say we’re all only here for the bridgerton women and we can watch the show to see the guys act normally.
francesca is… i don’t really know. i can’t put my finger on whether i like her or not, i never really gave her much thought in previous books and i started this one out rooting for her but she sadly got on my nerves sometimes. still, though, i think she and penelope are the easiest to empathize with and relate to in the series, so that’s something.
what really made this book fun for me, though, was the longing. i’m a sucker for longing, yearning, aching, unrequited love and all that good stuff. i think julie quinn did a fantastic job expressing that through michael. i also love the added layer of michael being john’s cousin and i think the entire situation and the grief theme was handled really well.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault