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A review by joanav
Addicted to the Duke by Bronwen Evans
3.0
I've received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
2.75*
Review in Portuguese: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/livro-addicted-to-duke-de-bronwen-evans.html
When I saw this book’s theme, I thought it might be interesting to see how the author would deal with the addiction to opium and laudanum a few centuries ago. And I must say it was well presented, in the majority of times.
Alex Bracken was captured by a Turkish pirate and was held hostage for two years. He made him an opium addict. When Alex finally escaped, he obviously had a very hard struggle to give up opium and that continued daily. But, what Alex could get rid of was the nightmares, and so he started taking the occasional drop of laudanum to help him sleep, which could create a new addiction (even though at the time laudanum wasn’t seen as an addictive substance).
Alex escaped with Hestia’s father help, and so he owed him his life. When he came to him to ask for help to retrieve his daughter that had been captured by the same pirate that had held him hostage, Alex doesn’t hesitate and rescues her. At the time, Hestia was around 15 years old and developed a crush, seeing Alex only as her hero. Alex starts to like her, but her father doesn’t approve of their union.
A few years later, Hestia asks for Alex’s help to uncover the truth about her father’s supposed death, and both of them returned to the Greek islands where they had been held hostages to see if her father is still alive and get him back to England. During this voyage, Hestia realizes that Alex isn’t just the hero she envisioned, but also a very troubled man who is haunted by his problems every day. But that doesn’t keep her away – on the contrary. However, despite these complements, neither Hestia nor Alex were characters I particularly liked. Hestia was a bit annoying and Alex…well, I don’t know. I was being constantly reminded of the opium’s effects and after a few chapters I knew by heart what the author was going to say (again) about them. Obviously that it is a constant hard struggle, but the story could demonstrate that without it just being shown with inner dialogues.
Hestia’s father is a selfish man who doesn’t pay attention to his daughter, leaving her alone with her aunt for months and months while he goes to Greek islands. Also, he doesn’t treat Alex the best way, although he claims to see him as a son.
It was a different book from what I’m used to, but I don’t think it actually worked for me.
2.75*
Review in Portuguese: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/livro-addicted-to-duke-de-bronwen-evans.html
When I saw this book’s theme, I thought it might be interesting to see how the author would deal with the addiction to opium and laudanum a few centuries ago. And I must say it was well presented, in the majority of times.
Alex Bracken was captured by a Turkish pirate and was held hostage for two years. He made him an opium addict. When Alex finally escaped, he obviously had a very hard struggle to give up opium and that continued daily. But, what Alex could get rid of was the nightmares, and so he started taking the occasional drop of laudanum to help him sleep, which could create a new addiction (even though at the time laudanum wasn’t seen as an addictive substance).
Alex escaped with Hestia’s father help, and so he owed him his life. When he came to him to ask for help to retrieve his daughter that had been captured by the same pirate that had held him hostage, Alex doesn’t hesitate and rescues her. At the time, Hestia was around 15 years old and developed a crush, seeing Alex only as her hero. Alex starts to like her, but her father doesn’t approve of their union.
A few years later, Hestia asks for Alex’s help to uncover the truth about her father’s supposed death, and both of them returned to the Greek islands where they had been held hostages to see if her father is still alive and get him back to England. During this voyage, Hestia realizes that Alex isn’t just the hero she envisioned, but also a very troubled man who is haunted by his problems every day. But that doesn’t keep her away – on the contrary. However, despite these complements, neither Hestia nor Alex were characters I particularly liked. Hestia was a bit annoying and Alex…well, I don’t know. I was being constantly reminded of the opium’s effects and after a few chapters I knew by heart what the author was going to say (again) about them. Obviously that it is a constant hard struggle, but the story could demonstrate that without it just being shown with inner dialogues.
Hestia’s father is a selfish man who doesn’t pay attention to his daughter, leaving her alone with her aunt for months and months while he goes to Greek islands. Also, he doesn’t treat Alex the best way, although he claims to see him as a son.
It was a different book from what I’m used to, but I don’t think it actually worked for me.