Book Review: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

 

Goodreads Summary: In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.
Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet, an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...

Goodreads Ratings: 3.6 stars with over 207,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Romance, Historical Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 25/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #10 Read a book that's been turned into a TV show or Movie (find the entire challenge here) 

Book Review:

Happy weekend, Readers! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I decided this week was a good time to start reading The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. One of my friends bought me the first three omnibus book sets after getting me to binge Bridgerton on Netflix. 

I started this on July 7th. I ended up staying up until 5 am to finish it. I was a little surprised at how much I really enjoyed the first Bridgerton book. I knew I would because of how much I liked the show, but I was surprised at how funny it actually was. I expected it to be cheesy because it being a romance, but there was a lot of witty dialogue that made me laugh. I found the Bridgerton family as a whole incredibly endearing.

I feel like Netflix did an excellent job with Bridgerton. There was a lot in the show that stayed pretty true to the first book. Obviously, they do have to change some things to make it more attractive as a tv show, so I felt like there was a lot more high society drama in the show than what was in the book. Now that I've read the book, I have even more appreciation for the show. I don't want to give too much away, just wanted to give anyone a heads up before they read the book or watch the show if they haven't already. One thing that Netflix took from the books that I thought was really cool was the color scheme of clothing, especially for the Featheringtons. 

In the version of the book, I have had a second epilogue. I'm not sure if that's standard for all versions or not. I enjoyed seeing what their lives are like when they're in their forties. This did give some spoilers into the later books though, however. 

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to start reading the rest of the series, though it may be a bit before I jump into the other ones. The husband let me loose at Barnes and Noble the other day, and I got a horror story centered around the Titanic and the Brittanica.  Anyway, The Duke and I, while kind of a cheesy romance, is an enjoyable story. I don't feel much research was done for the historical aspect of the book, but given that it wasn't trying to depict actual events, it's not that big of a deal. Definitely recommend it if you like Historical Romances.

Unrelated to the review, I wanted to talk about my trip to Barnes and Noble.  I wandered around the Science Fiction and YA sections to try and figure out what books I wanted and noticed a sign that read "Queer Magic". They had the entire store decorated for both Pride and Juneteenth, which I thought was great. As I continued to look through books nearby, a couple holding hands walked by the sign, and one of them got insanely excited and yelled, "Queer Magic! They have a section for us!" They had such pure joy that I couldn't help but smile. A little while later, I walked nearby them (still looking for a book), and they were just hanging out on the floor nearby this display, looking at the books together. It was such a cute moment that I nearly left the YA section just because I didn't want me being there to intrude. I just wanted to share this story because it was just such a beautiful moment and shows how much representation matters. I think that having representation like this can help break down barriers and help many people struggling with their mental health. I really believe things like this can save lives.