#curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction sure didn't bring it back THIS time 😒

[rillabrooke]

you may be thinking to yourself, "rilla this is entirely uncharacteristic of your tastes" and you would be absolutely right. first and foremost, this was an experiment cuz i wanted to see how Popular Published historical romance compared to um a wattpad book. so let's break it down shall we?

claim:  this was no better than a wattpad historical romance.

evidence:

i canNOT take this seriously. this was hilarious in ways ms. julia quinn never intended. i literally laughed out loud at parts because they were so ludicrous/ridiculous/what have you. there were times when i thought, "there is no way any sane person would be doing [this] when [that] is happening" and then they DID! comedy at its finest.

there were no details to place this story in 1813. this could've taken place in any era with moderately archaic social practices. with the liberties ms. julia quinn took (e.g. calling someone by their first name on the day you met them - emma woodhouse throws a fit about mrs. elton calling MR. knightly just "knightly" because not even SHE does that), i would've placed the story way later in the century.

let's just say I've read wattpad books with more historical accuracy than this. there were certain scenes (usually paragraphs before i skipped a whole bunch...) where i question whether miss daphne bridgerton was wearing a stays. or simon basset was wearing a coat and waistcoat and a cravat etc. at least she was consistent on the glove front.

julia quinn has a fascination with the word "acerbic" which I've never seen used before. it was used six times in the first 40%. SIX!

--almost the same number of times ms. julia quinn mentions the bridgerton boys' height and hair color!

one thing the netflix show did better is the whole whistledown element. she was a wasted element here. she could've been absent from the plot and i wouldn't've missed her.

ok the elephant in the room: the sex scenes. i did a LOT of skipping there at the end, but luckily I'm a wattpad veteran and have years of skipping experience. lemme let you in on a little secret though....... most of the historical romance on wattpad fades to black, if that. the authoresses on the Orange Site are more tasteful than anything beyond pg-13 ty very much.

content was boring. I've read some wattpadian historical romance that touched on difficult topics - including the Having Of Children - and handled it much better than whatever this was.

which leads me to my next point: they are an awful couple. when they aren't lusting after each other, they are just horrible to each other. there is a rape scene in here that no one ever addresses??? What? nO??

if this WAS a wattpad book, I'd probably rate is 3 stars, but as this is an edited, published, 456 physical pages...

conclusion: go read a wattpad historical romance instead of this hot garbage because 1) they're free and 2) don't take 3 months for the loan to come in from the library.

now, a sane person would look at this two-star review and say, "i'm discontinuing this series!" but in light of this fitting right in on the Orange Site, i will be giving it the Orange Site treatment: the first book in any historical fiction series is always the worst - worst written, worst plot, worst historical details, etc. - but by the third book, it's often something worth reading. similarly, i have been told that this series improves with the books. i will, therefore, give the bridgertons the same three chances before i toss it for good.

2024 Reading List

The Curse of Pietro Houdini - Derek B. Miller

Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

Just Stab Me Now - Jill Bearup

The Words and Music of Paul Simon - James Bennighof**

The Paul Simon Companion: Four Decades of Commentary - Stacey Luftig**

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

The Zookeepers' War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War - J.W. Mohnhaupt

The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

The Screaming Staircase - Jonathan Stroud

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson

The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

The Whispering Skull - Jonathan Stroud

King Lear - William Shakespeare

The Duke and I - Julia Quinn

* reread ** for school