Jilly's Reviews > Not the Duke’s Darling

Why hasn't Jilly written a review for several days?
Because I have stalled-out on this book. I can tell how much a book is holding my attention by whether or not I am willing to turn on Netflix at night. So, the last few nights I have been rewatching the Schitt's Creek series. That tells you how much this book captivated me.


IKR? Jilly is a night-reader, not night-watcher.

So why is this book so boring?
It had potential to be exciting. There is a group of women who call themselves Wise Women (which, let's be honest is just a tad presumptuous and pretentious. You never call yourself wise. You wait for other people to do it. Maybe start spouting philosophical terms and wear some smart-person glasses. It will happen naturally that way. Just a tip.). Anyway, these Wise Women are basically ye old feminists who try to help womankind in a time when we were looked at as chattel. And, of course, fragile masculinity and all, there was a group of men who wanted to kill them. They were called witches for having crazy ideas like a woman shouldn't have to give up every cent of her inheritance to her husband the minute she's forced to marry him. That's crazy talk!!


That's right. He wears the pants AND the hat in the relationship. Also, stockings and a jaunty bow around his neck. He's a man, but he knows fashion.

Also, there was a terrible tragedy that started the whole chain of events that included murder, an elopement, a disfigurement, a forced marriage, and a disgraced family. So, there was more than enough to have an exciting story.

So, what was the problem?

None of the things I mentioned were actually shown in the book. It all happened before the story or in the background. All the book has is a VERY slow-moving romance. It wasn't bad exactly, it was just that there were so many interesting things that we never actually got to. Instead we had the usual stuff like dancing and walking in the woods and playing cards at a house party. (And, holy crap am I glad I wasn't alive back then. Talk about boring! No wonder they died so young. It probably felt like they'd lived forever, pissing in ceramic bowls, wearing uncomfortable clothes, eating jinky food, and trying to find a way to beat back the boredom every night by candlelight. Just fucking kill me.)



Needless to say, I got bored. I think that if I hadn't had such expectations then it would have been better. It just had a lot of telling and very little showing.