This episode our Snarky Sisters review Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn (of Bridgerton series fame). Side note: in classic Beth fashion, she had forgotten she had read this book before and made us read it again! This is book three in the Belvestoke series but can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, we recommend the second book in the series as it was the best - in fact, skip this book and just read that one.
To sum up how we feel about this book: we have a love/hate relationship with it, it's complicated. The hero is awesome (with a fabulous name) but the heroine was meh and kind of wishy-washy. And don't even get us started on some of the plot holes. Peppered through out is some fun dialogue and funny moments. Feel free to skip the last three to four chapters, seriously. Better yet, after the proposal scene skip to the last chapter and epilogue - you will thank us later.
In the spirit of the book, here are 10 things from the book that we try to wrap our heads around:
1. What is the most disturbing part, is it a. the fact that a "gentleman" reuses his assignation (i.e. sex) blanket for a mild flirtation, or
2. b. that a young woman is forced to wed someone with whom her grandmother has been intimate (and shares a child)? (Spoiler: We were unable to make a decision - they are both gross and so upsetting).
3. Does the heroine have special magical powers which allows her to distinguish in detail the hero's hair color in the dark of night?
4. And let's be honest, is there even a difference between chocolate and walnut?
5. Is that really relevant to the story?
6. What was dentistry and orthodontia like in the 1800s? Because all these rich, white people have perfectly straight teeth
Which leads to. . .
7. Don't get us started on the whiteness of their teeth - no way were those teeth so white with the copious amounts of dark liquids they consumed - tea, coffee, wine, ale, etc.
8. How big was London Society in Regency period - it seems like a relatively small world and yet none of these characters co-existing at the same time seem to ever run into each other?
9. Why can the characters in these books not have open, honest conversations with each other? Looks like they didn't teach communication skills in those fancy universities and finishing schools.
And finally. . .
10. Seriously, this book should have ended like five chapters before it did.
Warning: This episode contains some adult language and themes
