Book Review: When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
Today, I’m going to review When He was Wicked by Julia Quinn. By far the steamiest of the Bridgerton books, this one is sure to not disappoint. Especially if you’ve loved any of the other books before this one. I’m warning you, though, don’t read this in public!!
Book Information
Francesca Bridgerton is not like the rest of her family. She doesn’t like being loud and rambunctious. She doesn’t like having hordes of people around her. She doesn’t have her happily ever after anymore. Francesca lost her husband, the love of her life, after only two years of marriage. When her husband’s cousin, Michael, isolates himself in India, she feels as if she has nothing left. But Michael only left because he has a secret to hide: he’s been in love with Francesca from the first moment he saw her. As he returns to London, he must face his love for Francesca to find out once and for all if it could ever work, and if he’d ever not feel guilty about loving his dead cousin’s wife.
Review | Heidi Dischler
Okay, so I think I enjoyed this one a lot more than most of the others. I can’t say it’s my favorite, but it’s definitely in the top three. This book had more emotion in it and less playfulness, which is honestly right up my alley. I love books with strong emotions and sadness and everything else that comes with heartbreak because they always feel more impactful than the novels that don’t have those emotions.
Michael fought himself a lot when it came to loving Francesca. I think that constant struggle with guilt and love made for an interesting story. I also love how Francesca isn’t sure what she wants and yet still wants to grieve for the loss of her husband. Of course, she loved him, but as she began to have feelings for Michael, it made her feel so guilty. As you can see, guilt is a strong theme in this novel, but hope is too and healing.
I don’t really have many spoilers for this book that I want to talk about because even by reading the description, it’s pretty easy to tell what will end up happening. There weren’t many surprises there. I really like, though, how Francesca seems to be completely different from her family and “the black sheep.” I thought her character development was great.
Overall, definitely one of my top Bridgerton books. There’s only two left in the series, so I’m interested to see how they rank among each other! I might even make a post about it.
Source: Overdrive Ebook from Public Library
