I recently binged all three seasons of Bridgerton on Netflix for the first time. I know, it’s practically sacrilege for a woman like me. I tried watching the show before, but it never really clicked, until now. Something in the stars aligned and I fell into a feral obsession.
Naturally, when I finished Bridgerton, I needed a symbolic Bloody Mary to cure my incredible show hangover. That came in the form of realizing that I had never read the original source material for the show, so I dove headfirst into the first book in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, The Duke & I.
My greatest takeaway from the entirety of the Bridgerton universe is that I want to be Lady Whistledown with my whole soul. Except I am not fancy, only talk to like four people, and hate leaving my house, which seems prohibitive to the successful execution of a gossip column. So my dearest readers get book reviews instead. You’re welcome.
The Lady Whistledown of the books lacks a certain amount of the magic and bite of her television counterpart, but this author will chalk that up to the brilliant voice talents of Julie Andrews. The book version is still plenty juicy, though, but almost plays a diminished role in comparison with the love story occurring.
Plot-wise, the book is remarkably similar to the show. There are relatively few departures in terms of the overall storyline, and the differences are minor. Daphne has been out in society for three seasons instead of one, and instead of being the most desired woman of the season, she is largely seen by society as a a sweet girl better suited for friendship than marriage.
The characters are also very familiar, although the TV show diversifies the cast in a way that feels very necessary. The Simon of the book does actually retain his stutter into adulthood, which makes him feel like a more well-developed character. This is hard to pull off on screen, but I did appreciate the depth it added to his story in the book. Daphne’s character was similarly less “perfect” in the books. She had insecurities and doubts in a way that wasn’t fully explored in the TV show, but she had that same spark and zest that we all love to see in a society lady.
The effect of these books as a romance novel instead of a TV show was a sweet and touching love story. The Duke & I featured slightly less drama than season one of Bridgerton but with more emotion attached to the tamer events of the story. Overall, I prefer the show. There is a magic that Shonda Rimes brought to life from these stories, but the book is still absolutely excellent, and worth a read if you, like me, have no idea what to do with yourself after finishing Bridgerton.
Spice: 2
Writing: 4
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