Kristina ’s Reviews > The Cruel Duke > Status Update

Does this author only write Duke books? Every book on her backlist is about a Duke. I guess she has a niche, too bad I get so tired of Duke books.

This book is just too slow. It has its moments but it’s filled with cliches and maudlin sentimentality. The servants thanking her for bringing joy back into the manor? 🤮 She waters flowers she finds in the cracks of paving stones by scooping water out of puddles with her bare hands? 🤮 I feel like even Disney would say this author went too far with the special snowflake heroine.

I’m having trouble figuring out if this hero is shy or evil. It’s a real mindfuck, lemme tell you. I’m hoping evil.

This is the slowest moving book ever but I need to know the mystery. If it isn’t good I will riot!!

I keep thinking that the pacing of this book is slow because I’m only 1/3 through then I noticed she has a 100 pages of samples at the end. So I’m probably at 50%, which might make it worse because nothing has happened yet. I need to lean into the slow burn. 🥴

I hope he is a murderer, that would make this more exciting. Maybe the doors with red paint are the rooms where he offed his victims and are haunted by their souls. 👻

This has a gothic feel because the hero is so mean and we don’t know his motivations for it at all. But I want to know why his manor house is so run down and neglected. Is there a crazy relative in the attic? 🤔 Here’s hoping.

Ok this is improving. Sometimes authors just don’t know how to start a book without thrusting the reader right into the conflict yet also bogging said conflict down with descriptive prose.

Is this supposed to be a farce? It’s weird.

Ugh I hate the writing in this. It’s so amateurish. Will I DNF four in a row? Stay tuned.