First, let me say that you shouldn’t pay any attention to my rating. This could be anywhere from 5 stars to 1. I couldn’t have been more confused.
SecoFirst, let me say that you shouldn’t pay any attention to my rating. This could be anywhere from 5 stars to 1. I couldn’t have been more confused.
Second, I would never EVER recommend this book to anybody. This was a painful experience.
OK! Now I need a break to pull my hair out, bang my head on the wall and then flagellate myself, because I actually read this book. … OUCH!
OK, now that I’m back… I need to make something clear. I am NOT a pervert. Please, my friends here at GR, do not give up on me. I swear I didn’t know!
This is a bodice-ripper. Delete that! This is a BODICE-RIPPER (as well as chemise, corset, petticoat and whatever it is women were wearing back then-ripper). The only bodice-rippers I’ve ever read are those by Judith McNaught. So I heard the hero, Domenico (nice name by the way), is a very bad boy and I thought: Hey, he’s like Clayton (from Whitney, My Love). It’s OK. I like Clayton! I actually love Clayton! Yeah! WRONG! Whoever has put those two books under the same category needs to go see a doctor (a psychiatrist if I may say so). My thoughts are incoherent, I know, but please stay with me.
The story: It’s Renaissance Italy, 1605, and the story takes place in fictional Cabria. The heroine’s half-brother owns a tavern. So the heroine, Felicia, lives there and she is mistreated by her brother and his wife and has been made to work as a slave. She’s almost a prisoner in her house. She doesn’t go out at all, so one day there’s a parade in the street and the duke passes by, who’s really old. (The duke here is something like a prince or king. A monarch and a tyrant). Next to him there is a man, Domenico (the duke’s son, but we don’t know that yet) and Felicia, who’s leaning out a window to watch, catches his eye. (YEY!! Congratulations, Felicia, you’ve just won the lottery). Naturally, he decides he must have her. That’s how the story begins.
Now would be a good time to explain some things about myself. I’ve been a reader since I was like 6 years old and I stopped reading fairy-tales at 7, which means I read normal, adult books all my life. I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover when I was 12. I have so few ratings because I can’t remember which books I read before joining GR, but I’ve read a lot. As of lately, I read romances exclusively, but that’s because they’re like a newly discovered heaven for me. But, believe me, in all my life I’ve read all kinds of books. I’ve read about war, deaths, whatever. I have great tolerance in a book and I thought there was no limit to what I can tolerate from a hero, but this book’s twisted and depraved.
Mild Spoilers from now own, but the book’s out of print and the author died in a car accident two decades ago, so I don’t think many of you will ever read this one.
I spent all the book trying to find where the hell the hero is. And in the last 40 pages or so I said. Right! It’s Domenico! (Really nice name by the way) OK, the guy would make the villain in other books blush with shame. So let’s see what our dream man, Domenico, did. He bought the heroine from her brother, he kidnapped her and forced her to become his mistress against her will, after having her almost killed (by mistake of course, because he would never, ever do anything to harm her). So the heroine became his mistress because… Let’s see… Right! She did not have a choice in the matter. So he actually raped her and continued to do so every night. In the meanwhile, he killed some people, but they were in his way, so bad for them. Naturally, Felicia couldn’t help but fall in love with him, because what’s not to love in this guy? I forgot to mention that Domenico is now the duke, because his father died and what a nice duke he made! So this guy had a groom tortured and killed, because the heroine smiled at him, he was jealous and possessive, he would order everybody that made even the smallest mistake be hung, he had fits of anger (so great that sometimes he even fainted), he killed 6 people in a single night because the heroine tried to escape, just to punish her, he had a man’s legs broken because he was taller than him (Good thing he was a really tall man). But, the worst thing he did by far is what must be one of the most brutal scenes I’ve ever read about. (I forgot to mention that he was bisexual) He had his former lover and friend eaten alive by dogs, because he betrayed him. OK, I’ll stop here, but the list goes on.
It seems like the only reason the heroine fell in love with him was his good looks. She described him as beautiful as a fallen angel, very tall, with blond curly hair and very fair complexion and always compared him to a cat or a leopard. Domenico was a tyrant and a despot. He was proud and conceited. He had people hung for no good reason all the time. There was reason for all that of course. He grew up in the corruption of the court, in fear and treachery. He had no bonds with his family. His father had his beloved tutor killed because he didn’t want Domenico to grow soft. He also had nightmares, because he felt guilty for the suicide of his stepmother, although why he should feel responsible for a death that he did not cause with his own hands, while he had killed hundreds of people himself escapes me. My point is that he had his reasons, but he was way too cruel to forgive. Thankfully, in the last third of the book he lost his dukedom and was brought down low by circumstances. I so enjoyed that!!! I can say there was a minor improvement to him after that. At least, he stopped killing people purposelessly. (Although I’m not sure it’s for any other reason than that he couldn’t do it anymore, as he was no longer a duke). Of course in the end he got his dukedom back, but one can only hope he will change a little in the future. (I won’t hold my breath, however)
OH! In the end it’s also revealed that it’s a love at first sight story, so he says that’s why he did what he did. Because when you love somebody, you kidnap her, rape her, kill millions of people in front of her and because of her, you threaten her life etc. Way to go Domenico! That’s definitely gonna get you the girl. Why? Isn’t this what everybody does? I’ve certainly done that to win all my boyfriends. Apart from the raping part, because it would be difficult. I’m just saying… Domenico? Have you ever heard of courting? Or was that invented 200 years later?
I must say, though, that it has one of the best endings. The make-up scene in the end was perfect. The hero (and I use the term loosely) is groveling and begging the heroine to stay with him. He’s falling at her feet and declaring his undying love etc. It seems that his only redeeming quality was his love for the heroine. I cannot tell you what it means for a man like Domenico to behave like that. So you kind of find yourself rooting for the bad guy in the end…
There’s not much to say about the heroine. She was usually afraid, repelled and miserable, but she had pride and I liked that about her. She tried really hard (and successfully, I may say) to hide her feelings, although, God only knows why, she loved Domenico. Usually, she was passive, but I don’t totally blame her. Except when somebody died because of her when it annoyed me that she didn’t do or say anything. Like now it would be a good time to say something in the lines of: “My dear Domenico, I beg of you, please do not kill these people”. It was pointless of course, but she could have tried.
I read at a group here some phrases that Domenico would never say:
“That's OK, I know you didn't mean anything by it. I overreacted. We cool?" “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Haha! SO TRUE!
For the best part of it, this is a sickening, repelling, twisted and depraved story. Most of the time, I was queasy. This book seriously has some of the most horrible scenes I’ve ever read. So, why the high rating? Because the author is talented! The language, the setting, the characters, everything. This is a story that you can believe happened back then. It actually gives you the feeling of a very old book. It was so realistic. The characters where living in a hell on earth and the author had the talent to make you feel it in your bones. The book is first-person POV, which I usually don’t like, but in this case it was so in tune with the whole book, the writing, the style and the feeling it leaves the reader. The fact that we don’t have Domenico’s POV makes him seem even more monstrous. You may not like it, but this is how a duke would behave back then and this is how people lived their lives. There is rape, violence, abuse, death, homosexuality, even incest. The book also had this gothic atmosphere that gives you goose bumps. This story is really well-written and any author that evokes so strong emotions in the reader (be it love or disgust) is nothing but talented.
So, it is an excellent historical novel. I won’t comment on the romance department. You may judge for yourselves. I do believe Domenico loved Felicia in his own twisted way, but he’s a psychopath and he’s scary. Frankly, I liked it in spite of myself. If not for anything else, it has you constantly on the edge of your seat. Do I regret reading it? No. Would I do it again, if I knew what I was getting myself into? Probably not.
Whoever has a problem with my darling Clayton (Whitney My Love), just read this book OK? ...more
This is Judith McNaught, people! What did you expect? 5 HUGE stars for this favorite author of mine and a big, big thanks to my friends for urging me This is Judith McNaught, people! What did you expect? 5 HUGE stars for this favorite author of mine and a big, big thanks to my friends for urging me to read this and plaguing me with comments until I did! Thank you and know that you make the whole reading experience 10 times better for me! BR with Aengell, Riddhi and Maria, who all re-read the book for me and tried to slow down their reading, because I have been busy these days. (Yes, that's how awesome they are!)
Why is it that every time I read a McNaught novel, I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me? I think she is that good. Her stories are epic and they drag you in from page one. She's just amazing! I have never read a boring or just okay book by this author, let alone a bad one.
JM is the queen of big misunderstandings; she has rightfully earned this title and this book is no exception, but the misunderstandings were not that bad or prolonged as in other books. (Or at least they didn't seem like that to me.)
“Why is it when you yield, I feel like the one who has been conquered?"
I loved both the hero and the heroine. They were not perfect, but they were real people living in difficult times and trying to make the best out of their lives. I have heard many readers didn't like Jenny, but I really don't see what is there not to love about this heroine. She is strong, intelligent, courageous and she has earned my respect. And Royce? He was arrogant and cold, but JM can take the most flawed man out there and make me love him more than I could believe was possible; and I absolutely LOVED Royce! He also reminded me of Clayton a little bit, he is kind of a toned down version of him. (Granted, he's his ancestor) And because I don't want anybody to misunderstand what I'm saying, I ADORE Clayton! *ducks head to avoid rotten tomatoes*
The ending was devastating. One of the best endings ever! (view spoiler)[I never knew how they were going to bridge the gap William's death created between Royce and Jennifer, but when she kneeled in front of Royce, I wanted to cry with them too! It totally blew me away. (hide spoiler)]
The only thing I didn't like that much is that the heroine was 17 while the hero was 29, but I realise that 17 is considered quite old for a woman in the 1500s.
Though this is no Whitney, My Love, my absolute favorite novel by JM and my second all-time favorite romance, I am going to remember this book for a long time! Highly recommended and a book that will appeal to most readers....more
*Update 1/29* I have read the older version of Whitney. I hate the idea that a writer has changed parts of her own wMy second all-time favorite romance
*Update 1/29* I have read the older version of Whitney. I hate the idea that a writer has changed parts of her own work because people didn't like it. It is what it is; take it or leave it. So I had deliberately read the older version. However, I was dying to read the extended ending, so I got myself a copy of the newer version too. I loved what I saw of Whitney and Clayton in this sort of epilogue, but, unfortunately, it was very little. These seven extra chapters felt more like a set-up for Stephen's book rather than an epilogue to Clayton and Whitney's story and I'm worried that if somebody reads them as a conclusion to the book, they will feel it is a little unticlimactic. New readers should now that the original story ends at chapter 35. I thought the original ending was kind of abrupt, I needed chapter 36 where they discussed what had happened, but after that I'm not sure this had any other reason to exist. Still, I appreciate any glimpse of Clayton and Whitney I can get, no matter how small it is.
*Update 10/24* I realise that my review sucks. Who am I kidding? This in not even a review. In my defence, I read this book way before I started writing reviews. Anyway, my dear friend Aengell has read it and we totally see eye to eye about this one. I could not have said it better myself, so you can read her review here if you want to know what I think about this book.
I know many people don't like this book but I absolutely loved it!! It's one of my all time favorites! I think Whitney had a very strong character. I also adore Clayton. I know he did some pretty bad stuff to her but it was all because he loved her so much and was terribly jealous so I just couldn't hold it against him. For me, this book has some of the most touching moments I've ever read, like when she goes to him to say that she loves him. And the wedding night!! Clayton really atoned for what he'd done that night. So, all in all, if you're not very sensitive and can bear a couple of bad scenes I would totally recommend this book as a classic!!...more