Sunday 11 April 2021

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn | BOOK REVIEW

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Non-spoiler

I had high expectations for this book. Eloise is my favourite character in the show and, while I knew I couldn’t expect the book version of her to be quite so iconic… I was disappointed. It was a flat story and probably my least favourite pairing of all the books so far.

I went into these books fully aware that Eloise wasn’t going to be the explicit feminist icon that she was in the show. That wasn’t what bothered me about the book. Phillip bothered me. He’s not good enough for Eloise. I understood Phillip’s background and trauma but that man was a raging red flag! He has definite anger issues and doesn’t listen to Eloise on so many occasions. I don’t mind a quiet and introverted character (I would be quite hypocritical to do so) but he was rude and dismissive for no reason. Eloise deserves much better.

The side characters we saw were mainly Oliver and Amanda and, while I liked watching them slowly come to like Eloise, they annoyed the hell out of me. They were really rude and boisterous and (for someone who isn’t great with kids) I would be so overwhelmed in their presence. I also couldn’t stand Phillip’s anger and aggression towards his kids. No, he never hit them, but he thought about it so much that it made me really uncomfortable. Red flag. Red flag. Red flag.

My favourite scenes in this book had to be when the four Bridgerton brothers barged in. I love their banter and conversations with Eloise. It was nice to see after having to spend so much time with only Phillip as a, less than stellar, male character. I also loved hearing mentions of Kate, Sophie and Penelope- couples that I can actually get behind! 

Overall, this book is currently ranked at the bottom along with Simon and Daphne’s book. I still have three more Bridgerton books to read but I’m so sad that Eloise’s story will be ranked so low. I’m looking forward to seeing Eloise’ character progress in the show and hope they take her relationship with Phillip in a different direction.

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