The Duke and I: A Book Review

The book that inspired the first season of Netflix's Bridgerton

Jul 10, 2025

It’s been 25 years since Julia Quinn published The Duke and I, the first book in the Bridgerton series that sparked a global phenomenon. The book was first published on January 5th, 2000 by Avon Books. Five years ago, that same story leapt from page to screen when Season 1 of Bridgerton premiered on Netflix on Christmas Day 2020.

Plot

The first book in the Bridgerton series follows the story of the eldest Bridgerton daughter, Daphne Bridgerton, and her love interest, Simon Basset, The Duke of Hastings. Set in 1813, Daphne and Simon’s story starts as a fake dating ploy to keep the society’s mamas away from Simon and to make Daphne appear as a desirable bride instead of a simple friend. However, as time goes on, the fake dating turns into real affection, the only problem is Simon has vowed to never marry or have children, and Daphne wants many. This story is the classic tale of what happens when a fake dating plan turns into real affection and leans into the age-old trope that love doesn’t follow any rules.

What I liked about the book?

This was my first Julia Quinn novel, and the main thing that I loved about it was the writing style. The writing style was smooth and flowed well. I particularly enjoyed the use of period-accurate terms because it helped the book to feel more immersive and transformative. When I read the book, I felt as though I was being transported to a world from 200 years ago, which was the intention of the book.

I also loved how she used Lady Whistledown to create a sense of intrigue and to relay information about the Bridgerton family in a way that didn’t distract from the story. I felt Lady Whistledown’s character and all the excitement over Lady Whistledown were a fun way to show the gossip of the time without distracting from the story.

As for the characters themselves, I loved the banter between the Bridgerton siblings. I loved seeing their dynamics and how all the Bridgerton siblings engaged with each other in the household. My favorite was Hyacinth, who tried to flirt with Simon, who was like more than 10 years older than her, and I loved it because she added a layer of humour and childlike innocence to the story.

I also loved how Quinn depicted the relationship between Anthony and his mother because I found that to be fascinating, especially for that time period. I loved it because as the current Viscount Bridgerton, their house technically belonged to Anthony after the death of Anthony’s father, but I loved the respect he had for his mother and how he at times deferred to her opinions even as he tried to assert himself as the head of the family. I loved how Anthony and his mother complemented each other, with Anthony taking on the characteristic role of the protective brother/father figure while her mother wanted her to be married and happy.

Another thing I loved about the book was how Simon had a stutter—usually historical fiction heroes don’t have physical or disability-related flaws, and I loved how the book showed how a stutter would be seen in the 1800s and the ways Simon tried to cover up his stutter or at least make it less noticeable. I loved how even as an adult he still had a stutter to show that sometimes you don’t outgrow your challenges, you just find ways to cope with them.

The relationship between Anthony and Simon was also well-written, and I think Quinn did a good job showing how being close friends with each other and knowing each other’s personalities is exactly why you might not want someone for your sister. I liked how even when they were at odds, Anthony and Simon always had a sense of respect for each other and how Simon was willing to die after being caught together alone with Daphne but was unwilling to marry her because of a vow he’d made to himself.

That’s like something that is both good and frustrating about this book, because while they never spoke ill of each other even when there were lots of tensions, this ended up becoming problematic toward the end of the book (will be discussed below).

One other thing that I liked about this book and about the Bridgerton novels in general is that it showed the life after marriage. Most books, especially romance or historical romance novels, only show the journey up until the wedding but never the life afterward, and that just seems unrealistic, but I liked how this novel showed the courtship and the struggles post-marriage because marriage doesn’t end with the wedding. On the contrary, after the wedding is when marriage truly begins.

What I didn’t like about the book?

This would have been one of my favourite books but both characters had major flaws.

Simon lied to Daphne about having children, implying that he was unable to have children when in fact he didn’t want children because he’d made a vow to himself to let his father’s line die with him because his father was abusive. Simon’s lie made Daphne devastated, but Daphne took things way too far. When Simon was drunk, Daphne got on top of him and tried to have sex with him, even after he’d said no. Those two aspects of the story really messed up the story for me, especially since no one really confronted Daphne about her actions toward Simon and just made it seem like it was Simon’s fault the whole time when the problem was with both of them.

The story ignored the fact that Daphne had ignored Simon’s refusal of consent and basically focused the rest of the story on Simon freaking out and abandoning Daphne and her brothers confronting Simon about it. I’m not saying Simon freaking out and abandoning Daphne was good, but there was literally no mention of Daphne’s flaws or Daphne’s mistakes, but instead it all centered on Simon even though both of them were at fault.

While this may have been romantic 25 years ago, this is now highly problematic, as now there’s a greater understanding that women can commit assault as well, not just men. Again, I’m not saying Simon was not wrong for lying to Daphne or for abandoning her, but Daphne was equally, if not more, wrong for taking advantage of Simon while drunk and for not stopping when he withdrew his consent. Also, there’s the question of whether someone can actually give consent while they’re drunk because drinking dulls the senses.

Regardless, I think Quinn dropped the ball by not making Daphne accountable for her actions and excusing them by focusing too much on Simon’s wrongdoings.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I liked the writing style of the book and how Quinn used period-appropriate language to ground the reader in the world of the story. I also loved the use of Lady Whistledown to give information to the readers without distracting from the story.

In terms of character relationships, I loved Hyacinth’s flirtatious behavior with Simon because that was fun to read. I also enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Anthony and his mother because it showed how a potential relationship between a young lord and his mother could have been in that time.

Another thing that I enjoyed was Simon’s stutter, mainly because it’s unexpected to see a historical romance hero with any sort of speech or physical imperfection, and I liked how his stutter continued into adulthood, but he simply learned how to cope with it, because some challenges cannot be overcome, but people learn to live with them.

However, I didn’t like how the book glossed over the fact that Daphne had ignored Simon’s refusal of consent and basically focused the rest of the story on Simon freaking out and abandoning Daphne and her brothers confronting Simon about it. I’m not saying Simon freaking out and abandoning Daphne was good, but there was literally no mention of Daphne’s flaws or Daphne’s mistakes, but instead it all centered on Simon even though both of them were at fault.

This book was well on its way to being a 5/5 if it were not for the latter part of the book, but because of the book, I’d have to rate the book a 2.5/5, not because I didn’t like it but because they focused solely on accountability for Simon and not for Daphne when it’s clear that both needed to be held accountable for their actions.

I’d read it again up until that part of the story around Chapter 18, because up until Chapter 18 it was a 5/5 novel, but after Chapter 18, there was no accountability for Daphne, and so I didn’t like how the situation was solved and how they made everything out to be Simon’s fault when the fault lay with both.

If you’ve read the book and watched Season 1 of the Netflix show Bridgerton, which do you love more and why? If you’ve only read the book or watched the show, share your thoughts on either. I’d love to hear.