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A review by justinkhchen
The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes
2.0
2.5 stars
After receiving my 'Romance Lit 101' on the Regency romance subgenre through The Bromance Book Club, I decided to venture into my first full-length novel; which turned out to be The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes. So bear in mind this review is written from the perspective of a brand new romance reader.
The Formidable Earl turned out to be simply average; 'inoffensive' would be the choice word to describe it. I wasn't particularly engaged, but also wasn't offended by the characters or plot development; everything just washed over like water — cured my thirst of boredom but left no trace behind. The two protagonists, Simon Nugent and Ida Strong, were likable characters, but the journey they went through felt very by-the-numbers and lacked any sort of passion or suspense, which is a pretty big flaw considering the primary story objective is a revenge. Sophie Barnes has mapped out a very intentional pacing for The Formidable Earl, one that switches back and forth between romance and revenge at a regulated interval; which I argue actually depletes any sense on momentum. At a constant 30 mph throughout, this might be the most lifeless delivery I've ever read so far this year.
Also didn't realize going in this is part of a series (#6 of Diamonds in the Rough), which was made explicitly clear as the last chapter was setting up the couple-to-be for the next book. I would say if you are already reading the series, the familiarity with recurring characters will probably get you more out of The Formidable Earl, otherwise it is a pretty formulaic, vanilla story that will adequately fill up time if you have absolutely nothing to read.
Probably not a bad start for my Regency romance journey though, things can only go up from here!
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
After receiving my 'Romance Lit 101' on the Regency romance subgenre through The Bromance Book Club, I decided to venture into my first full-length novel; which turned out to be The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes. So bear in mind this review is written from the perspective of a brand new romance reader.
The Formidable Earl turned out to be simply average; 'inoffensive' would be the choice word to describe it. I wasn't particularly engaged, but also wasn't offended by the characters or plot development; everything just washed over like water — cured my thirst of boredom but left no trace behind. The two protagonists, Simon Nugent and Ida Strong, were likable characters, but the journey they went through felt very by-the-numbers and lacked any sort of passion or suspense, which is a pretty big flaw considering the primary story objective is a revenge. Sophie Barnes has mapped out a very intentional pacing for The Formidable Earl, one that switches back and forth between romance and revenge at a regulated interval; which I argue actually depletes any sense on momentum. At a constant 30 mph throughout, this might be the most lifeless delivery I've ever read so far this year.
Also didn't realize going in this is part of a series (#6 of Diamonds in the Rough), which was made explicitly clear as the last chapter was setting up the couple-to-be for the next book. I would say if you are already reading the series, the familiarity with recurring characters will probably get you more out of The Formidable Earl, otherwise it is a pretty formulaic, vanilla story that will adequately fill up time if you have absolutely nothing to read.
Probably not a bad start for my Regency romance journey though, things can only go up from here!
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***