This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of The Viscount Who Loved Me on my Goodreads, now!
I am not the biggest fan of Cinderella retellings, but Sophie and Benedict's story has calling to me ever since they had officially renewed Bridgerton for season four, and with the teaser trailers making their way around, I figured now was a good time to finally dive into this book. I loved The Duke and I and The Viscount Who Loved Me so much, so I was surprised that my overall feelings towards this third installment was that of mediocracy. Sophie's background was definitely the highlight of the book - she is an interesting character and so much more different compared to the other love interests in the sense that she is not technically a part of society.
Benedict's characterization in this book felt surprisingly jarring - he was set on making Sophie is mistress throughout the entire book and it just felt off. The constant reminders from him that he just could not possibly marry her due to their social standing differences got old very fast. Sophie is basically just trying to live her life and wants to stop being treated like a servant, and here comes Benedict at every turn trying to corrupt her and make her do something that she never wanted to do. I low-key felt like I was being gaslight this entire book to make Benedict sound appealing, when in reality this man is a gigantic red flag - and as much as I love a red flag, I just could not get past it for some reason.
I did enjoy how often the Bridgerton sisters came into play throughout the story - it was nice to see how much they all adored Sophie, and how often they came to her aid when others were speaking down to her or dismissing her presence. Considering how she was being treated in her own home, it was a pleasant change to see those around her be so kind. The time jump really threw me off in this one, mainly because I did not expect it to be multiple years in between Sophie and Benedict first meeting one another to the present story. With all of these years between them, it felt like a major jump for Benedict to be demanding things of Sophie when he was still hung up on "the woman in silver" after all this time.
I wish we saw Benedict grow more - his character development felt stalled and I wanted to root for him so badly, but his choices basically made it impossible for me to end up on his side. He does have some redeeming qualities, but the cons definitely outweigh the pros for me, and while I do love show Benedict, book Benedict falls lower on the scale for me. You could tell there was angst and tension between Sophie and Benedict, but I found myself wanting more out of their relationship and more out of the story in general. I will likely continue on with this series every once in a while, but it does not have a strong enough hold on me to have me jumping into the next installment.
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