Book: The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan
Source: I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: February 22nd, 2022
Pages: 384
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Oh boy, do I have thoughts on this book. Buckle up! From the very beginning there were aspects of this book that made me uncomfortable, but I tried to overlook them so that I could judge the book as a whole, as opposed to the first 10 pages alone. Unfortunately, the issues I had in the beginning didn’t go away. No, no, no. They came back, again and again. Sometimes in the exact same form, sometimes in slightly new ways. To the point where my enjoyment as I read through the book just got lower and lower. Besides for my issues within the first few pages, I enjoyed the beginning, but the middle and the ending left a lot to be desired.
My issues with this book just kept coming back
But let’s get you up to speed first. What is this book even about?
This book follows Mercy after her idiot of a brother sold away their home to the owner of a gambling den named Silas. She goes to steal back the voucher that lists the legal transaction, and when caught in Silas’s room, comes up with a plan to seduce him as a diversion and alibi. But just days later Silas shows up at her home and he’s not leaving until he has answers.
Now, this cover, title, and premise drew me in. I figured that I would be guaranteed some smut from the get go, and I sure was. However, as the story progressed I was bothered more and more by the flatness of all the side characters and the predictability of their actions and the resulting plot points. The biggest illustration of this point is how any bad/evil/villainous man was portrayed.
Can we agree that there are multiple ways to make a person a villain? Even if that villain is a man! He could lie, cheat, steal, murder. There are so many options! So if EVERY male villain in your book is identified as such because of how they mistreat, abuse, degrade, exploit, harm, or take advantage of women, you’re bad at writing villains. Not only that, but if those same men are lazy, fat, ugly, slovenly, hideous, and lecherous, you probably have a lot of stigmas ingrained in you that are now going to be harmfully perpetuated.
Fleshing out characters, making them charming in one sense, but a monster in another sense shows sophistication in writing. Having interchangeable villainous characters makes your book just seem repetitive. And it wasn’t just the villains! Mercy’s sister acts like a child the entire book. She’s petulant and bratty and refuses to take advice. Which would be fine if she were 8 years old, but at 17 I would have liked her to have a bit more dimension. This may not have bothered me as much if other side characters had some dimension, but since the only people who had any sort of depth were Mercy and Silas, in general I was left wanting a lot more out of the characters.
If the characters had been my only gripe, this book might have been redeemable in my eyes, but the plot was repetitive and frustrating as well, and by the end of the book I had tired of the romance entirely. Usually, despite my other frustrations I end up at least enjoying the romantic aspect of a book, but that was not the case this time. Since there really was no element that had me invested by the end of the book, this story ended up being quite a big disappointment.
2 Stars
I gave this book 2 stars, and honestly, I think this is going to be my last Sophie Jordan book. I had these same issues with previous books of hers, and it doesn’t seem like there are going to be any changes made in the future. It’s a shame, because I really enjoy the chemistry and romantic entanglements that she comes up with, but I think it’s time I realized that her books are no longer for me.
Paper Procrastinators 
I’ve struggled with Sophie Jordan’s historicals. I read a couple in the past because they sounded brilliant but something just doesn’t work for me with them so I’m sorry you had similar issues.
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I enjoyed the first book of hers that I read, but even so, I recognized a lot of flaws. With that book however, I had so much fun reading it, that I didn’t care. But with this one, I didn’t enjoy it enough to look past the flaws. Like you said, the premises of her books all sound fantastic, but the execution of the actual stories is just not that great.
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MALKA, OMYGOSH!!! So this is very very very late, but I thought this cover looked familiar, and I checked my kindle, and sure enough, I had checked this book out before. I supposedly read 150 pages of this and I remember NOTHING. I don’t understand how Sophie Jordan historicals consistently have the most beautiful covers and the most exciting inciting incidents/story set up and then they never live up to the potential (At least for me). Definitely going to check the blog now before I pick out a historical romance with a pretty dress cover to read on the train 😂
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HUH! I mean, honestly I’d have to read my review at this point to know what happens in this book. I just remember not liking it. (And even that I might remember just because I wrote a 2 star review).
And I totally agree! Why waste such beautiful covers and fun sounding synopses on books that consistently let me down? Save them for my new favorites!
I think your plan of consistently checking the blog for my thoughts on books before reading them is definitely a good call. After all, my opinion is the best and most correct opinion out there.
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