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2.75★
I really wanted to love this one because Penelope deserved the world.
Unfortunately, Penelope carried this entire book on her back while Colin spent most of it testing my patience.
The friends-to-lovers aspect was cute, and I did enjoy seeing Penelope finally step into her confidence after years of being overlooked. She was witty, intelligent, and honestly the most interesting person in the room every time she appeared. Watching her get her moment was easily the best part of the book.
Colin, however, was a disappointment. In the previous books he came across as charming, funny, and carefree. The second we got inside his head, that image shattered. He was jealous, moody, controlling at times, and seemed to spend half the book angry at Penelope for things that had nothing to do with her. The constant mood swings gave me whiplash.
And don't even get me started on the Lady Whistledown situation. The way Colin handled it irritated me far more than it romanticized anything. It felt like Penelope's choices kept getting taken out of her hands, which was frustrating considering she'd spent years proving how capable she was.
Overall, this wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the Polin story I was hoping for either. I adored Penelope. I tolerated Colin. And if I'm being honest, Penelope deserved better than spending years pining after a man who only occasionally lived up to the version of himself she'd fallen in love with
⭐3.5Maybe my rating is a bit clouded because I watched the show before reading the book, but honestly, some scenes just made way more sense and were better connected in the book.I love Penelope in both, but the show gave her this whole girlboss/empowered vibe that I’m obsessed with, which doesn't happen as much in the book. On the other hand, Colin definitely has more personality in the book compared to the show, where he’s basically a total NPC. But I don’t even know if that’s a good thing, because in the book he acts like a jerk half the time—constantly love bombing and having major anger issues. To be real, I’m not a fan of his character in either version, but I was only here for Penelope anyway because she is the moment.I’m actually pretty annoyed about the ending. The way the show handled it made way more sense to me, but then again, there were several book scenes that I liked better. Also, I lived for Lady Danbury’s personality in the book; they definitely nerfed her a bit in the show.At the end of the day, I can't give it a lower rating because Penelope is a queen, and my feelings for her are definitely carrying this score.