Reviews on Wattpad Stories

The Duke's Daughter - ACLeon

 December 19, 2012

*Requested

Title: The Duke’s Daughter

Author: ACLeon

Genre: Historical Fiction / Adventure

Rating: PG

Summary: In the year of 1915, Lenny Upchurch never thought that she was anything special. Her father left her family when she was baby. All the girls at school would remind her that she would turn out just like her mother, a drunken wrench. But little did she know her life was about to change. With just a knock at the door, Lenny soon learns that her father was the Duke of Northumberland in England and must return just in time to find out he has died. Now Lenny and her brother, Jerry are sucked in to the life of the British elite while the war just across the water is erupting. As she learns about what she is soon to become, a duchess, Lenny sees even among all the chaos there may be something that she can do to change the world around her.

(Link to the story in the External Link)

My View: Let me start with saying that I’m a fan of historical fictions – if done right (as in done in a way that’s believable). I’m not the biggest history buff, though, so I don’t always know when something isn’t accurate. However, with this story I felt that it was done in a realistic and believable way.

Actually, I found myself really enjoying reading The Duke’s Daughter. I didn’t have too many expectations, wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I guess you could say I thought it might be clichéd or take a different route than what it did. I didn’t realize until I just started writing this review that it was also listed under Adventure (since I read it on my mobile app).

But the more I read the more I wanted to continue reading, and this is always a very important factor in any story!

Characters: The characters are actually relatable. For a story set in a time that takes place nearly a century ago, the characters have a modern feel. Lenny and Jerry have a great sibling bond. They’re affectionate and caring towards one another.

I also loved the development with all the characters, especially the side ones. My favorites were Drew and Anna.

And I also loved the relationships between all of the main characters.

Plot Development: The plot developed quite nicely. I was surprised at some of the events that wound up taking place, especially later on in the story. It’s not just about Lenny and her brother becoming a duke and duchess, rather it tackles other events such as the war and overcoming the barrier in the social status. There is romance, but I felt that it wasn’t the main part of the story. No, rather the most important part was the person that Lenny becomes in the end, how she changes and finds her purpose in life.

Grammar: There were actually quite a number of spelling/grammatical/punctuation mistakes. There were times, while reading it, where I’d find words missing or the wrong word would be used (sometimes saw “how” in place of “what” and “You’re” in place of “Your”). Also, homophones (words that are pronounced the same but said differently). One that was common was the use of the word “bare” when I think the author meant to use “bear” (as in endure or carry). I did find quite a few each chapter, and (to ACLeon) it’s the one thing I would definitely recommend looking out for whenever you find the time to edit the story. It’s not a super huge deal, because in the end I still was able to understand what was being said or happening, but it does, in a way, take away from the story.

What I would change? Aside from the editing, not much would I change. I do think that it’d be nice to have more details in some of the scenes towards the end, as some felt that they happened quickly.

Other Notes: I really did enjoy reading The Duke’s Daughter, I’ll say it again. It definitely deserves more reads than it has! I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction. It’s not perfect, no, but it’s worth reading. There’s adventure and romance on top of a main character who knows how to think for herself. She’s a strong character, and I liked that about Lenny.

It’s a story that has you going through different emotions for the characters, and I feel that any author who is able to affect the way you feel through the use of words is already on a promising path. I’m the type of reader who loves being able to feel 100 different emotions as I read. From happy to sad, anger to hurt. I like being able to read stories that take you on that emotional rollercoaster and being able to read stories that take you to different places. While The Duke’s Daughter did have a sort of predictable ending, it did leave you wondering what was going to happen next for most of it.

Ohh and I thought the language that was used (the British talk) was done fairly well (not British myself, though). And the use of German was nice, too (although that is a language I've never studied, therefore I dunno if the phrase used were correct, but I feel they were).

Also, there’s going to be a sequel, too, which is announced at the end. I can definitely say that whenever it comes out I will be reading it (:

Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10