I had high hopes for this because I love a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Unfortunately, this turned out toContent warnings: shitty parenting
1.5 stars
I had high hopes for this because I love a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a Pride and Prejudice retelling WITHIN a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Add in extremely mediocre writing, an almost total lack of emotion from start to finish, and a protagonist who gets lost in a sea of other characters, and this was just a big ol' pile of nope.
Like, I finished it. It's not the worst thing I've ever read. But it also wasn't good. At no point was I invested in Lily's story, and I honestly finished the book feeling like I knew nothing about her other than that she was taking a gap year and that she had a younger sister.
This just...........yeah. I suspect it only got published because Rice is attached to it, but the publisher really needed to get stuck in on the editing front because this was bad. ...more
This was a very cute retelling of Persuasion, which was for a very long timeContent warnings: bullying, misogyny, sexism, mental health, panic attacks
This was a very cute retelling of Persuasion, which was for a very long time my favourite book of all time. Did this live up to the brilliance of Austen's original text? No. Was it very cleverly crafted nonetheless? Absolutely.
I do feel like I might have enjoyed this a little more if I'd read it with my eyeballs rather than my ears. But that might just be because there were a few times when I found myself getting distracted and I think I missed a few things that I might not have missed if it had been an eyeball read.
Anyway, I'm glad I finally read this because the romance was delightful, even if it didn't go entirely where I anticipated it would go. ...more
Content warnings: gentrification, classism, racism, death of a child (in the past), alcoholism, grief, car accident (in the past), death of a parent (Content warnings: gentrification, classism, racism, death of a child (in the past), alcoholism, grief, car accident (in the past), death of a parent (in the past), death of a sibling (in the past), Harry Potter.
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed a lot of things about this. The discussion of gentrification. The adaptation of Pride and Prejudice to 21st century Washington DC. The characters and their respective backgrounds. The way certain aspects of the story remained the same while others were vastly different.
However. This, for me, was slow. The pacing was kind of weird. And the inclusion of several pages worth of Harry Potter references 200+ pages into the book had me seriously considering DNFing. There were a few things about the way this was adapted that didn't quite work for me, and I didn't entirely like either of the protagonists. But I'm still glad I read it. ...more
Oh, I LOVED this. This was the third(!) PridContent warnings: deadnaming, body dysmorphia, transphobia, homophobia, outing, sexism, misogyny, classism
Oh, I LOVED this. This was the third(!) Pride and Prejudice retelling I've read this month, and the fifth Austen retelling I've read this year. And this was by far the most compelling and well done. I loved the dynamic between Oliver and Darcy. I loved the relationship between Oliver and his father. I loved the changes that were made to the story, both in terms of Wickham and in terms of Darcy's character.
The writing was lovely, the characters were charming, and the relocation from the country to London served a purpose and was well handled. All in all? I loved everything about this (except that the narrator said "Lady Catherine de Burr" every time), and I will definitely be checking out other books in this series in the future because this was a fabulous retelling of a much-loved classic. ...more
Content warnings: cancer, racial profiling, emotional manipulation, sexual assault (in the past), mentions of miscarriage, toxic friendship (in the paContent warnings: cancer, racial profiling, emotional manipulation, sexual assault (in the past), mentions of miscarriage, toxic friendship (in the past), classism, police brutality
2.5 stars
I wanted to love this, I really did. I've read at least one of Dev's books before and really enjoyed it. AND this is a BIPOC Pride and Prejudice retelling! What's not to love?!
Apparently, a lot. This was painfully slow. PAINFULLY slow. Like, the book is just under 500 pages long. Somewhere around the 300 page mark, the equivalent of the first proposal happens. And that's just too many fucking pages. Add in the fact that I didn't particularly enjoy either of the protagonists or the side characters and this was............a slog.
Don't get me wrong, it did come good in the end. But it took me a solid week to read and that's practically unheard of for me. ...more
Content warnings: murder, classism, death of a loved one, theft, fraud, blackmail
3.5 stars
I feel moderately confident in saying that Mansfield Park isContent warnings: murder, classism, death of a loved one, theft, fraud, blackmail
3.5 stars
I feel moderately confident in saying that Mansfield Park is everyone's least favourite Austen book - Price says in the author's note at the end that it's hers - and yet despite that, I was really curious to see how Price was going to handle some of the content of Mansfield Park and turn it into a crime novel.
And, for the most part, I was sold. It was engaging and I flew through the story. I liked Fanny as a protagonist (although I definitely would have changed her name and/or not started as many chapters with her name), and I loved the way that Lizzie and Darcy were brought into the story (don't @ me for spoilers, it's in the blurb).
All of that being said, the mystery WAS kind of predictable. Although I don't know if it's predictable because I've read Mansfield Park multiple times?? So maybe teens - i.e. its target audience - will find it less predictable than I did? I genuinely don't know. ...more
Trigger warnings: death of a parent, grief, murder, drug addiction, violence, poisoning
As with the first book, I flew through this one and I had a lovTrigger warnings: death of a parent, grief, murder, drug addiction, violence, poisoning
As with the first book, I flew through this one and I had a lovely time with it, though I'm not sure Sense & Sensibility adapts itself QUITE as well to a YA murder mystery as Pride & Prejudice did. Don't get me wrong, the mystery worked! And I liked the fact that Elinor was more into the science side of things than the investigation side.
That being said, there were some...odd...things about this. First and foremost, whyyyyyyyyy was Edward's surname changed from Ferrars to Farrow? It was a weird choice and it kind of pulled me out of the story a little bit because all the other character names stuck so closely to the original text. Like...???
Add in the fact that I wanted Brandon to appear in the story more than he did, and the fact that I desperately wanted this to be set when Margaret's a teenager with her as the main investigator (I know, I know, it's not in keeping with the original. But you cannot tell me that Margaret isn't the most likely of the three Dashwood sisters to throw herself wholeheartedly into a murder investigation) and this was a lot of fun but also I kind of wanted it to be MORE than it was. ...more
Trigger warnings: chronic illness, chronic pain, endometriosis, medical gaslighting, death of a parent (in the past), death of multiple family membersTrigger warnings: chronic illness, chronic pain, endometriosis, medical gaslighting, death of a parent (in the past), death of multiple family members (in the past), cancer (in the past), grief, hospitalisation of a loved one, vomit, emergency surgery.
I had no idea when I decided that this was going to be my last book of 2023 that it was nearly FIVE HUNDRED PAGES LONG. Does it need to be that long? Probably not, no. Did I mind? I mean, only in that I had a deadline in which to get it read.
I had a fucking fantastic time reading this. It's a hockey romance with the brother's best friend trope, a side of mutual pining, AND the heroine organises a Jane Austen event in which she and the guy she's been in love with for like a decade have to play Lydia and Wickham. I mean........what more could you want in a book?!
I laughed out loud. I cried a little bit. I giggled over some of their adorable interactions. It was delightful from start to finish, and I cannot WAIT to read the next book in the series because the secondary characters were fabulous. A perfect way to end my 2023 reading! ...more
Trigger warnings: lying, cheating, racism, disordered eating, alcohol abuse (in the past), car accident (in the past)
This is essentially a mash up of Trigger warnings: lying, cheating, racism, disordered eating, alcohol abuse (in the past), car accident (in the past)
This is essentially a mash up of Pride & Prejudice and The Great British Bake Off, and I had a delightful time with it. I did think at times the baking side of things felt a little heavy handed in terms of the set up - why is this family bakery's baking competition with a small scholarship prize being televised?? - but it was so much fun that I didn't really mind.
The dynamic between Liza and James was delightful, and I appreciated the way Yen handled the character of Sarah and her faux pas/insensitivity/casual racism. I did ultimately want a LITTLE more of Pride & Prejudice than I got - there were times when I was left wondering if it WAS a retelling or if it was just wishful thinking on my part. But it very definitely was a retelling, it was just that the retelling elements were mostly left until the last 50ish pages.
Also maybe have sweet treats on hand because this made me HUNGRY. ...more
Trigger warnings: bullying, death of a parent, classism
I make no secret of the fact that I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice with every fibre of myTrigger warnings: bullying, death of a parent, classism
I make no secret of the fact that I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice with every fibre of my being. And I make no secret of the fact that I will read basically any retelling I come across, no matter how ridiculous the premise (Mr Darcy's Bite - in which Darcy is a werewolf - is a particular favourite).
I'd never heard of this one until my best friend recommended it to me, and I was really intrigued because I've read a couple of Mary Bennet focused stories before, but they've always been aggressively mediocre. This, in contrast, did a FANTASTIC job of capturing Mary's character, her place in the middle of the five Bennet sisters, and her attempts at finding her true place in the world after her father's death.
I really loved Hadlow's depiction of Mary, and being inside her head and seeing the other Bennets through her eyes was fabulous (although I must admit that my favourite thing from the Longbourn era was Mary's relationship with Mrs Hill). I flew through the second half of the story, and I was hooked from start to finish.
That being said, I do find it interesting that, in making Mary a sympathetic character, Hadlow chose to make Charlotte Lucas and Caroline Bingley into the villains of the piece. They both have their own reasons for acting the way they do. But there was still something...cruel?...about both of them that made me uncomfortable at times. That aside, I had a wonderful time reading this. ...more
This was both utterly ridiculous Trigger warnings: murder, blood, gun violence, misogyny, theft, racism, kidnapping, violence, stalking, confinement.
This was both utterly ridiculous and extremely enjoyable all at the same time. It's essentially Pride & Prejudice, but Darcy's a lawyer and Lizzie desperately wants to prove to her father that SHE can be a lawyer too so when Bingley's accused of murder, she offers her services to find out the truth. Obviously, the two butt heads constantly as they investigate and the mystery itself was both darker than I imagined and legitimately bonkers. Still, it was utterly engrossing and I'm definitely going to have to pick up the inevitable sequel because this was just FUN. ...more
Trigger warnings: body shaming, fatphobia, sexual relationships between adults and minors, abortion (in the past), infertility, sexism
3.5 stars
I despeTrigger warnings: body shaming, fatphobia, sexual relationships between adults and minors, abortion (in the past), infertility, sexism
3.5 stars
I desperately wanted to like this because, like, Pride and Prejudice! In Pakistan! I love seeing how people adapt P&P for a modern readership, and I initially had high hopes for this because the way that Kamal adapted the names was BRILLIANT and I kept finding myself giggling at how clever elements of the adaptation were.
However.
The pacing of this was...strange. Like, it's nearly 400 pages long. The first proposal happens at almost the 300 page mark. That's a LOT of story - and character development - to cram into less than 100 pages. So I ended up really struggling with Alys and Darsee's relationship purely because it felt extremely rushed and almost shoved in as an afterthought.
I'm also not sure why Kamal chose to make Alys five years older than Darsee and Jena seven years older than Bungles. Sure, you need their mother to despair of them ever getting married, but given that it's set in 2000, I'm not convinced that it was necessary for them to be 31 and 33 respectively. Just...make them mid-20s and call it good? Part of me feels like making Darsee and Bungles younger was (view spoiler)[because Wickaam is Darsee's cousin and having a man in his 30s regularly seducing teenage girls would be too much for a modern audience. But frankly, having a 26 year old man regularly seducing (and ultimately marrying!) teenage girls wasn't much better. If you're modernising the story, surely there are better ways to make Wickaam creepy??? (hide spoiler)]
Anyway. I did like it. But the pacing was weird and I had a few issues with the romance side of things. Sigh....more
Trigger warnings: death of a parent (in the past), bullying.
This is a YA retelling of Persuasion set in Tobago. I was somewhat hesitant going into thTrigger warnings: death of a parent (in the past), bullying.
This is a YA retelling of Persuasion set in Tobago. I was somewhat hesitant going into this because YA retellings of Persuasion often don't work for me purely because of the lack of TIME. There's eight YEARS between Anne breaking things off with Wentworth and seeing him again. That's just not possible in YA books. But this one? This one somehow worked for me. I think in part it's because while they're 17, they both read older than they are - Reyna works at her family's hotel when she's not at school, and Aiden is part of the music scene's biggest group. So it very much does justice to the original while also being its own thing.
The characters were great and I loved the setting. I enjoyed that Dass included a ton of Tobagonian culture and food and music and slang without explaining it to a white audience. Like, work it out from context, people. Or Google it. You don't HAVE to have the author explain every single thing to you.
Anyway. It was a solid retelling. It was a solid book in its own right. The examination of grief was well handled and I really appreciated the way Dass discussed the impact of grief on your life even years later. All in all, this was great. ...more
Trigger warnings: shitty parenting, mentions of cheating (in the past), Harry Potter references, death of a family member (in the past), alcohol abuseTrigger warnings: shitty parenting, mentions of cheating (in the past), Harry Potter references, death of a family member (in the past), alcohol abuse.
I listened to this on audiobook and that was an excellent choice. It's very definitely a f/f Pride and Prejudice retelling but I adored all the modern additions - the astrology, the Seattle setting, the dating app. Darcy and Elle were both delightful narrators and I adored all the complexities and nuances of their characters. The secondary characters were equally delightful, and I can't wait to pick up the second book in the series and get to know Annie in more detail.
All in all, this was wonderfully written and the romance was both sweet and pretty damned steamy. ...more
Trigger warnings: slavery, ableism, death of a parent (in the past), implied sex slavery, (view spoiler)[death of a grandparent, serious injury (hide Trigger warnings: slavery, ableism, death of a parent (in the past), implied sex slavery, (view spoiler)[death of a grandparent, serious injury (hide spoiler)].
Wow, I really didn't like this. Part of my dislike is, in fact, disappointment because I had myself convinced that it was Persuasion set in space and instead it was Persuasion but make it dystopian and that's not at all what I wanted. But my biggest problem with this was that it was EXCRUCIATINGLY BORING.
The entire backstory of the friendship (I won't say relationship because it really IS a friendship) between Elliot and Kai is dribbled out in letters they sent each other throughout their childhood, and most of the letters don't really add a lot to the story. Add in the fact that Elliot was about an exciting as watching paint dry and the fact that Kai was a dick for most of the book and I just...yeah. Don't get me wrong, I know that Frederick Wentworth is hardly a knight in shining armour in the original. But I feel like he's less...vindictive?...in the original than he is here.
Basically, this is set in a world ruined by genetic modification. The Luddites, scared of the way technology was changing society, withdrew to underground caverns. When they emerged years later, humanity had become mentally and intellectually reduced. The Luddites took it upon themselves to "care" for the Reduced, and the Reduced effectively became a slave race. When a subset of their children turned out to be perfectly normal, they remained enslaved with rumours that these children were the result of Luddite masters taking advantage of their Reduced workers.
At no point during the story is the word "slavery" used, but that's really what it is. And it was very unsettling a lot of the time because Elliot considers herself to be friends with various workers on her family property, but she's not particularly concerned about, like, whether those "friends" have a choice in working there or not.
Essentially, I wanted this to be spectacular and instead it was very very dry with 20-30 pages of action shoved in right at the end. I eye-rolled my way through the ending and have been left with a halfhearted plan to try and write a YA retelling of Persuasion that's ACTUALLY set in space because that's what I wanted and what the cover made me think and instead I got pages and pages about crop yields. Sigh....more
Trigger warnings: slut shaming, Islamophobia, death of a parent (in the past), mentions of abortion, blood.
4.5 stars.
I really, really enjoyed this. Trigger warnings: slut shaming, Islamophobia, death of a parent (in the past), mentions of abortion, blood.
4.5 stars.
I really, really enjoyed this. Modernisations of Pride and Prejudice can be hit or miss for me for two reasons: either they try to stick too closely to the original or they try to bring ALL the plot points into the modern era when they're clearly not going to work in the same way they did two hundred years ago.
Thankfully, this did neither. It was a story that stood on its own two feet very firmly, while frequently giving nods to the original text, and I loved it. It was compelling and well written and I loved that it's set in Toronto.
Really, my only complaint is that I would have liked Khalid to have more character growth (a la Darcy) than he does, but it was still a fantastic story from start to finish. ...more
I love Austen retellings and this was no exception. Zoboi's adapting the story to Trigger warnings: gentrification, poverty, death, cancer.
3.5 stars.
I love Austen retellings and this was no exception. Zoboi's adapting the story to include the Darcys being a rich family moving to the neighbourhood through gentrification was incredibly clever. Zuri was absolutely delightful and while I didn't love Darius Darcy as much as I love Fitzwilliam Darcy, he was still very sweet.
That being said, this sometimes tried to stick TOO closely to the original text and the pacing struggled accordingly. Add in a slightly rushed ending, and this was solid but also not my favourite adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. ...more
Trigger warnings: fatphobia. Anything more than that, I have no idea because I only made it 22 pages in.
I've been meaning to read this one for a whilTrigger warnings: fatphobia. Anything more than that, I have no idea because I only made it 22 pages in.
I've been meaning to read this one for a while because a) the cover intrigued me and b) it's a Pride and Prejudice retelling, and I'm trash for them.
Buuuuut by page 7 of this one, I was already...not a fan. Our Lizzie Bennet here is Elise Gardiner and she lacked all of Lizzie's charm while retaining all of her initially judgemental nature. She's very "Everyone around me is wearing designer outfits, I'm wearing a feminist t-shirt and sneakers, I guess I missed the memo and now I'm not like other girls", which ugh.
But the dealbreaker for me was this: "Everyone at Coral Tree Prep was good-looking. Really. Everyone. I didn't see a single fat or ugly kid all morning. Maybe they just locked them up at registration and didn't let them out again until graduation."
Uh. What? What is this bullshit?
I read another 15-ish pages, but it didn't get any better. If anything, Elise got more judgemental. So LOL NOPE BYE. ...more
I had really high hopes for this book, because I'm 100% trash for both Austen retellings and dragons. So really, an Austen retelling WITH D3.5 stars.
I had really high hopes for this book, because I'm 100% trash for both Austen retellings and dragons. So really, an Austen retelling WITH DRAGONS should have been a surefire hit for me.
But no.
Honestly, I think part of the problem here is that it's only the first...third??...of Pride and Prejudice. Like, by the end of the book, Mr Collins hasn't even proposed to Lizzie. So it felt INCREDIBLY long a lot of the time. And yes, there's a lot of world building to do because it's a world with dragons and all of that stuff has to be developed. But still. It's 340 pages...
I liked that Mary and the Gardiners play a more significant role in the story than in the original. I like that Lizzie and Darcy, despite their loathing (unadulterated loathing/for your face, your voice, your CLOTHING), are forced to team up in an attempt to find a missing dragon egg.
But it draaaaaaaaaaagged, and I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the dragons... I mean, I liked the idea of teeny little dragons and dragons having different powers/abilities/whatever. But the fact that people who can't hear dragons just think they're birds was...kind of silly? IDEK.
So yeah. The last 50-ish pages was pretty solid, but I'm still not sure if I'll bother reading the second book, even though it's only $5 on Kindle. ...more
Trigger warnings: stillbirth, blood, sexual abuse of children, grooming, animal death, whipping. (IDK if that requires a trigger warning, but in the cTrigger warnings: stillbirth, blood, sexual abuse of children, grooming, animal death, whipping. (IDK if that requires a trigger warning, but in the course of the story, two soldiers are flogged as punishment.)
19/11/2019 I'm really really glad I reread this because it's wonderful.
25/4/2017 I've seen this floating around a lot over the past couple of years, and I've always been vaguely intrigued by it because I'm trash for Austen retellings. But it wasn't until Olive reviewed it on her channel that I was like "OKAY I NEED TO READ THAT RIGHT NOW".
Basically, this is Pride and Prejudice retold from the perspective of the servants, especially the housemaid, Sarah. Yes, Darcy and Bingley are barely in the story. Yes, the characters we know and love from the original are painted in a very different - and often unlikable - light. But that was the reality of life for servants at the time.
They did backbreaking work for very little pay, they were up before the family and in bed after them in many cases. Their clothing was hand-me-downs from the family, often unsuited to their work. And they had no job security whatsoever, especially in a family like the Bennets where the estate was entailed away to someone else, and where the marriage of children in the household would reduce the number of servants required. They were constantly required to prove that they were worthy of staying and expected to be grateful for it all at the same time.
I loved Sarah as a character so much. I wanted her to have the chance to see the world. I wanted her to have a happy ending. I wanted her to know that there was more to life than washing the Bennet sisters' menstrual rags and Lydia's jizz covered underwear. I had a lot of feelings for Mrs Hill and her backstory. I had a lot of feelings for James and his incredibly shitty life.
Basically? I loved this from start to finish....more
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