leontyna's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was delightful, I only wish I read it in other form than audio because then I could have absorbed the story more quickly.
nonabgo's review
1.0
Yawn. Glorified fan fiction.
It's good enough for crowded and noisy subway rides, but little more. This tentative to give life to Mary, the forgotten Bennet sister, has very few literary merits. Some humor here and there, some lovely nature descriptions, but even as chick-lit, it is, sadly, a bore. And a very long one at that. Take "Pride and Prejudice", the beloved classic, which follows not one, but two (and a half, to include Lydia) sisters and is less than 300 pages long. This book is just shy of 500! What are these editors doing? Was this author payed by the page? At least half of this book could have been easily scrapped, as it's pure repetition and pointless ramblings that do nothing for the story or for character development.
The first part (there's five of them!) was nice enough - basically a retelling of P&P from Mary's perspective. It was interesting to read and have the same characters seen from the perspective of someone who is basically ignored by her entire family. Mrs Bennet was seen as a selfish bully, Jane and Lizzy received some character traits that make them less than perfect, but this is mostly within the borders set by Jane Austen herself, only from a different point of view.
Then the story moves forward and Mary, the only unmarried daughter, the rational, but completely unbecoming young lady, forced to live on the mercy of her married sisters and other family, is shown to slowly find herself and search for her life's meaning. I was intrigued by the possibility of this serious, scholarly young woman making a life for herself unbound by the limitations of the era, maybe as a governess or teacher. You want to know where the story is going, though? You've guessed it! Marriage!
The book is extremely introspective - not necessarily a bad thing per se, as a rule, but it is also extremely slow paced, rambly, meandering aimlessly. Janice Hadlow maintains Mary's character from P&P for a while, until she doesn't and transforms her into something entirely not herself anymore. I don't mind the sprucing up (though I laughed out loud at the fact that she was basically transformed into a goose who has a sudden interest in fashion and dress patterns), but the whole character evolved in something entirely lacking believability. She was basically lobotomized, her entire persona gone. During the course of this interminable book, she has not one, not two, but four suitors, one of them married! and another being pursued by none other than Caroline Bingley. See a pattern here?
The entire story is Mary moping around because she is ugly, then buying a few dresses and bam! she's confident, speaks to people, and men are suddenly queuing to chase her. And she is at the same time surprised by this and dragging each and every one of them along, despite her insisting that "oh my, what did I do to encourage this, this was not my intention at all". I actually tended to agree with Caroline Bingley regarding Mary's morals, which is something I've never thought I would say.
Hadlow merely took Lizzy's story, changed (somewhat) the names of the suitors, spun out the same 'she's too proud to say anything' story, added some Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine on top (in exactly the same way as it was done in P&P) and called it a day. She even sent Mary on a trip with the Gardiners, similar to Lizzy's.
You'd think there would be at least some character development, You know, the ugly duckling turning into a lovely swan, but in a meaningful, interesting, realistic way, completely in line with her persona. But no. What is character development when you can just fill 500 pages with pointless depressive thoughts and blatantly copy the work of another author (sometimes to the very words from a dialogue)?
1* for the very few amusing passages and for somewhat redeeming Mr Collins, whom I thought Austen turned into an undeserved caricature. And for the Gardiners, they were a hoot (despite Mrs Gardiner behaving in such an unlikely and completely un-Austen fashion when she has "the talk" with Mary). Otherwise, it was eye rolling, start to finish. I wanted something light and fun to amuse me on my subway rides to work, but alas... I got cringe.
It's good enough for crowded and noisy subway rides, but little more. This tentative to give life to Mary, the forgotten Bennet sister, has very few literary merits. Some humor here and there, some lovely nature descriptions, but even as chick-lit, it is, sadly, a bore. And a very long one at that. Take "Pride and Prejudice", the beloved classic, which follows not one, but two (and a half, to include Lydia) sisters and is less than 300 pages long. This book is just shy of 500! What are these editors doing? Was this author payed by the page? At least half of this book could have been easily scrapped, as it's pure repetition and pointless ramblings that do nothing for the story or for character development.
The first part (there's five of them!) was nice enough - basically a retelling of P&P from Mary's perspective. It was interesting to read and have the same characters seen from the perspective of someone who is basically ignored by her entire family. Mrs Bennet was seen as a selfish bully, Jane and Lizzy received some character traits that make them less than perfect, but this is mostly within the borders set by Jane Austen herself, only from a different point of view.
Then the story moves forward and Mary, the only unmarried daughter, the rational, but completely unbecoming young lady, forced to live on the mercy of her married sisters and other family, is shown to slowly find herself and search for her life's meaning. I was intrigued by the possibility of this serious, scholarly young woman making a life for herself unbound by the limitations of the era, maybe as a governess or teacher. You want to know where the story is going, though? You've guessed it! Marriage!
The book is extremely introspective - not necessarily a bad thing per se, as a rule, but it is also extremely slow paced, rambly, meandering aimlessly. Janice Hadlow maintains Mary's character from P&P for a while, until she doesn't and transforms her into something entirely not herself anymore. I don't mind the sprucing up (though I laughed out loud at the fact that she was basically transformed into a goose who has a sudden interest in fashion and dress patterns), but the whole character evolved in something entirely lacking believability. She was basically lobotomized, her entire persona gone. During the course of this interminable book, she has not one, not two, but four suitors, one of them married! and another being pursued by none other than Caroline Bingley. See a pattern here?
The entire story is Mary moping around because she is ugly, then buying a few dresses and bam! she's confident, speaks to people, and men are suddenly queuing to chase her. And she is at the same time surprised by this and dragging each and every one of them along, despite her insisting that "oh my, what did I do to encourage this, this was not my intention at all". I actually tended to agree with Caroline Bingley regarding Mary's morals, which is something I've never thought I would say.
Hadlow merely took Lizzy's story, changed (somewhat) the names of the suitors, spun out the same 'she's too proud to say anything' story, added some Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine on top (in exactly the same way as it was done in P&P) and called it a day. She even sent Mary on a trip with the Gardiners, similar to Lizzy's.
You'd think there would be at least some character development, You know, the ugly duckling turning into a lovely swan, but in a meaningful, interesting, realistic way, completely in line with her persona. But no. What is character development when you can just fill 500 pages with pointless depressive thoughts and blatantly copy the work of another author (sometimes to the very words from a dialogue)?
1* for the very few amusing passages and for somewhat redeeming Mr Collins, whom I thought Austen turned into an undeserved caricature. And for the Gardiners, they were a hoot (despite Mrs Gardiner behaving in such an unlikely and completely un-Austen fashion when she has "the talk" with Mary). Otherwise, it was eye rolling, start to finish. I wanted something light and fun to amuse me on my subway rides to work, but alas... I got cringe.
lleroux's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
susie_m's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It is the story of the quietest Bennett sister, Mary, beginning at the time of Pride and Prejudice and moving on through the next few years. In part one, Janice Hadlow did a good job of summarising Austen’s novel while explaining just why Mary developed into the bookish introvert she is in this novel. The tone of the writing is very reminiscent of Jane Austen throughout and all the characters we already know ring true. There was enough description of the historical setting to allow me to visualise the varied surroundings Mary found herself in. This was a long novel, offering little ‘ action’ but I found myself propelled forward towards the comfortably predictable ending.
kimmyp's review
4.25
I love Pride and Prejudice and I think the author did a good job following the style of the original. I thought this was a really interesting perspective to explore in the story. Mary was such a small part of the original book, easily cast aside. I really liked getting her perspective and fleshing out her character. I also really enjoyed having some humanity and understanding brought to Mr Collins character. With that being said, I feel like their redemption came at the expense of villainizing other characters. I think the treatment of Jane and Lizzy are fair, if not bringing them down a peg or two. I don’t know that they were fair to Mary. They were not mean, but they were a duo that excluded the others. I wonder if the author went a bit far with Mrs. Bennet’s character. I feel like she was turned into a true villain here, where she was more silly in the original story. Her words and actions could have been disparaging to Mary’s self esteem and her feelings of belonging in the family, but it didn’t come off as malicious. I felt there was love there, underneath her worry for their prospects. Whereas in this book, she was cold and cruel. I liked the arc of Mary’s story, starting before and going through the events of the original book. I like how she changed and adapted because of her circumstances and finally found acceptance and happiness in herself. I like that she ended up with Tom, but the scene when they got together fell a little flat for me.
valsundo's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jayra's review
5.0
I LOVE IT. Read this by recommendation and I am glad that I've picked up this book.
It's lengthy but I don't mind and I really love the developments. It was carefully written especially for Mary Bennet, who is often being compared to her sisters - beauty, which she did not possessed which is why her mother could not care less about her. I love love the last few chapters as she has grown into a fine women and she totally deserve the ending that she always had dreamt of.
It's lengthy but I don't mind and I really love the developments. It was carefully written especially for Mary Bennet, who is often being compared to her sisters - beauty, which she did not possessed which is why her mother could not care less about her. I love love the last few chapters as she has grown into a fine women and she totally deserve the ending that she always had dreamt of.
dixiet's review
5.0
A very impressive debut novel. Hadlow completes an important unfinished story from "Pride and Prejudice" with skill and imagination.
tanyaaugust's review against another edition
4.0
Parts of it were boring and a little too slow-paced for me, but it was a good read. It gave such an in-depth, different view of so many long-familiar characters - best of all Mr Collins, fuck. I never thought I would ever feel sympathy for that character in all its known reiterations. But somehow it worked. It was lovely.
dianaparkes's review
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5