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35 reviews for:
The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice: A Modern Love Story with a Jane Austen Twist
Abigail Reynolds
3.43 AVERAGE
35 reviews for:
The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice: A Modern Love Story with a Jane Austen Twist
Abigail Reynolds
3.43 AVERAGE
The tension of the original? Replaced with casual sex.
The strong writing of the original? Replaced with sloppy POV and dull characters.
The class differences of the original? Replaced with evil (of course) Republicans and noble (naturally) Democrats who believe in "science" and saving the world. The Republicans (again, naturally) do not believe in science. And they don't fund scientific research because they are (and I quote) "too busy funding their little wars", when they're not busy trying to blackmail innocent people. (Query: if one is truly innocent, how can one be blackmailed?)
I read most, skimmed the rest and wanted to tear out my hair the entire time. I'd call it fan fiction, but I'm not sure Reynolds IS a fan, and, honestly, I've read better fan fiction than this. I can only imagine what Jane Austen would think if she were unfortunate enough to be alive when this dreck was published.
I imagine punitive damages involving massive amounts of cash would be involved.
The strong writing of the original? Replaced with sloppy POV and dull characters.
The class differences of the original? Replaced with evil (of course) Republicans and noble (naturally) Democrats who believe in "science" and saving the world. The Republicans (again, naturally) do not believe in science. And they don't fund scientific research because they are (and I quote) "too busy funding their little wars", when they're not busy trying to blackmail innocent people. (Query: if one is truly innocent, how can one be blackmailed?)
I read most, skimmed the rest and wanted to tear out my hair the entire time. I'd call it fan fiction, but I'm not sure Reynolds IS a fan, and, honestly, I've read better fan fiction than this. I can only imagine what Jane Austen would think if she were unfortunate enough to be alive when this dreck was published.
I imagine punitive damages involving massive amounts of cash would be involved.
I love it when a book doesn’t try to be something that it’s not and this is a perfect example of that. Although, this was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice there was no struggle to make sure that everything fit within the story 100%. Abigail Reynolds did a great job filling in what she wanted and didn’t worry too much about matching up every character or sticking to the full story. And then after I finished I found out that this was the first book in a series and I was of course even MORE excited!
I enjoyed this book from the very first page! It didn’t hurt that the book was set in Massachusetts, Cape Cod to be specific, and mentions Boston on a couple of occasions. The book opens with Cassie and her friend Erin working in their lab at the world-famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and then follows Cassie’s romantic adventures and mishaps over the ensuing summer and following two years. There are of course two love interests Caulder Westing (Darcy) and Rob (I guess this could be Wickham, but I’m not so sure she included a Wickham).
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
I enjoyed this book from the very first page! It didn’t hurt that the book was set in Massachusetts, Cape Cod to be specific, and mentions Boston on a couple of occasions. The book opens with Cassie and her friend Erin working in their lab at the world-famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and then follows Cassie’s romantic adventures and mishaps over the ensuing summer and following two years. There are of course two love interests Caulder Westing (Darcy) and Rob (I guess this could be Wickham, but I’m not so sure she included a Wickham).
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
I'm always interested in modern writers' twists on the Jane Austen classics. Even though I know the story inside and out, this was a very well done adaptation with a current time background. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Oh my goodness I wanted to stay up all night to finish reading this book!! The characters are much like Lizzy and Darcy but amped up quite a bit! I enjoyed their cat and mouse game that was wonderfully modernized with prison scandals and tabloid sleeze!
I do feel bad though for the secondary characters in this book. And this is what kept me from rating this book as 5 stars. Especially Erin and Scott. They were used a as a means of introducing our characters and later as a catalyst for their breaking up argument but otherwise were almost completely ignored. Hell, they weren't even mentioned for over 150 pages! It's as if they had served their purpose and we then cast aside, only at the very end was their fate revealed, but it was done in such a rushed fashion it was if even the author had forgotten about them.
Also, her introduction of Ryan was extremely weak. He was brought up all of 3 miniscule times before his story was revealed. When it finally was I didn't even know what character Ryan was, I had already forgotten about him. For her predicament with him to be such an emotional experience fro her and cause such issues you think he would have been more prevalent by visablly effecting her to the reader.
The characterization I am going back and forth on. I think Cassie and Calder are wonderful - bit I don't know if it's their charcterization that is so great or if I am just remembering Darcy and Lizzy too well. Unfortunately both Erin and Scott are under characterized and under utilized as I mentioned before.
Oddly enough though the last 1/3 of the book completely derails from P and P, but thats cool. It was interesting with all the scheming, but it seemed to keep going and going and going. The climax of the story was just really spread out. Still I loved it even if it did peter out at the end!
I do feel bad though for the secondary characters in this book. And this is what kept me from rating this book as 5 stars. Especially Erin and Scott. They were used a as a means of introducing our characters and later as a catalyst for their breaking up argument but otherwise were almost completely ignored. Hell, they weren't even mentioned for over 150 pages! It's as if they had served their purpose and we then cast aside, only at the very end was their fate revealed, but it was done in such a rushed fashion it was if even the author had forgotten about them.
Also, her introduction of Ryan was extremely weak. He was brought up all of 3 miniscule times before his story was revealed. When it finally was I didn't even know what character Ryan was, I had already forgotten about him. For her predicament with him to be such an emotional experience fro her and cause such issues you think he would have been more prevalent by visablly effecting her to the reader.
The characterization I am going back and forth on. I think Cassie and Calder are wonderful - bit I don't know if it's their charcterization that is so great or if I am just remembering Darcy and Lizzy too well. Unfortunately both Erin and Scott are under characterized and under utilized as I mentioned before.
Oddly enough though the last 1/3 of the book completely derails from P and P, but thats cool. It was interesting with all the scheming, but it seemed to keep going and going and going. The climax of the story was just really spread out. Still I loved it even if it did peter out at the end!
I read this as fanfiction back before it was published, and I'm not really sure what inspired me to reread it - in essentials it's the same. Some of the modern updates are relatively intriguing and clever. Others are too romance novel-y. The device of having the story's "Darcy" write his "letter" to the "Elizabeth" as a modern P&P novel itself, though, was a little much with the meta for me.
Cassie Boulton is a Marine Biologist. She has worked hard to get where she is today. So when dashing, rich Calder Westing the third arrives in her lab, she has nothing but annoyance for him. Calder convinces Cassie to give him a chance. She agrees but what seems like a great idea should have stayed an idea. Both Cassie and Calder’s families do not approve of each other dating. So their family’s mending ways get the better of Cassie and Calder and they break up. Now Calder will do everything he can to convince Cassie they belong together; even if this means he has to write himself as Mr. Darcy and Cassie as Elizabeth Bennet in his own version of Pride and Prejudice.
I have never read Pride and Prejudice so I can’t compare Pemberley by the Sea to the original but I did think that this version by author, Abigail Reynolds was a good one. Cassie stood up for what she believed in and that was marine life. She is also not afraid to voice those opinions. Like the time she criticized Calder for wanting to order fish. What I liked about Calder was that he came from a wealthy family but you would never know it from the way her acted. He is courteous as well as a heart that cares. There were a few dry spots, where I did start to lose interest but other than this, the book overall was a good one.
I have never read Pride and Prejudice so I can’t compare Pemberley by the Sea to the original but I did think that this version by author, Abigail Reynolds was a good one. Cassie stood up for what she believed in and that was marine life. She is also not afraid to voice those opinions. Like the time she criticized Calder for wanting to order fish. What I liked about Calder was that he came from a wealthy family but you would never know it from the way her acted. He is courteous as well as a heart that cares. There were a few dry spots, where I did start to lose interest but other than this, the book overall was a good one.
One big of a question: why?
First of all, this book is awfully long. The same synopsis in less pages would have been better.
And yeah, Pride & Prejudice is good, one of my favourites. But...how can I say, too much of it in this book? Sort of. Just too direct in many scenes.
There were very enjoyable parts, can't and don't want to deny. But mostly the question in my head: why am I still reading this?
Somehow finished and overall no regrets about it - but this book is nothing special, nothing really good to me.
First of all, this book is awfully long. The same synopsis in less pages would have been better.
And yeah, Pride & Prejudice is good, one of my favourites. But...how can I say, too much of it in this book? Sort of. Just too direct in many scenes.
There were very enjoyable parts, can't and don't want to deny. But mostly the question in my head: why am I still reading this?
Somehow finished and overall no regrets about it - but this book is nothing special, nothing really good to me.