Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Persuasion by Jane Austen

33 reviews

zivareads's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Grief

withlivjones's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This novel has a very slow start and I struggled to get into it. It only picks up really during the second half, but once it did I enjoyed it. The tension between Anne and Captain Wentworth is so clear and the narration of their interactions by Austen gives a real sense of pining and suppressed emotions. I actually let out a gasp at the letter Wentworth writes! When there is drama within the novel, Austen certainly knows how to write it. 

Despite this tension, I found that the main couple don’t actually have much personality. Wentworth spends most of the novel brooding while Anne has Mary-Sue qualities (i.e. being fair, accomplished and good-tempered while also being ignored and pushed around by everyone around her) and only realises halfway through the novel that she can develop different opinions to other people. I actually found the most entertaining character to be Mary, who is annoyingly self-centred but at least has a personality. I think this is what caused me to struggle to get into the novel at the beginning, before the plot really kicked in. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Period-typical attitudes

eibhlinscarnations's review against another edition

challenging emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism

lorriss's review against another edition

hopeful reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Colonisation, and War

breadwitchery's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia

atamano'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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

jneverland's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Classism

moonieness12's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

annamania99's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

 Pride and Prejudice was the first Austen book I read, the first I watched as films, and the first I really loved. Reading Persuasion is not like reading Pride and Prejudice. They have similarities, in that the books focus on the flaws of the main characters, but the approach Austen takes in Persuasion is much different. The tone is much more melancholy, much less "bright and sparkling" as Austen described Pride and Prejudice. Anne, the book's heroine, is not witty and self-confident like Elizabeth, but she has a sureness in knowing herself that Elizabeth lacks. She is older than Elizabeth and has faced a great deal more in terms of loss and disappointment. Mainly, I think, Anne is isolated in a way Elizabeth is not. While Elizabeth has Jane, Charlotte, her father, and her aunt Gardiner to support her, Anne only has a pseudo-aunt in the form of her late mother's friend, and this changes how she interacts with the world a great deal.
Persuasion was the last book Austen wrote before she died, and was published by her sister after her death, making the themes of loss, regret, and lost time even more poignant.
This book doesn't hold the same place in my heart as Pride and Prejudice, but then it is for a very different mood. I think Anne's belief in and integrity to her own morals and her determination to find joy in small things during some of the most depressing times of her life make her an incredibly strong character; though, like in the book, I don't think these are things many people might notice. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

uranaishi's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War