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sarasreading'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
I'm so happy to have finally read this one! I think I like it even better than Pride and Prejudice. It's not as witty as the latter, but it's full of tension and yearning and emotion. I flew through it, and now I'm wishing that I had taken a little more time to savor it. My new favorite Austen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Classism
Minor: Death
annabeth_jackson's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
anjasshelf's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: War
silverthorn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Minor: Incest and Injury/Injury detail
pandorasirens's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Fatphobia
clevermird's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Jane Austin is kind of my classical literary nemesis. I really like the plots of her books and I find her ability to draw engaging characters in just a few sentences amazing. But somehow I never find myself quite loving the result.
Anne Elliot is the middle child of minor British nobility and still unmarried in her late 20s. Her whiny younger sister has been married for years, but calls on her whenever she feels short on attention, while her father and older sister are both too concerned with their own shallow flaunting of their petty title to pay much attention to her. Her only companion is her late mother's closest friend, who many years ago talked her out of an engagement due to fears that the man's dangerous profession and lack of familial wealth would leave her a penniless widow. But now the Elliots are in dire financial straits, their estate is being rented out, and who should come to visit the new tenants than her ex-fiance, still single and looking?
As I mentioned in the intro, the prose is typically nice, with witty commentary and really amusing characterization. I really enjoyed seeing a romantic story with an older (relatively speaking) protagonist and the premise was great. Anne was a nice girl and I found myself genuinely rooting for her to succeed.
However, the book is quite slow and definitely drags in places. Not that I was expecting the end of the world, but even compared to Pride and Prejudice, there's relatively little that happens. I feel like for as much as the relationship between Anne and her ex-fiance is the focus of the book, we see comparatively little of them together until (spoiler alert) they decide that they are okay with each other again at the end - there was buildup there, for sure, but it would have been more satisfying if we'd seen more of them together. Similarly, the antagonist is solved by a sudden revelation from a character introduced in the third act, and while again, it all makes sense and fits with what we know, it would have worked better if we'd seen more of said character before that moment.
I don't know, this one just didn't quite work for me despite me really wanting it to.
Anne Elliot is the middle child of minor British nobility and still unmarried in her late 20s. Her whiny younger sister has been married for years, but calls on her whenever she feels short on attention, while her father and older sister are both too concerned with their own shallow flaunting of their petty title to pay much attention to her. Her only companion is her late mother's closest friend, who many years ago talked her out of an engagement due to fears that the man's dangerous profession and lack of familial wealth would leave her a penniless widow. But now the Elliots are in dire financial straits, their estate is being rented out, and who should come to visit the new tenants than her ex-fiance, still single and looking?
As I mentioned in the intro, the prose is typically nice, with witty commentary and really amusing characterization. I really enjoyed seeing a romantic story with an older (relatively speaking) protagonist and the premise was great. Anne was a nice girl and I found myself genuinely rooting for her to succeed.
However, the book is quite slow and definitely drags in places. Not that I was expecting the end of the world, but even compared to Pride and Prejudice, there's relatively little that happens. I feel like for as much as the relationship between Anne and her ex-fiance is the focus of the book, we see comparatively little of them together until (spoiler alert) they decide that they are okay with each other again at the end - there was buildup there, for sure, but it would have been more satisfying if we'd seen more of them together. Similarly, the antagonist is solved by a sudden revelation from a character introduced in the third act, and while again, it all makes sense and fits with what we know, it would have worked better if we'd seen more of said character before that moment.
I don't know, this one just didn't quite work for me despite me really wanting it to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Chronic illness and Injury/Injury detail
paigeinabook's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cleotheo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Colonisation and War
Minor: Incest and Sexism
phantomgecko's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
How lovely. It's just cute. There are emotional ups and downs and poor judgment and whatnot, but really it's just a sweet story about a darling woman who loves and helps those around her. And she gets a happy ending.
This is a novel that cannot have a modern adaptation, though. The only ONLY only thing preventing happiness in this book in the first act is communication. In the time period of the novel, there are social mores and customs or whatever that make the lack of communication understandable (but still frustrating). However, if you tried to modernize this, there's nothing besides stupidity that could justify Anne and Wentworth not talking about it. To have them be the sort of people that cannot discuss their past would be to make them highly unlikeable.
This is a novel that cannot have a modern adaptation, though. The only ONLY only thing preventing happiness in this book in the first act is communication. In the time period of the novel, there are social mores and customs or whatever that make the lack of communication understandable (but still frustrating). However, if you tried to modernize this, there's nothing besides stupidity that could justify Anne and Wentworth not talking about it. To have them be the sort of people that cannot discuss their past would be to make them highly unlikeable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
eternalbutt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism