Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Austenlândia

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Austenlândia by Shannon Hale

6 reviews

madelinelikethebook's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

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hopeful relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

To be frank, I was not a fan of this book. I wouldn't recommend against it if you want a very unique concept for a romance, but personally I will not read it again.
For most of the book, I could not figure out who the romantic interest was meant to be, which means we got almost no details about this romantic interest.

Spoiler

It turns out the romantic interest is a man named Henry who we have nearly no information on other than in the last two pages of the novel plus a tidbit from a briefly mentioned background check about midway through the novel.

We also have very limited details about why the romantic interest likes the main character.
Additionally, Jane seemed to have no ambition other than to find someone who closely resembles Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy, an ambition depicted as sad, but rewarded by the end of the novel. To be entirely fair, they do reveal her painting hobby at some point during the novel as well as an interest in basketball. This does give her some depth, but it isn't explored.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with this novel is trivial. At the beginning of the novel, a character is established to be her Great Aunt Carolyn, but on multiple occasions throughout the novel she is then referred to as Aunt Caroline. These are two entirely different names which makes the switches confusing and hard to follow.
There are a few bright spots reading. Ms. Charming is a particularly amusing and delightful side character, and Amelia has some good moments as well.

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luxale's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Hale is so clever in how she melds Austen-era and modern language. The narrator is wonderfully self-aware, while at the same time being absolutely ridiculous. The characters are so fake and so real and absolutely hilarious all the way through. But at the same time, this book isn't just lighthearted. It isn't just a farcical comedy meant to make the reader laugh. Our main character Jane works through her confused, often hopeless, feelings on love, vacillates too far in either direction, and lands upon a realistic conclusion in her brain. What a rom-com all the way through with an Austen-like flair. I did have issues with the ending being a bit too rom-com, but honestly, it felt like that’s what Hale was going for, so it didn’t bother me as much as it could have. A fun one day read.

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