Reviews

I know that a lot of people love Jane Austen. I wanted to be one of them. I am not one of them.

One of my biggest pet peeves with stories is if there is a ton of description and it outweighs the dialogue. This story is very description driven which made it difficult for me to get into it and difficult for me to finish. It does not mean it wasn't a good story, it just means it wasn't for me.

I like Elinor and love that she has a load of common sense to make up for the fact that her mother and sister do not. I also love what we see of Margaret as she seems to be a precocious young lady and so much fun. I like Brandon and Edward (although he should have been honest with Elinor from the start). Marianne struck me as whiny and immature, and completely self-centered. It is hard to recover from that.

So, Jane Austen fans...which book is your favorite? Which one should I try to help me enjoy her work more? Or, am I destined to dislike her books forever?

vincederr's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the best Jane Austen I've read to date. It's incredibly funny with vivid characters. The story centers around two sisters. One sister is full of passion and ideals and the other is well full of sense and sensibility. Through their story we get scandal and secrets that threaten to rip hope and heart out of these two women. As with all Jane Austen novels, romance mixes with wealth and social status. I found this novel to be the best of her works. It's not as bloated as her other works and the humor is dialed up as well as the characters and drama. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Dashwood's.

4.5 out of 5

rachelanne345's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

annikar4's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.25

Despite the vast differences between 18th century English society and my perspective of present-day Canada, after settling in to the language and setting of the novel, I found myself thoroughly captivated by the story and the characters of the two sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Even in a distant setting, I could easily relate their joys and pains to modern situations, as it seems lover girls falling for inconstant men is a phenomenon that has existed for centuries.
Though there are various heartbreaks and dramatic plot twists, the story is overall lighthearted and many passages had me laughing out loud at the silliness. The first volume in particulary had me HOOKED; I was so deeply invested particularly in Marianne and her romance. The novel only failed to gain my 5 star rating for two reasons: Firstly, I got quite bored reading from around the middle of the second volume through to most of the third volume. Perhaps this is just me relating more to Marianne than Elinor, but I found those middle-end parts that focused on Elinor's story less engaging as they went on. The sisters' stay in London felt rather drawn-out and in the end I was probably just as eager for them to head back home as the girls themselves were. Not unrelated is my second reason for not giving 5 stars: I didn't find the ending completely satisfying. Perhaps it's largely due to personal bias and/or having different values from their society at the time, but

Marianne ending up with Colonel Brandon simply left me dissatisfied. As someone who identified strongly with Marianne for much of the story, this development seems like her giving up her romantic, passionate self and settling for the most convenient end which others essentially prescribed for her.

This choice of the author may be better understood with a better understanding of the context, but it just doesn't suit my personal taste, and as this is a personal review, this ending gets some points docked off.
All in all, however, I had a great experience reading this book and I was thoroughly captivated following along with these sisters through the drama, romance, and heartache. It was a very refreshing lighthearted read after my streak of reading rather dark/reflective books. This was my first time reading Austen and I certainly look forward to exploring more of her works!

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