Reviews

Austenland by Shannon Hale

menniemenace's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. Many people say it's an affront to Austen's work, but as I have not read any of said work, I really loved it.

I do not like Pride and Prejudice. Regency romances remind me that while the world has progressed when it comes to women, I'm still living a Regency-era life, and it sucks.

I liked Jane and really sympathised with her over-enthusiastic approach to love. I would have liked the book more if the ending were different, but it's still quite good.

**Book 9 of 10 in the reading marathon

oatieoats's review

4.0

Loved it loved it loved it

foxyroxy922's review

funny inspiring reflective

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

3.5

rldanson's review

2.0

The best thing about this book was that I finished it, the first I've finished in a while. So that's good. But the book itself provoked quite a lot of eye-rolling. I suppose this sort of book is just not my thing, even if it is full of Austen references. The whole notion of a place like Austenland was just weird; and while Jane's view of the place matched mine, I still found myself annoyed by her too often. I did think it had a good ending; it had the storybook happy ending that you're rooting for (well, that I was rooting for, at least), but took a few extra twists to get there, just enough that I couldn't be sure I knew where it was going. It was good for me in that it was easy to put down and go back to, and was a quick read; but definitely not one of my favorites.

iamnotacentipede's review

2.5

So this book took me off-guard; It was charming and funny in moments, though through most of the book I felt like it was a Hallmark version of written work. The main character has a romance fantasy equivalent to a middle school girl with her first romance movie being the outline of her whole love life wishes. (Like seriously, who considers that you are dating someone just because you made out a few times?!)

The ending romance was good, wholesome to some level, though wasn't overly sensible as he was also an actor in the resort she was staying at. I feel like this was a pretty solid 2.5 stars for me (rounded down to 2 stars on Goodreads as I feel like it doesn't deserve the extra points to show a 3 star book). Also, I will never forgive the author for naming one of the ex-boyfriends "Tad"

blairetaylor09's review

4.0

I went into this expecting fluffy and light. That’s exactly what this was. If you go into it expecting more you’re going to be disappointed. I thought it was well written but i would’ve loved a nice fat epilogue filled with romance but you can’t always get what you want

leslielikesthings's review

2.0

I picked this up knowing that it would be silly. I have no problem with silly books, but on the scale of silly books there is a "fun" side and a "cringe-worthy" side. Unfortunately, for me this fell more on the cringe-worth side, though it had its moments. A smarter book could have made it more of a satirical deconstruction of the Regency period fantasy that so many women have from reading too much Jane Austen. This book was never trying to be that type of book, and I try not to judge books too harshly for not living up to standards that they are not even trying to meet. But it was hard for me to ignore the potential that the plot had to be that kind of book, and to not be a little bit disappointed that it didn't go there.

ziggy_zags's review

4.0

A guilty pleasure.

conioportus's review

3.0

it was okay. it's the kind of book you want to read after a week of study or after reading a heavy book... it's just to chill and laugh a little

kasd0718's review

4.0

I have to say that I really found myself enjoying this book. I wouldn't mind going to a place like Austenland, not for the love part but just to live in Austen's world for a week or two. The ending was a bit much, but overall I liked the book.