A review by jaimiable
Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope

1.0

Comparatively speaking, this was a far closer adaptation to the original novel than Eligible or Emma, as far as having the same plot points. But that's the only good thing to be said. Even while ~technically~ maintaining the same events, Trollope manages to change the tone behind every action. EXAMPLES: Fanny and the Dashwoods are openly hostile to each other instead of passive aggressive and subtle, the Colonel (and everyone for that matter) knows that Edward was in love with Elinor and asks her permission to offer him a job instead of thinking he was doing her friend a favor, Charlotte tells Willoughby that Marianne is sick because she feels bad for him, etc. Now, this may seem like no big deal and not make you want to claw your eyes out like it did me. But wait, there's more! This author fell into the same trap that the other two authors in the Austen Project series I've read have seemed to fall, and that is focusing on the modernization instead of the story. Every one of them packs the story full of blatant references to technology, even when it's unnecessary. This one, more than the others as far as I remember, throws out embarrassing attempts at slang. "Totes. Most def" are things that people say, sure. Not to a roomful of your distant relatives you've never met before, and I've never in my life heard someone say "hilar." It's like she googled millennial slang and just ran with with. Her grammar is cringeworthy as well. EXAMPLE: "I don't," Belle said, putting her arm round Marianne, "give a stuff about that." Breaking up a phrase makes it INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT to follow your sentence. Please don't do it. The names she calls her characters made me want to die on every page. Everyone is called some cutesy "modern" nickname instead of their name. Margaret is Mags, Mrs. Jennings is Abi, Edward is Ed, Marianne is M, Colonel Brandon is Bill (even though his name in the book is Christopher and why the hell do you have to change it to William Christopher is a perfectly reasonable name), and Sir John Middleton is, I kid you not, Jonno. Perhaps the most egregious offense, however, is the complete annihilation of every character. Mrs. Jennings doesn't care about anything or anyone but gossip, Margaret is nothing more than an intentionally bratty teen, John Middleton (I steadfastly refuse to call him anything else) is a controlling asshole, Edward is forceful with Elinor to the point that he at various times shoves her into a car when she says she doesn't want to go and hugs her while she stands completely stiff, as well as asking his brother-in-law what it's like to be "pussywhipped by women," and Mrs. Dashwood throws her arms about constantly and says nothing if it's not dramatic. They're caricatures of the caricatures in the original novel, and not one of them feels like a real person with genuine motivations. The absolute worst is Elinor, who is, in every other incarnation, my heart and soul. She is everything perfect in the world. She can do no wrong for me. And then here's this Elinor, "Ellie," as she's called. She says that she's selfless. She talks a lot about how she is calm and never wears her emotions on her sleeve. She shouts at her sisters and once told her mother that her dearly beloved and newly deceased uncle was not dear to them because he didn't leave them more money. When Margaret lets slip that Elinor's loves name begins with an F, Elinor berates her and tells their mother that "someone ate a bowl of stuff for breakfast." (Yes, that's a real quote). She took a wonderful character who tries her best (and yes is a little flawed) and turned her into strict matriarch who looks down on her mother and sisters and wants to do nothing but brag about how thoughtful she is. It was an excruciating experience to read this novel, and I hope I can save you from doing it too. Oh, and they genuinely think that $200,000 is an impossibly small sum of money to live on. Rich people, am I right?