This was such a mixed bag of a reading experience. Honestly, though, I figured it might be. I’ve read a couple of Shannon Hale’s adult novels before this, and neither of them worked for me. And the Goodreads average rating for this book is not great. But I was still hoping! Especially considering the premise. It wasn’t one of those ‘meh’ reads, either. One second I would be actively hating what was going on, irritated with the main character, the next, something adorable would happen and I […]
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up.”
I like that Ibi Zoboi didn’t call this a “retelling” of Pride and Prejudice. She’s going with the term “remix.” That seems to fit a little better, because while the main plot is pretty similar, there are lots of little things that don’t quite fit into a strict retelling. What Zoboi did instead was take a story that most of us already know, flip parts of it around, and make it her own. And it really worked for me. Zuri Benitez was born and raised […]
Emma Drives a Mini Cooper
I think it was earlier this year I read a modern take on Pride & Prejudice and mentioned there were a slew of authors of different genres who’d taken on Austen’s work. Alexander McCall Smith, known to me as the writer behind The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, took a stab at Emma, my second favorite Austen book. I was a little worried about a man taking on Austen’s work; part of her appeal when I was younger was her subtle (and not so) jabs […]
Reading Too Many Novels Can Make a Young Lady’s Imagination Run Wild, You Know! Same Here, TBH
Before now, the only novel by Jane Austen I had read was Pride and Prejudice back in high school, and to be honest I remember the film adaptations of it more than the actual reading of the novel. So in approaching Northanger Abbey, there was a bit of an adjustment for me in getting into the language and writing style of Austen, but after a bit of a curve and effort to get going at first, it became smoother sailing. I can understand why some […]
It’s only a novel…
In Northanger Abbey we meet Catherine, an optimistic young girl who likes novels. She goes with her parent’s friends to Bath where she makes new acquaintances and meets Henry Tilney to whom she becomes attached. However Catherine is at once too naive in her friendships as well as a bit too imaginative. Stories are made up and they create stumble blocks for Catherine’s true happiness; marriage to Mr. Tilney. “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have […]
So Much More Shade Than I Remembered (and I thought I remembered a decent amount)
This was a reread for me though it’s been more than a decade since my last read. Instead of going through the plot since I think most people are familiar with the bare bones of the plot, I’m just going to share a few random thoughts I had while listening to this novel. So doing Austen as an audio book is interesting. It was obvious when reading Persuasion that Anne Elliot was the only one with any common sense and that everyone around her was […]
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