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rtnspring's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the book but a heavy suspension of disbelief compared to the original portrayals of the characters.
laurengraue1's review against another edition
3.5
I read this book 3 years ago and gave it 5 stars. I read it in night and stayed up till 5am to finish it. I loved it so much!
But I just reread it and it took me a month and I found it kind of boring. I’m currently not in an obsessive pride and prejudice mood so maybe that’s why I didn’t like it. I’m not sure. Still a great book for when ur in the pride and prejudice mood
But I just reread it and it took me a month and I found it kind of boring. I’m currently not in an obsessive pride and prejudice mood so maybe that’s why I didn’t like it. I’m not sure. Still a great book for when ur in the pride and prejudice mood
fiatlux78's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
bluebell4's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
I am very familiar with Pride and Prejudice, in fact it’s one of my favorite books, so I was really excited to read this paper because I had wondered what would’ve happed if Lizzy had accepted Darcy’s first proposal.
The book itself was very sweet and well written, I enjoyed Darcy and Elizabeth’s banter and their relationship was very cute, but there where some times where the book seemed slowed down unnecessarily and there where several parts where I was felt like I was “pushing through” to get to a smoother part. Overall I enjoyed the book and I considered giving it 5 stars, but there were several times I wanted to put it down because it felt like we were moving backwards with the story. Good book and definitely recommend it though!
The book itself was very sweet and well written, I enjoyed Darcy and Elizabeth’s banter and their relationship was very cute, but there where some times where the book seemed slowed down unnecessarily and there where several parts where I was felt like I was “pushing through” to get to a smoother part. Overall I enjoyed the book and I considered giving it 5 stars, but there were several times I wanted to put it down because it felt like we were moving backwards with the story. Good book and definitely recommend it though!
bee_ayy's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Err...
Darcy rubbing a lock of hair Lizzy gifted him against his face was just a little too much for me.
Also:
"You madam, are little more than a girl, but you conduct yourself as a self-assured woman."
If a man ever says this to you, RUN.
Darcy does get better by the end of the book and there are even a few sentiments shared between them that I quite liked. The first fifty percent of this book however was, at times, tough to get through.
Darcy rubbing a lock of hair Lizzy gifted him against his face was just a little too much for me.
Also:
"You madam, are little more than a girl, but you conduct yourself as a self-assured woman."
If a man ever says this to you, RUN.
Darcy does get better by the end of the book and there are even a few sentiments shared between them that I quite liked. The first fifty percent of this book however was, at times, tough to get through.
gloriazthompson's review against another edition
5.0
A must-read for any fan of Pride and Prejudice! I loved that we got an in-depth look at Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s relationship and how their feelings unfolded in this retelling. I even found it more satisfying than the original ending of Pride and Prejudice (if I’m allowed to say that?).
sohnis's review against another edition
2.0
I need to stop listening to BookTok. I guess I should have known to curtail my expectations after reading that this book started out as fan fic, but you’d think there’d be some more editing involved! So much nonsensical lip biting, sighing, and gazing into each other’s eyes (barf). I ended up skimming the latter half of the book because I couldn’t deal.
I also should have realized that the original Elizabeth would have never EVER accepted Darcy’s first proposal. Keeping a character continuous with such an incongruous action would’ve been difficult for anyone but the way this book makes Elizabeth sooo passive is unbearable. It also makes Darcy an outright snob in a way that doesn’t fit the original all!
I just wanted to like this and I’m so disappointed :/
I also should have realized that the original Elizabeth would have never EVER accepted Darcy’s first proposal. Keeping a character continuous with such an incongruous action would’ve been difficult for anyone but the way this book makes Elizabeth sooo passive is unbearable. It also makes Darcy an outright snob in a way that doesn’t fit the original all!
I just wanted to like this and I’m so disappointed :/
tweedledumstwin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
rebroxannape's review against another edition
5.0
Why did he have to be so charming in some ways and so insufferable in others? She was sure she had hurt far more than just his pride. Would it always be so hard?
I admired and enjoyed this alternative imagining of Elizabeth and Darcy’s romance very much. Very. What if Elizabeth took the more practical approach of her friend Charlotte and accepted Darcy’s proposal at Hunsford?
She had been proposed to by a stranger. A very rich, very handsome stranger who was very much in love with her. She could not possibly accept him—but, suddenly, she could not possibly refuse him either, not now. This was, she knew clearly, a chance unlike any other she would ever receive. She could not turn him down for the satisfaction of it. She had to think.
You will need fear nothing as my wife, neither poverty nor loneliness, dishonor, or disloyalty, unkindness, neglect . . . you will be the most cherished wife in all of England.”
Who could resist such a declaration? After a week of soul-searching, she accepts Darcy. Not only for the good she can do her family, especially Jane, but because she starts to see Darcy in a new light. She thought he despised her. She was so wrong. How else has she misjudged him? Before she can truly come to love Darcy as he ardently wishes, he has to change. And changing the habits and attitudes of a lifetime is by necessity slow going. But I never found it tedious. It really felt like this is how it would have gone. In the book, Elizabeth's words in summarily rejecting Darcy’s proposal shake him to the core, and he starts to change. Just as ”the letter” starts Elizabeth on her path. In this book, it is a much different process. How Elizabeth finally gets through to him is a great scene.
As for Darcy, he had been completely unable to speak. Elizabeth’s words had cut through him like knives, shaming him deeply, and shame was not an emotion he was accustomed to experiencing…Was it possible that he, who had studied throughout his life to improve his mind and character, had overlooked such an essential flaw?…He had not understood her then, but he did now. His refusal to talk was an active unkindness, a deliberate slight on the value of those he had thought beneath him. He had not thought their feelings even worth the effort of a few polite remarks and a smile or two. He certainly had not been willing to consider lowering his own dignity to promote theirs. Nor . . . his brows furrowed deeply in pain . . . nor to promote Elizabeth’s happiness either.
This book includes many high points of Austen’s novel. Particularly delicious is this version of Lady Catherine de Burgh and Elizabeth’s confrontation in the garden. And in this one, we have Darcy’s reaction to his aunt's unmitigated gall and ill manners “which rather threw anything anyone in the Bennet family had ever done in the shade” when he walks into the middle of the fray. All of the characters remain true to Austen’s creations. And the more time we spend with Mr. Bennet and Lydia the more contemptible they are revealed to be. I liked how Lizzie started seeing her father more clearly and lost a lot of her respect for him. At one point, she even intervenes and protects her mother from Mr. Bennet’s mockery. There is even a dramatic rescue of Lydia and an exciting confrontation with Wickham as well.
I also found the dialogue, vocabulary, and narrative very authentic to Jane Austen’s style. The book is too long and repetitive but it rarely got tiresome. I admit that I found Elizabeth’s change from confusion to liking, to loving Darcy way too gradual to be believable or sympathetic. But Ormiston’s treatment of Darcy, I thought, was brilliant. His admiration, love, and passion for Elizabeth remains steadfast throughout. In this, he proves, again and again, the ardent words of his proposal in the original. Even when Elizabeth's fearful secret is revealed to him: that not only did she not love him, but how much she actively and publicly disliked him, he doesn’t blame Elizabeth but himself. Elizabeth has to accept the fact that her actions and manners were not above reproach either and have caused great pain.
This is easily the best reimagining of or sequel to Pride and Prejudice, I have ever read. I hate to call it Fan Fiction, although it is, because it doesn’t do it justice. When I looked for more of Lara Ormiston’s books, I was so disappointed to learn she hasn’t written anything else.
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