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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Finally reading this made me cry. Lydia's journey is a lot and its important and I am Emotion.
I really enjoyed seeing the end/new beginning of Lydia's story. I enjoyed how we see that people don't change overnight and still have some growing to do, so it was really nice that we could get that because healing sometimes takes time a few more mistakes before we find the path that is right for us. The thing that kind of bothered me is that (if you follow the whole web series and other book) Lizzie was almost nonexistent in this book; I know she is off building a company but she had promised Lydia that they were gonna work on their relationship so that was really disappointing, it just seemed that Lizzie forgot about her.
Aside from that I did really enjoyed it 3.5 stars.
Aside from that I did really enjoyed it 3.5 stars.
cheers to a book sequel featuring the only lydia bennet i haven’t hated.
(In case you were wondering, this book contains language, references to drug use, LGBT relationships, suggestive themes, alcohol use, allusions to exploitation)
Ly. Dee. UGH.
I might make some enemies saying this, but, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of the Lydia in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Don’t get me wrong, I think Mary Kate Wiles is a good actress and played the role well, I just did not enjoy the adorbs. The LBD Lydia was just a little too brash, too wild, and unapologetically in your face which is brilliant but also rubbed me the wrong way. So before you start sending me hate mail and accusations like “why are you even reading this if you hate her?”*, I’m giving you context and a disclaimer that my review may be inherently biased.
This really had potential as a book but just never really capitalized on it. You can certainly hear Lydia's “distinctive, eccentric, and endearing" voice, which wasn't nearly as grating as I thought it'd be. It reads like Lydia from the webseries, and you can hear Mary Kate Wiles' voice as you're reading it, but it's not enough to carry the whole story.
My biggest issue with the book is the first half. I'm all for show don't tell, but even preschool show-and-tells have time limits. We have to spend 150 pages watching this heartbreaking train wreck of a girl make one poor decision after another. It's the literary equivalent of banging our heads against a wall, screaming “Do you see the downward spiral she's on? Look at this wild child. Do you see how she's in denial? Do you see??" After about three examples, it's like "calm down, we get it already!" There are some great moments that could be used to explore a flawed, complicated, interesting character as she looks to recover, but it's lost among the repetitive attempts to "show" how this girl is (unintentionally) wrecking her life. If some of that was cut out to make the first half tighter, I think we could've had a really interesting exploration of Lydia's character arc.
The second half of the book comes together a bit more, but even after Rorick picked up the pace, I never really got totally invested in the story. It's a bit of a typical, coming-of-age, self-discovery story and feels a bit formulaic. Without a beloved and established protagonist, this would be just another forgettable YA book. There are a few storylines on the peripherylike Mrs. Bennet's secret health scare, Jane's touristy New York vs. the "real" New York, and the final confrontation and closure with Wickham that are just glossed over and seem more like afterthoughts than contributing parts of the story.
Unless you're a huge LBD or Lydia fan, you can probably skip this one and not miss out on too much.
Rating: 2.5 stars
*This would take more time than we have to unpack because, really, why do I read half the books I do? But in a nutshell,
1) I clearly have problems
2) Desperate times
3) It’s a free country
Ly. Dee. UGH.
I might make some enemies saying this, but, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of the Lydia in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Don’t get me wrong, I think Mary Kate Wiles is a good actress and played the role well, I just did not enjoy the adorbs. The LBD Lydia was just a little too brash, too wild, and unapologetically in your face which is brilliant but also rubbed me the wrong way. So before you start sending me hate mail and accusations like “why are you even reading this if you hate her?”*, I’m giving you context and a disclaimer that my review may be inherently biased.
This really had potential as a book but just never really capitalized on it. You can certainly hear Lydia's “distinctive, eccentric, and endearing" voice, which wasn't nearly as grating as I thought it'd be. It reads like Lydia from the webseries, and you can hear Mary Kate Wiles' voice as you're reading it, but it's not enough to carry the whole story.
My biggest issue with the book is the first half. I'm all for show don't tell, but even preschool show-and-tells have time limits. We have to spend 150 pages watching this heartbreaking train wreck of a girl make one poor decision after another. It's the literary equivalent of banging our heads against a wall, screaming “Do you see the downward spiral she's on? Look at this wild child. Do you see how she's in denial? Do you see??" After about three examples, it's like "calm down, we get it already!" There are some great moments that could be used to explore a flawed, complicated, interesting character as she looks to recover, but it's lost among the repetitive attempts to "show" how this girl is (unintentionally) wrecking her life. If some of that was cut out to make the first half tighter, I think we could've had a really interesting exploration of Lydia's character arc.
The second half of the book comes together a bit more, but even after Rorick picked up the pace, I never really got totally invested in the story. It's a bit of a typical, coming-of-age, self-discovery story and feels a bit formulaic. Without a beloved and established protagonist, this would be just another forgettable YA book. There are a few storylines on the periphery
Unless you're a huge LBD or Lydia fan, you can probably skip this one and not miss out on too much.
Rating: 2.5 stars
*This would take more time than we have to unpack because, really, why do I read half the books I do? But in a nutshell,
1) I clearly have problems
2) Desperate times
3) It’s a free country
This was epically awesome, because it was real, intimate, and incredibly well-written. I relate to Lydia in so many ways, and this book gives me hope. It made me laugh and cry and want to give Lydia the biggest hug.
A fitting continuation of the LBD universe full of bad choices and example-setting, much like The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet before it. But this one was much less relevant to me. Still interesting though.
Enjoyable follow up on a character I never expected to love in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Lydia was very frustrating at times but I could understand why she was making the choices she did. Glad to see her triumph after the events of the YouTube series.
This was a great follow up to LBD - it was so fun to see what Lydia did next. She is hands down my favorite incarnation of the youngest Bennet sister - fully realized and humanized. It wasn’t a smooth road for her in LBD or afterwards, and I’m so happy with the (final?) conclusion she got. And Mary Kate Wiles was an excellent audiobook narrator!
Arc provided by Touchstone through Netgalley
I had a hard time with this book, and part of it was my fault.
After all, this is Lydia's book. And Lydia is Lydia. Even in the aftermath of "Wickham's I wanna punch you in the nuts SOB" incident, she is still her same frustrating self piling mistakes after mistakes.
The thing is, this contemporary version of Lydia is also extremely adorb.
My biggest complaint about this story is that _for me_ it just felt as if it went on and on.
It's a very emotional, introspective tale of someone trying to pick up the pieces of herself, and trying to move on with her life. Basically, there is a lot of angst _ understandable one_ and a very new adult feel to it.
Thing is, my tastes don't run alongside the new adult/angst kind of stories, therefore there were some moments _ especially during the first half of the story _ in which I got pretty tired with this.
However, I just couldn't force myself to leave Lydia's tale unread. Because I actually like the girl.
I like her for that big heart of hers, and basically for the fearless way she lives her life. Even if sometimes things don't end working as she would wish they would, at least she tries her best.
As for the secondary characters, I loved her cousin Mary and her cat, Kitty. ;)
In case you're wondering, Kitty is the one on the left...Lizzie and Jane also make small appearances. Darcy not so much. -_-
So, all in all, this actually ended up being better than I thought it would turn out to be... considering how it started.