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amrichie64's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
colleen_who_ver's review against another edition
1.0
The ratings on this app for this book were lukewarm; however the curiosity got the best of me, and my library had a copy, so I decided to check it out. I was NOT prepared for how quickly I would find not only the characters but also the author's personal writing style annoying. I nearly DNF, but wanted to see how this mess got resolved. In some ways, Sittenfeld gets this modern retelling right, because this is CERTAINLY a period piece, as depicted by the mentionings of CrossFit and fad diets, the style in which the Bennett sisters text, the fact that our main character works in New York City as a journalist (a la many rom-coms of the era) and the use of an offensive word to describe trans people that most people in a post-2020 society would deem as a slur. I did appreciate that since Liz is almost 40, she probably isn't as connected to her phone as her younger sisters, which explains why she didn't get Darcy's phone number until late in the story, continuing to create the lack of immediate contact that added conflict to the original book. However, that's about as far as my praise will go.
Like most readers who rated this book poorly, I agree that the portrayals of the Bennetts was a huge miss. I do not think Liz, who mentions in the original book that only the deepest love would move her to matrimony, would hold a candle for a shell of a man, and be complacent with being his mistress until his wife's grandmother passes away. Like another reader pointed out, it seemed once again unrealistic that Liz would be complacent in her job and not want to achieve more with it--she gives off the air of a career woman, but it really takes a backseat to her managing the family's finance and policing their personalities. In addition, Mrs. Bennett could have just as easily been as histrionic and overbearing as she was in the original book without being entirely bigoted, and "enlightened" Big City Girl Liz remains complicit in her obvious racism, transphobia, anti-Semitism, etc., taking comfort in the fact that Liz doesn't think like that and she is therefore better than her mother.
To follow, it left a poor taste in my mouth that the Mr. Wickham character, turns out to be not a villan of the story who has purposely wronged others, but is simply a trans man and has no personal history of betrayal between any of the main characters. This plot point is not only cheap, but implies to me, that the author equates trans-ness with being amoral. The fact that the family, and specifically Mrs. Bennett, is in such hysterics over Ham's situation also pointed me to the fact that this story is too 2013-coded and unlike the original, barely holds up just over 10 years later. A "modern" retelling of a classic doesn't mean you pull out every DE&I buzzword you can think of and throw it over a boring plot.
Lastly, aside from unlikable, inaccurate characters and a plot laced with bigotry, why is this author so hell-bent on showing all of us every. single. road. they drive on within the city? I do not care whether Liz took Grandin Road or I-71 to get to where she needs to go; this information is superfluous, and this book isn't SO amazing that people are going to visit those streets excitedly just to see where Mary's bowling league meets in person. The Cincinnati Board of Tourism should be paying Sittenfeld for the rose-colord descriptions of an average mid-sized city in the Midwest.
Overall, like other readers who share my opinion, if you're looking for an easy read and don't look too far into the book (or are a huge fan of Cincinnati), this may be worth reading. As an average romance novel that came out in 2016, it's probably digestible. But as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice it falls short.
Like most readers who rated this book poorly, I agree that the portrayals of the Bennetts was a huge miss. I do not think Liz, who mentions in the original book that only the deepest love would move her to matrimony, would hold a candle for a shell of a man, and be complacent with being his mistress until his wife's grandmother passes away. Like another reader pointed out, it seemed once again unrealistic that Liz would be complacent in her job and not want to achieve more with it--she gives off the air of a career woman, but it really takes a backseat to her managing the family's finance and policing their personalities. In addition, Mrs. Bennett could have just as easily been as histrionic and overbearing as she was in the original book without being entirely bigoted, and "enlightened" Big City Girl Liz remains complicit in her obvious racism, transphobia, anti-Semitism, etc., taking comfort in the fact that Liz doesn't think like that and she is therefore better than her mother.
To follow, it left a poor taste in my mouth that the Mr. Wickham character, turns out to be not a villan of the story who has purposely wronged others, but is simply a trans man and has no personal history of betrayal between any of the main characters. This plot point is not only cheap, but implies to me, that the author equates trans-ness with being amoral. The fact that the family, and specifically Mrs. Bennett, is in such hysterics over Ham's situation also pointed me to the fact that this story is too 2013-coded and unlike the original, barely holds up just over 10 years later. A "modern" retelling of a classic doesn't mean you pull out every DE&I buzzword you can think of and throw it over a boring plot.
Lastly, aside from unlikable, inaccurate characters and a plot laced with bigotry, why is this author so hell-bent on showing all of us every. single. road. they drive on within the city? I do not care whether Liz took Grandin Road or I-71 to get to where she needs to go; this information is superfluous, and this book isn't SO amazing that people are going to visit those streets excitedly just to see where Mary's bowling league meets in person. The Cincinnati Board of Tourism should be paying Sittenfeld for the rose-colord descriptions of an average mid-sized city in the Midwest.
Overall, like other readers who share my opinion, if you're looking for an easy read and don't look too far into the book (or are a huge fan of Cincinnati), this may be worth reading. As an average romance novel that came out in 2016, it's probably digestible. But as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice it falls short.
kmkasiner's review against another edition
4.0
More like 3.5 stars. This is the kind of book that annoyed me the whole time I was reading, yet I couldn't put it down, at it deserves at least one extra star for the fact that I just sat down and devoured the last 150ish pages while I was supposed to be doing chores. Actually, this was a pretty good example of Sittenfeld's work--her characters are usually despicable but well written rich white people. I didn't really feel chemistry between Darcy and Liz until close to the end of the book, and I found the "hate sex" pretense particularly grating. All of the relationships in the book were fairly empty (Lydia/Ham was actually the most romantic!), which is why I didn't enjoy it as a Pride and Prejudice adaptation. I mean, Pride and Prejudice is the original Romance. However, it was good as standalone novel.
camarasaurus's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rosalyn_sailoge's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
thebookwormsfeast's review against another edition
2.0
“Fred!” the nurse said, though they had never met. “How are we today?” Reading the nurse’s name tag, Mr. Bennet replied with fake enthusiasm, “Bernard! We’re mourning the death of manners and the rise of overly familiar discourse. How are you?”
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is the fourth book published as part of The Austen Project – a retelling of Jane Austen’s works. This is the modern take on Pride and Prejudice – as such, I started reading it on Valentines Day.
As a brief overview as I don’t want to go into the details too much, here we find Liz in her late thirties, most of her sisters are unemployed and still live at home, and her families finances are dwindling. Cue Chip Bingley moving to the area, a recent contestant on the reality TV show ‘Eligible’.
The opener for me was off to a really good start – I loved how the feel of Pride and Prejudice was kept. This then was occurred intermittently and did not blend as well throughout the rest of the novel though… I do like how the characters were updated to suit modern day, and that Mr Wickham’s character was split out to my mind to different characters (I won’t go into the details again for if you wish to read the book – no fun if you know everything!).
The class system I suppose is reflected by what colleges they attended – with not being an American, I really don’t have much of a notion what’s better than others etc. so a lot of the ‘oh well I went to Stanford’ was lost on me (with actually being a university I’ve heard of, I assume this is an elite one?).
To talk about the main characters, Liz and Darcy, I did not really grow to love them – to be honest, I did not really like any of the characters, and any I feel I could like were not developed on all that much.
Now I love Pride and Prejudice and when I first read it, the longing I experienced to be Lizzie – to have that kind of powerful feeling connection and my own Mr Darcy (I first saw the BBC TV adaptation, I can’t see Colin Firth and not think Darcy) and lets face it, to be that witty and charming! – this book did not evoke anything like that for me. I feel it tried to get the wittiness, but it just missed the mark. Although, I do often have a feeling of being born in the wrong era (then I remember about healthcare, sanitation, and women’s rights etc.) – Mr Darcy appeals in the original setting, I cannot picture him without the period clothing or sensibilities, mannerisms, or speech patterns.
As for the structure – I know some people have an issue with the short chapters (for a book just over 500 pages it does have near 200) – I actually like that about it. A lot of the short chapters were essentially a page, and helped transition the days or provide the background information. With struggling with the reading of it at times, it was nice that the end of a chapter as never all that far away to put the book down (I hate stopping mid-chapter).
I like the ‘what they did after’ feel to the last couple of chapters as well – it reminded me of when you watch something based on a true story and you get snippets in the credits about what they did next and their futures.
All in all, I give this 2.5 stars. Near the beginning of reading this I thought it’d be a four star for me, but it just had such an uninspiring middle to end. I enjoyed the very end, and it makes me want to bump it up a little, but not quiet.
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is the fourth book published as part of The Austen Project – a retelling of Jane Austen’s works. This is the modern take on Pride and Prejudice – as such, I started reading it on Valentines Day.
As a brief overview as I don’t want to go into the details too much, here we find Liz in her late thirties, most of her sisters are unemployed and still live at home, and her families finances are dwindling. Cue Chip Bingley moving to the area, a recent contestant on the reality TV show ‘Eligible’.
The opener for me was off to a really good start – I loved how the feel of Pride and Prejudice was kept. This then was occurred intermittently and did not blend as well throughout the rest of the novel though… I do like how the characters were updated to suit modern day, and that Mr Wickham’s character was split out to my mind to different characters (I won’t go into the details again for if you wish to read the book – no fun if you know everything!).
The class system I suppose is reflected by what colleges they attended – with not being an American, I really don’t have much of a notion what’s better than others etc. so a lot of the ‘oh well I went to Stanford’ was lost on me (with actually being a university I’ve heard of, I assume this is an elite one?).
To talk about the main characters, Liz and Darcy, I did not really grow to love them – to be honest, I did not really like any of the characters, and any I feel I could like were not developed on all that much.
Now I love Pride and Prejudice and when I first read it, the longing I experienced to be Lizzie – to have that kind of powerful feeling connection and my own Mr Darcy (I first saw the BBC TV adaptation, I can’t see Colin Firth and not think Darcy) and lets face it, to be that witty and charming! – this book did not evoke anything like that for me. I feel it tried to get the wittiness, but it just missed the mark. Although, I do often have a feeling of being born in the wrong era (then I remember about healthcare, sanitation, and women’s rights etc.) – Mr Darcy appeals in the original setting, I cannot picture him without the period clothing or sensibilities, mannerisms, or speech patterns.
As for the structure – I know some people have an issue with the short chapters (for a book just over 500 pages it does have near 200) – I actually like that about it. A lot of the short chapters were essentially a page, and helped transition the days or provide the background information. With struggling with the reading of it at times, it was nice that the end of a chapter as never all that far away to put the book down (I hate stopping mid-chapter).
I like the ‘what they did after’ feel to the last couple of chapters as well – it reminded me of when you watch something based on a true story and you get snippets in the credits about what they did next and their futures.
All in all, I give this 2.5 stars. Near the beginning of reading this I thought it’d be a four star for me, but it just had such an uninspiring middle to end. I enjoyed the very end, and it makes me want to bump it up a little, but not quiet.
mvh3's review against another edition
5.0
If you are an Austen purist and thinking about straying a bit I don't recommend this. However, if you like reinterpretations then you'll love this! This is a fun, very modern, version of one of my favorite stories. Sittenfeld does a great job of making Austen's quick and young marriages more believable for the 21st century. I've already given this to one of my friends to read so I have someone to giggle over Darcy with.
nosebleededdie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my favorite book :)
shooples's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
A retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in 2010s Cincinatti. I love Curtis Sittenfeld’s work but this wasn’t my favourite. Still, it was quite fun and I enjoyed following the story and how she updated it, including some of the plot changes I wasn’t expecting. The handling of a trans character was a little uncomfortable and shows how different things are just 10 years later (for good and bad). Her recent Romantic Comedy handles a similar subject matter with a more deft touch.
shadypinesma's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0