Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

2 reviews

wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.5

I’ve loved the pairing of a starchy hero with a sunshine-y heroine ever since I read Pride & Prejudice as a teenager. This romance really does it justice, featuring icy Griff and perky Freddy as our main characters. The character development was beautifully done here; you can really feel that Griff and Freddy complement each other’s qualities and bring out the best in each other. The blurb sort of makes it sound like it’s enemies-to-lovers, but that’s not quite right — Freddy actually agrees with Griff’s critiques and doesn’t take them personally. 

I have to say, I’m quite mad that the Austen-murder-mystery-CYOA TV programme isn’t actually a thing, because it sounds really good. TV producers should really get on that. I also enjoyed the unfolding of the actual (non-murdery) mystery within the book and the modern house party setting. The sex scenes were very realistic while still being quite sexy, which was really refreshing to read. Sometimes you just don’t have the coordination for shower sex. 

I did feel like the parent drama on both sides was a little overdone. One or the other could have sufficed, I think. And the villain, Sadie, was a bit of a caricature. I would have liked to have seen her portrayed with a little more nuance or at least more of a motive. 

My main pet peeve though: why do authors (or editors, as the case may be) insist on setting their books in the UK and then put Americanisms in the text? It’s so jarring and really messes with my ability to suspend disbelief. Luckily there were only a few but why were in there in the first place?
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philmarie321's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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