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brie__774's review
slow-paced
1.0
I mean… I don’t know what I was expecting…
It is exactly how it is advertised. Really the fact I didn’t vibe with it is on me. Maybe I thought this would be my thing, but it wasn’t.
Maybe you’ll love it.. idk.. give it a go. Live that best life.
It is exactly how it is advertised. Really the fact I didn’t vibe with it is on me. Maybe I thought this would be my thing, but it wasn’t.
Maybe you’ll love it.. idk.. give it a go. Live that best life.
bagelation's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
dryadgurrl's review
2.0
Sense, Sensibility and Sea Monsters is the second attempt at adding some 'ultra violent mayhem' to a classic story to bring in new readers, it's by the same company that published the lauded Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, though by a different author.
I did like & Sea Monsters, but it wasn't quite as good as & Zombies, I felt that it deviated too far from the source material, not so much as to make it unrecognizable as an Austin story, but close. The pirates and the sub-marine station, while entertaining, didn't quite fit, nor did the sea witch, it just felt like the author was trying too hard. Part of this might be the fact that & Sea Monsters was by a different author than & Zombies.
The difference between the two (in my opinion) is that & Zombies was adding something to the original story, sort of like the director's cut of Blade Runner putting the original music back in, while & Sea Monsters was more like taking the gist of the story and dropping it into another setting in the same way that Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet.
It was occasionally a tedious read, the story seemed stretched a little thin in places, and the language was a little thick (but I had that same problem with & Zombies, they stuck to the Victorian English as much as possible) but all in all it was enjoyable and worth reading at least once.
I did like & Sea Monsters, but it wasn't quite as good as & Zombies, I felt that it deviated too far from the source material, not so much as to make it unrecognizable as an Austin story, but close. The pirates and the sub-marine station, while entertaining, didn't quite fit, nor did the sea witch, it just felt like the author was trying too hard. Part of this might be the fact that & Sea Monsters was by a different author than & Zombies.
The difference between the two (in my opinion) is that & Zombies was adding something to the original story, sort of like the director's cut of Blade Runner putting the original music back in, while & Sea Monsters was more like taking the gist of the story and dropping it into another setting in the same way that Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet.
It was occasionally a tedious read, the story seemed stretched a little thin in places, and the language was a little thick (but I had that same problem with & Zombies, they stuck to the Victorian English as much as possible) but all in all it was enjoyable and worth reading at least once.
lorarose's review
Not sure if it's a slow read or if I just wasn't in the right headspace. Will try again another time.
megs_k's review against another edition
2.0
Sadness... I thought this made Jane Austen's work to appear cheap and awful, when its not. Bad writing.
xonrad's review
2.0
If you despise Jane Austin's novels, you will most likely not enjoy this.
This mutation of the story is amusing in parts, and the sea monster setting in itself is very good at evoking the gloom that Lovecraft was so brilliant at expressing with his ancient ones... but the waffling on of "proper behaviour" and the like, and in the grammatical style that Jane used along with the vapid personalities and conversations from the original. If those things are what fueled your contempt for the original characters and made it impossible for you to read ANY of Jane's original, unmutilated works all the way through... all of that still remains.
I am of that school of anti-Austin readers. I could appreciate the alterations and everything that has gone into it, but I still found it very difficult to tolerate the characters and their conversations even as they are repainted upon this dark and intriguing sea monster canvas.
Personal preference to be sure. It would have been funnier if I were at least neutral about the Jane Austin style.
What Ben H Winters has done here is not really a parody of the original as the blurbs lead you to believe, rather it is the original infused with the sensibilities of a horror themed parody.
And I feel unclean for making that vague little pun too.
This mutation of the story is amusing in parts, and the sea monster setting in itself is very good at evoking the gloom that Lovecraft was so brilliant at expressing with his ancient ones... but the waffling on of "proper behaviour" and the like, and in the grammatical style that Jane used along with the vapid personalities and conversations from the original. If those things are what fueled your contempt for the original characters and made it impossible for you to read ANY of Jane's original, unmutilated works all the way through... all of that still remains.
I am of that school of anti-Austin readers. I could appreciate the alterations and everything that has gone into it, but I still found it very difficult to tolerate the characters and their conversations even as they are repainted upon this dark and intriguing sea monster canvas.
Personal preference to be sure. It would have been funnier if I were at least neutral about the Jane Austin style.
What Ben H Winters has done here is not really a parody of the original as the blurbs lead you to believe, rather it is the original infused with the sensibilities of a horror themed parody.
And I feel unclean for making that vague little pun too.
blodeuedd's review
2.0
I am going to admit to something that may shock you...Austen's writing can be dry *people gasping in horror* Oh shut it, yes I KNOW I read like a million variations, but *coughs* dry. Dry I say.
Never mind that, well yes do mind that, because that was my problem with this book, it was rather dry. Oh fibblesticks.
But the world was cool, the creatures of the sea, lakes and more have turned into man eating monsters. Everything is out to get you. And in this crazy world the sensible Dashwoods lives and everyone goes on with their business as usual. Oh that servant is making a spectacle of himself while being eaten, look away. How dare he. That I liked, the manners of the time combined with people having to fend of monsters at the same time.
Have some tea, oh and pick up ore and kill the hideous sea monster while you are at it.
But it was dry, and even though it was fun...it was boring and dry. Even when it was fun. Still, would make a cool movie.
Never mind that, well yes do mind that, because that was my problem with this book, it was rather dry. Oh fibblesticks.
But the world was cool, the creatures of the sea, lakes and more have turned into man eating monsters. Everything is out to get you. And in this crazy world the sensible Dashwoods lives and everyone goes on with their business as usual. Oh that servant is making a spectacle of himself while being eaten, look away. How dare he. That I liked, the manners of the time combined with people having to fend of monsters at the same time.
Have some tea, oh and pick up ore and kill the hideous sea monster while you are at it.
But it was dry, and even though it was fun...it was boring and dry. Even when it was fun. Still, would make a cool movie.