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elinorb's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Enjoyable easy read.
Fun premise but would have been boring without the Austen connection.
Sometimes felt a little on the nose, like the author was trying to fit in as many gritty points as possible.
The pedo stuff was just unnecessary.
Fun premise but would have been boring without the Austen connection.
Sometimes felt a little on the nose, like the author was trying to fit in as many gritty points as possible.
The pedo stuff was just unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Sexual violence
stephvn01's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
suklaa's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Ugh. I almost DNFed this but I managed to pull through. Was it worth it? NO!
I thought the concept of this book was really interesting. I mean a story about the background characters of Pride and Prejudice does sound interesting. But it's not. It's boring as hell. First of all, the main characters suck. Sarah is annoying, whiny and extremely jealous. I didn't find James that interesting. Polly and Mrs.Hill are just there. The only character I liked was Ptolemy but the narrative made an 180 with him and made him a creep at the end. The characters from Pride and Prejudice which we know and love are shit on in this book for no reason. Lizzie seems entitled and when she gets married to Mr.Darcy she seems unhappy?? Mr. Darcy doesn't get a lot of spotlight but when he does he's such a dick. He is literally canonically nice to his servants but here he acts like they don't exist or is very rude to them. And suddenly he cares a lot about Lizzie's appearance? Wtf. Also Mr. Collins is written sympathetically for some reason.
Ig this book showcases the grim realism and dirtyness of the 1800s BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The author talks so much about feces and menstrual blood like what the fuck??? Also there's so much racism and pedofilia in this. It's disturbing.
If you're a P&P fan, don't bother reading this cuz it just shits on the original book. Jane Austen would've hated this.
I thought the concept of this book was really interesting. I mean a story about the background characters of Pride and Prejudice does sound interesting. But it's not. It's boring as hell. First of all, the main characters suck. Sarah is annoying, whiny and extremely jealous. I didn't find James that interesting. Polly and Mrs.Hill are just there. The only character I liked was Ptolemy but the narrative made an 180 with him and made him a creep at the end. The characters from Pride and Prejudice which we know and love are shit on in this book for no reason. Lizzie seems entitled and when she gets married to Mr.Darcy she seems unhappy?? Mr. Darcy doesn't get a lot of spotlight but when he does he's such a dick. He is literally canonically nice to his servants but here he acts like they don't exist or is very rude to them. And suddenly he cares a lot about Lizzie's appearance? Wtf. Also Mr. Collins is written sympathetically for some reason.
Ig this book showcases the grim realism and dirtyness of the 1800s BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The author talks so much about feces and menstrual blood like what the fuck??? Also there's so much racism and pedofilia in this. It's disturbing.
If you're a P&P fan, don't bother reading this cuz it just shits on the original book. Jane Austen would've hated this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Pedophilia
Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual content
imrereads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In this reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, the story of Lizzy and her family takes a step back to let us focus on the lives of the servants at Longbourn. Whenever a meal is being eaten in Pride and Prejudice, it is prepared in Longbourn. Whenever a ball is attended in P&P, the carriage is driven and a servant waits up in Longbourn. We follow the story step by step, but yet see such a different side of it. We see the hard work of the servants, the calloused hands and the worn feet, the early mornings and the late nights. In this book we also get a slightly more diverse cast (although not by a lot), like a black footman of Netherfield, or blink and you'll miss it glimpse of what it might be like to be a gay servant in the the early 19th century.
Mostly I found this very compelling. I could read for hours without wanting to put it down, and mostly I found it to be very consistent in terms of fitting the style of writing of Pride and Prejudice, while simultaneously making it fitting to the new voices and class of the characters of this book. It certainly takes it's liberties with the characters, but that's what I want from a book like this. I'm not sure if I agree with the way Elizabeth is written towards the end of the book though. It certainly doesn't fit my view of her character, but when I remind myself that this is a different book, and it really isn't farfetched at all, I feel content with the way it is.
Mostly I found this very compelling. I could read for hours without wanting to put it down, and mostly I found it to be very consistent in terms of fitting the style of writing of Pride and Prejudice, while simultaneously making it fitting to the new voices and class of the characters of this book. It certainly takes it's liberties with the characters, but that's what I want from a book like this. I'm not sure if I agree with the way Elizabeth is written towards the end of the book though. It certainly doesn't fit my view of her character, but when I remind myself that this is a different book, and it really isn't farfetched at all, I feel content with the way it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Slavery and War
grets_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and War
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, Animal death, Death, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia
ashhearddwrites's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Pedophilia
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Racism
charm0nix's review
emotional
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Violence
jlewis's review
emotional
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Life at Longbourn, the home of the Bennett family in Pride and Prejudice, as seen through the eyes and stories of the servants - the housekeeper, butler, 2 housemaids/maids of all work and a recently arrived footman and groom, who is secretive about his past. All is revealed about this in a lengthy flashback in part 3 of the book, before returning to the starting chronology in book 4. There are some well-drawn characters and some thought-provoking suggestions that consider how both sexual orientation and pregnancy out of wedlock might have been managed. Overall it is a well-written, well-researched and engaging book. I would agree with the several other reviewers who found the second half of the book less engaging than the first and that the ending was not altogether convincing in terms of either plot or character consistency. But one of the better P&P spin-offs.
For those who know Pride and Prejudice, it will surprise no one to be told that Mr Wickham is still a villain.
For those who know Pride and Prejudice, it will surprise no one to be told that Mr Wickham is still a villain.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, and War
Minor: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Racism
menapla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
unfiltered_fiction's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Although I wasn't expecting this to be life-changingly scintillating read, I was really, really disappointed by it. The only praise I can offer is that some of sections of the prose were beautifully written, especially parts focusing on the flora and fauna of the English countryside.
I would have loved to see the concept handled well, as I think there are a lot of interesting and important narratives from the Georgian era that get quashed by our preference for glamorous, elegant period dramas. Sexism, classism, racism, and colonialism are all inherent to the structure of Georgian society, and they are pervasive themes in all of Austen's novels to different extents. Revisiting her stories in today's era should offer a less blinkered approach, as writers have access to endless historiographical resources, and readers are more open to issues of inequality being brought to the front of the story.
But this is a retelling absolutely riddled with problems. Points about the gruelling and filthy nature of housework are very heavily laboured and yet distinctly emotionless; through the close third person narrative style, the single black character is continuously referred to in deeply offensive terms; there is a constant, insidious threat of sexual assault. The blatant emphasis on Mr Wickham's paedophilic interest in very young girls is entirely justified but poorly handled. The representation of Mr Bennett as a selfish and relatively heartless adulterer with an illegitimate child is completely out of character, and doesn't even fit consistently with the overall characterisation adopted in this novel. The narrative is strangely structured, with a lengthy and frankly unnecessary flashback in the final third of the book. The constant emphasis on disgusting smells and the prevalence of EVERY bodily fluid is... just grim, and ineffective.
All in all, it's a do not recommend from me.
I would have loved to see the concept handled well, as I think there are a lot of interesting and important narratives from the Georgian era that get quashed by our preference for glamorous, elegant period dramas. Sexism, classism, racism, and colonialism are all inherent to the structure of Georgian society, and they are pervasive themes in all of Austen's novels to different extents. Revisiting her stories in today's era should offer a less blinkered approach, as writers have access to endless historiographical resources, and readers are more open to issues of inequality being brought to the front of the story.
But this is a retelling absolutely riddled with problems. Points about the gruelling and filthy nature of housework are very heavily laboured and yet distinctly emotionless; through the close third person narrative style, the single black character is continuously referred to in deeply offensive terms; there is a constant, insidious threat of sexual assault.
All in all, it's a do not recommend from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Pedophilia, and Excrement