Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Certain Appeal

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Certain Appeal by Vanessa King

11 reviews

pchamblee's review

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adventurous funny hopeful informative lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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missdewza's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

3.0

A fun re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice centered around a New York burlesque club. Elizabeth is a stage kitten and her boy best friend Jane is a talented singer. Charles and Darcy are "men of business" who don't know what they're in for.

Honestly, it's a fun time (and it makes me wish I could catch a burlesque show in real life, but - alas! - I do not live in New York). However, some of the writing - dialogue in particular - comes off a little clunky to me when quotes taken essentially straight from the original and plonked into modern-day NYC. I get what the writer is going for, and I love Austen, but it just feels shoe-horned in rather than like organic dialogue.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this for anyone looking for a fun rom-com.

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lizreadsbooks's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I think that fans of Pride and Prejudice will love this, though be prepared that it’s an adaptation and not a one-to-one retelling. Many of the P&P characters are omitted entirely, but the central romances feature heavily. I liked the found family aspect of the story, the queer rep, and the deep dive in to the burlesque scene. The central romance between Lizzy and Darcy was fine, though perhaps a bit lackluster? I’m not the biggest fan of the original text, so I feel like some of the charm was lost on me, but it’s a solid romance overall. Julia Whelan does a great job with the audiobook.

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quasinaut's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

This book was FUN! It's Pride and Prejud-ish but make it modern and set in the NYC burlesque scene.

I loved seeing Bennet as Kitten, as Jane's friend, as an on-top-of-her-shit admin, as a designer -- and that Darcy learned to appreciate all these facets too. The burlesque community was a delight, though I felt like I never got a good handle on Andrea or the Twins, which is a shame. A few of the jokes and descriptions were incredibly awkward or just fell flat for me, too.

All in all, I enjoyed the tension, the setting, the characters, with enough hints at the source inspiration to make it fun to guess how pieces would fit together without it being too predictable (admittedly, I haven't actually read Pride and Prejudice yet, so maybe I'm way off)!

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brokenlightdances's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.5

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beabates's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bi_n_large's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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jaybee02's review against another edition

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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

3.5

I'm one of those people who OWNS the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice on DVD and BluRay. In my mind, Wickham is the quintessential slimy POS and Darcy is the original Book Boyfriend (TM). Ya girl has basic bitch tendencies, ok?

ALSO, I love retellings. Slap on those modern fixins' and I'm right back on the train.

Anyway, I feel conflicted about this one. I must have enjoyed it? I gobbled it up via audiobook (thank you, Julia Whelan, for the excellent narration) over the course of 2 days. I had all the requisite feelings of hate towards Wickham and swoon towards Darcy. The side characters are colorful and fun. The burlesque backdrop allows for extra banter and steam. I think Bennett and Jane felt a little flat in the end and I didn't like how the

groping aftermath

was handled.

Enjoyable but fell *just short* of being a solid winner for me.

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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kerrygetsliterary's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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