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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Not my favourite Austen. There were many instances in which narration was favoured over direct dialogue and I felt it lessened the emotional impact, especially the last crucial conversation between Anne and Captain Wentworth. I didn't find Anne anywhere near as interesting on the page as Elinor.
The access the reader gets to her inner world does not justify the other characters' fascination with her demeanour. She's generally amenable and level-headed enough to deal with everybody else's obnoxious traits, and altogether kind-hearted. Feels like a low bar to clear. There are also so very few interactions between her and Captain Wentworth that I have no idea what draws them together beyond the fact that she looks good for her age (the advanced age of eight and twenty, at which point all of your youth has faded, as teenaged TikTokers on your mobile device will confirm.)
The access the reader gets to her inner world does not justify the other characters' fascination with her demeanour. She's generally amenable and level-headed enough to deal with everybody else's obnoxious traits, and altogether kind-hearted. Feels like a low bar to clear. There are also so very few interactions between her and Captain Wentworth that I have no idea what draws them together beyond the fact that she looks good for her age (the advanced age of eight and twenty, at which point all of your youth has faded, as teenaged TikTokers on your mobile device will confirm.)
slow-paced
this book is about one thing and one thing only and that is YEARNING. my god. yes.
Did you ever see that review of Pride and Prejudice where someone said “just a bunch of people going to each other’s houses”? Well this was that, but I genuinely loved it.
It took me a long time to get through this book but that was mostly due to me struggling with the language. I am not used to Austen’s style of writing and it felt like every time I picked this up I had to readjust. I also had to re-read quite a lot to understand exactly what was going on (and I still don’t think I got it all on this first pass).
Genuinely the strength of this book is Austen’s ability to write someone who would usually be the background character as the main person and let us learn about her by observing all the other stronger personalities around her. Anne’s reactions and thoughts towards others taught me more about herself than anything she did or said directly.
I enjoyed the wit, I enjoyed the complete absurdity of how the other Elliot family members chose to live their lives, and I loved seeing Anne be reflective about how she’d grown with just time. There was no major event, it was just her maturing which is something we pretty much never see for women in fiction (unless it’s some weird male author talking about their physical maturity- barf).
Also, drama. The gasps I gusped towards the end of the book. I never thought I’d find myself yelling “Read him to FILTH!” or “YOU CAD!” at 10 pm at a book published in 1818 but I did.
I will read more Austen books- I hope that I have a better time adjusting to the writing going forward. I will also make a character flowchart of who everyone is because I STRUGGLED to keep track of how everyone fit together. I’m super excited to watch the 1995 screen adaptation and I hope it brings it even more together in my mind.
Overall a fantastic read. I laughed, I rolled my eyes, I audibly scoffed. It’s really something to be able to write characters and ideas that 200 years later still feel real and relevant, even in a very different social climate. Thanks for the adventure and if I ever sound like Mary does, please tell me because boy does that woman live to make herself miserable.
It took me a long time to get through this book but that was mostly due to me struggling with the language. I am not used to Austen’s style of writing and it felt like every time I picked this up I had to readjust. I also had to re-read quite a lot to understand exactly what was going on (and I still don’t think I got it all on this first pass).
Genuinely the strength of this book is Austen’s ability to write someone who would usually be the background character as the main person and let us learn about her by observing all the other stronger personalities around her. Anne’s reactions and thoughts towards others taught me more about herself than anything she did or said directly.
I enjoyed the wit, I enjoyed the complete absurdity of how the other Elliot family members chose to live their lives, and I loved seeing Anne be reflective about how she’d grown with just time. There was no major event, it was just her maturing which is something we pretty much never see for women in fiction (unless it’s some weird male author talking about their physical maturity- barf).
Also, drama. The gasps I gusped towards the end of the book. I never thought I’d find myself yelling “Read him to FILTH!” or “YOU CAD!” at 10 pm at a book published in 1818 but I did.
I will read more Austen books- I hope that I have a better time adjusting to the writing going forward. I will also make a character flowchart of who everyone is because I STRUGGLED to keep track of how everyone fit together. I’m super excited to watch the 1995 screen adaptation and I hope it brings it even more together in my mind.
Overall a fantastic read. I laughed, I rolled my eyes, I audibly scoffed. It’s really something to be able to write characters and ideas that 200 years later still feel real and relevant, even in a very different social climate. Thanks for the adventure and if I ever sound like Mary does, please tell me because boy does that woman live to make herself miserable.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
A beautiful melancholic love story full of yearning, regrets and family responsibility
“i can listen no longer in silence. i must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. you pierce my soul. i am half agony, half hope. tell me not that i am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. i offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. i have loved none but you. unjust i may have been, weak and resentful i have been, but never inconstant. you alone have brought me to bath. for you alone i think and plan.—have you not seen this? can you fail to have understood my wishes?—i had not waited even these ten days, could i have read your feelings, as i think you must have penetrated mine. i can hardly write. i am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. you sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would be lost on others.—too good, too excellent creature! you do us justice indeed. you do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in
F. W.
that’s it. that’s the review. thank you.
- 4.5 but definitely rounded up to a 5
- started off pretty slow, was a little hard to get into since there were a lot of characters being introduced and a lot of plot points to keep up with; plus all that logistical stuff with the elliot's house and finances were written in older english so it was a little hard to keep up with
- the most confusing thing about this book is how the story of the main pair was written. captain wentworth and anne were def endgame from the moment their story was introduced and he came back, but the way jane austen writes, it seemed like they were just a background story unfolding. a lot of the focus was on the side characters and background plots, so while those were being explained in detail, it seemed as if it just so happened that anne and wentworth found themselves and fell in love again - i wish that that was examined more closely b/c i do love their story!!
- WENTWORTH'S LETTER!! darcy ass way of confessing but i eat it up every. damn. time
- writing was beautiful as always, i'm always able to visualize a scene and the people that austen writes, even down to their mannerisms
- p&p is still my favorite, but i definitely would read this book again and lovedd the idea of it!
- started off pretty slow, was a little hard to get into since there were a lot of characters being introduced and a lot of plot points to keep up with; plus all that logistical stuff with the elliot's house and finances were written in older english so it was a little hard to keep up with
- the most confusing thing about this book is how the story of the main pair was written. captain wentworth and anne were def endgame from the moment their story was introduced and he came back, but the way jane austen writes, it seemed like they were just a background story unfolding. a lot of the focus was on the side characters and background plots, so while those were being explained in detail, it seemed as if it just so happened that anne and wentworth found themselves and fell in love again - i wish that that was examined more closely b/c i do love their story!!
- WENTWORTH'S LETTER!! darcy ass way of confessing but i eat it up every. damn. time
- writing was beautiful as always, i'm always able to visualize a scene and the people that austen writes, even down to their mannerisms
- p&p is still my favorite, but i definitely would read this book again and lovedd the idea of it!