Scan barcode
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Homophobia
blewballoon's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
This was exactly what I hoped it would be based on the premise. I love the original Emma, and this queer retelling was a lovely way to capture that story in a modern setting. It sort of reminded me of Heartstopper. So, if you like Jane Austen and you like Alice Oseman, you'll probably like this as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Grief
Minor: Blood, Homophobia, Medical content, Body shaming, and Sexual content
emily_mh's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I honestly have mixed feelings about this book! On the plus side, it’s very easy and addictive to read; I flew through it in a day. And it does start out super strong as an adaptation of Emma, with the dynamics of the original that make the story so compelling being convincingly redressed in a modern-day setting. But unfortunately the adaptation went haywire from around the halfway point, as Rosen starts straying from the original source material. Obviously adaptations CAN stray from the source material and still be excellent, or even better than the original. But this wasn’t the case here, as the pacing got weird and elements that made the pining between Emma and Mr Knightley so exquisite in the original were removed. For example Frank (known as John in this adaptation) barely features in this story, and it is his presence that makes the misunderstanding between Emma and Mr Knightley deeper and thus their get-together sweeter. This is because it is a misunderstanding on BOTH sides, with Emma thinking Harriet and Mr Knightley have a thing, and Mr Knightley thinking Emma is in love with Frank. Little to no Frank means no misunderstanding from Mr Knightley; it means reduced pining. Frank and Jane coming onto the scene earlier (their equivalents come in so late in this adaptation) also ensures the pacing of the relationship between Emma and Mr Knightley is done well, as it prompts the jealousy that changes their connection. Also, the scene where Emmett and Miles (read Emma and Mr Knightley) got together just sucked in general. There was no pay off of the (already lacking) pining. Furthermore, we barely got to know Miles outside of him being at turns kind and condescending, whereas we got lovely insightful descriptions of SCs such as Jasmine and Taylor.
I will say I liked Emmett’s character arc. He’s finding it hard to take a chance on love when he could experience pain because of the loss it it, like he did in the death of his mother, but he also isn’t admitting this to himself yet. So his development is really twofold: being honest with himself, and learning that love is worth it.
One thing that was handled weirdly was Mr Woodhouse and his hypochondria and eating disorder. He obsessed with health much more intensely than I believe he did in the book, and puts this on Emmett in a distressing way, frequently asking to draw his blood and forcing a disordered eating diet on him. While there was some attempt at giving this weight, I really don’t think it was done well enough. It’s such a serious topic, so if you are including it in an otherwise lighthearted romance, you need to do so carefully.
Another criticism I have is that this book is sort of a holiday book and sort of not. If I was recommending this book, which I’m not, I wouldn’t know whether it was holiday-focussed enough to be on a holiday list or too holiday-focussed to be on a regular YA romance list. It’s sort of in limbo. This won’t matter to some readers I’m sure, but if I am reading something that has been marketed as a holiday romance (as this was), I would be expecting more of a focus on that than this book provided.
Rep: gay Jewish MC, queer demisexual Indian-American LI, queer SC, trans Jewish SC, Black SCs, Achillean Jewish SC, Achillean SCs and minor characters, sapphic SCs in relationship (one is Indian-American), nonbinary SC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Child abuse, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Death, and Eating disorder
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Ableism, Sexual content, Car accident, and Homophobia
More...