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bessadams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
cyberhavok's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Ableism
Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
clevermird's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Anne Elliot is the middle child of minor British nobility and still unmarried in her late 20s. Her whiny younger sister has been married for years, but calls on her whenever she feels short on attention, while her father and older sister are both too concerned with their own shallow flaunting of their petty title to pay much attention to her. Her only companion is her late mother's closest friend, who many years ago talked her out of an engagement due to fears that the man's dangerous profession and lack of familial wealth would leave her a penniless widow. But now the Elliots are in dire financial straits, their estate is being rented out, and who should come to visit the new tenants than her ex-fiance, still single and looking?
As I mentioned in the intro, the prose is typically nice, with witty commentary and really amusing characterization. I really enjoyed seeing a romantic story with an older (relatively speaking) protagonist and the premise was great. Anne was a nice girl and I found myself genuinely rooting for her to succeed.
However, the book is quite slow and definitely drags in places. Not that I was expecting the end of the world, but even compared to Pride and Prejudice, there's relatively little that happens. I feel like for as much as the relationship between Anne and her ex-fiance is the focus of the book, we see comparatively little of them together until (spoiler alert) they decide that they are okay with each other again at the end - there was buildup there, for sure, but it would have been more satisfying if we'd seen more of them together. Similarly, the antagonist is solved by a sudden revelation from a character introduced in the third act, and while again, it all makes sense and fits with what we know, it would have worked better if we'd seen more of said character before that moment.
I don't know, this one just didn't quite work for me despite me really wanting it to.
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Chronic illness
racheleb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexism
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.0
Minor: Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
christinewonder's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse
paigeinabook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Gaslighting, Body horror, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Stalking
cleotheo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Abandonment, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Colonisation and War
Minor: Sexism and Incest
hspfost's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
catherinedsharp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Of all of them I’ve read, this is my second favourite Austen. A beautiful story of love and loss and complex emotions, with an older and somewhat more mature set of characters. I enjoyed the simplicity of the story and the declarations of love were believable yet poetically written.
Enjoyed this read!
Graphic: Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism