Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Emma

Not my Austen cup of tea. Going against other low reviews, I actually really enjoyed Emma as a main character — yes, she's absolutely spoiled and a bit of a bitch but for me at least, she was really fun to read about it. This book was just too dragged out for me with too many characters whose stories weren't interesting enough. Have to say, though, that I really enjoyed the last 2/3 chapters and they made me end the book on a positive note.

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divine529's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I've read "Emma" several times before, but this was the closest I think I've ever read it.

I read it this time along with an audiobook I got from the library and I always struggle with audiobooks, but the narrator wasn't my favorite, so it made it a little extra difficult.

For those of you who don't know what this book is about, it follows our main protagonist, Emma, a matchmaker by nature and a busy-body, who always ends up getting in trouble due to her shenanigans. Like Austen's other novels, this one is still about class and finding love and there's a lot of different forms of that here as always.

It's by far my favorite Austen novel, but I always find myself enjoying the third part of the book a fair bit. And as much as Emma and Knightley's relationship age gap bothers me, I love their witty banter and friendship and love them as a couple. I definitely always enjoy reading Knightley as a hero and this time was no different.

It might be awhile before I reread this one, but I'm sure I will again sometime in the future.

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takarakei's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

I find rating classics to be so difficult cause I really just don’t think I have a brain for them. Honestly I’d skip the read and just watch the 2020 movie adaptation which is delightful.

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

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duarshe's review against another edition

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funny relaxing slow-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

4.0

It took so long to finish this book that is being hard for me to realize that I'm not going to be reading Emma's schemings anymore. To be honest, I'm a little sad.

Many people may criticize Emma for being so faulted of character but it is obviously the interesting part of the story. She has such a wrong worldview that we cannot trust her as the focalizer of the omniscient narrator. Such a technique, Austen. So while the novel goes on we only discover what the other characters think when they actually put words into it. (That was my English major talking, I'm sorry).

Also, it is hard for me to get over the fact that Mr. Knightley is 16 years older than Emma, and literally saw her as a baby. He even said that he fell in love when she was THIRTEEN (which means he was TWENTY-NINE). Mr. Knightley walked so that Jacob Black could run lmfao. But the true villain of the story is Mr. Frank Churchill. You're telling me that you were secretly engaged all along and you treated your fiancée like shit since the start. Boy... Poor Jane indeed

All in all, it is really a great novel. The only thing I would only get rid of is half of the unsubstantial conversations between some characters (half of Miss Bates' monologues).

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puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

Jane Austen said ‘I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like’ and she was wrong because I love Emma a lot. But also, what a power move. Emma is an unlikeable protagonist at least at the start of the book, but more than that she’s a flawed human being who learns and grows and makes mistakes and will never be perfect, she’s a part of a network of people who love her despite and because of her flaws and so how can you ever really dislike her!

What I love most is that her love interest is the one person to consistently call her out on her bullshit and that’s exactly why they’re perfect for each other. Also they are both autistic and Emma is aro, no I will not elaborate these are just my little headcanons. (But if you want me to elaborate. I could.)

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