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wildfaeriecaps's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so much better than I was expecting. I picked it up because of my love of all things Jane Austin. Imagine my surprise to find a book very much in line with my favorite Lauren Willig books (okay, minus the spies)! There were aspects of this book (no details because spoilers) that could have been done horribly. They could have been boring and done to death. But they weren't. It was amazing and refreshing - even knowing what was going to happen. Bits of the ending seemed a bit rushed, but I was ready for all the ends to be tied up neatly and didn't mind too much.
emjay2021's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed this one, much like the first one (and the next one). Fluffy and absorbing. Like a cotton ball!
roscoehuxley's review against another edition
4.0
An entertaining lark through the post P&P world of the Darcy's.
bkread2's review against another edition
4.0
It's not that great of a book, a 3.5 in my thoughts but it served its purpose to entertain and go into a bit of fantasy with a happy ending. To me that is what reading "fan fiction" is all about.
nadoislandgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Not Austen-ish at all. It's more of just your standard ridiculous Regency romance. (You know the kind: ladies disguising themselves as men and running off to Europe and falling in love.) I'm more annoyed than anything that they try to tie this into the Austen world. It's fine for the type of book it is, but not fine for an Austen wannabe.
jassmine's review against another edition
2.0
Clearly, I have no respect for my own time and writing a detailed review would only push that point, so I will try to be brief. I accidentally started this series with the third book, which was an OK read, even if a bit weird. For some reason the series was still on my mind though, so I read the first book, which I didn’t like at all… The second book has a better rating though, so I gave it another chance and it was – wait for the surprise – also terrible. I have to say that I liked it more than the first one, it was a bit more energetic, things were happening. Was it absolutely ridiculous? Yes, but that’s what I’m here for. I have several other problems.
1) Alethea is an abuse survivor – the said abuse was both sexual and physically very painful (though the particulars are never truly cleared and what we know is a bit confused and weird). And yet she doesn’t mind being in close spaces with men. She is repeatedly sexually harassed by a man and she thinks it laughable. Her only issue is with marriage which, alright, but that shouldn’t be IT.
2) This family is just terrible, I hate them. When sister comes to you with something as personal and serious as domestic abuse, you don’t accuse her of spinning tales. That in no family. The end.
3) When you write a homosexual villain in one of your books, I say it’s alright. Homosexuals are only humans like rest of us, so even though I didn’t like how it was done in [b:Mr. Darcy's Daughters|181414|Mr. Darcy's Daughters (Darcy #1)|Elizabeth Aston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408927888l/181414._SY75_.jpg|2612155], I let it slip (nor really, but… I didn’t mind that much). But if you do it again in your second book and even take it to another level, I’ll start to suspect that you are a homophobe. Really the stereotypization was terrible. Every man that is a villain takes care of his looks (Warren, Lucius) and those who don’t at all are something extra (Titus).
4) Did Alethea cut her hair or not? Make your mind woman!
There were places where this book was making me sick (which the previous one didn’t manage), but at the same time it was catchier. I have no respect to my time at all, so I’ll probably read the fourth one, because it seems slightly more interesting and I am curious it we’ll get gay villain once more. I am such a masochist…
1) Alethea is an abuse survivor – the said abuse was both sexual and physically very painful (though the particulars are never truly cleared and what we know is a bit confused and weird). And yet she doesn’t mind being in close spaces with men. She is repeatedly sexually harassed by a man and she thinks it laughable. Her only issue is with marriage which, alright, but that shouldn’t be IT.
2) This family is just terrible, I hate them. When sister comes to you with something as personal and serious as domestic abuse, you don’t accuse her of spinning tales. That in no family. The end.
3) When you write a homosexual villain in one of your books, I say it’s alright. Homosexuals are only humans like rest of us, so even though I didn’t like how it was done in [b:Mr. Darcy's Daughters|181414|Mr. Darcy's Daughters (Darcy #1)|Elizabeth Aston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408927888l/181414._SY75_.jpg|2612155], I let it slip (nor really, but… I didn’t mind that much). But if you do it again in your second book and even take it to another level, I’ll start to suspect that you are a homophobe. Really the stereotypization was terrible. Every man that is a villain takes care of his looks (Warren, Lucius) and those who don’t at all are something extra (Titus).
4) Did Alethea cut her hair or not? Make your mind woman!
There were places where this book was making me sick (which the previous one didn’t manage), but at the same time it was catchier. I have no respect to my time at all, so I’ll probably read the fourth one, because it seems slightly more interesting and I am curious it we’ll get gay villain once more. I am such a masochist…
lizeratture's review against another edition
1.0
This was NOT what I expected (and wanted) from a Pride and Prejudice inspired novel. The author clearly chose to use the name Darcy for clout while not at all honouring the novel it's supposed to be inspired by.
Firstly, the locations. I'm sorry but in Austen's original works the characters travel from one place in Great Britain to another place in Great Britain, and Elizabeth going to live in Derbyshire is seen as very far away (while Jane settling near Longbourn is an absolute dream). Why in the world would Elizabeth and Darcy go to Vienna, have a daughter in Paris, and another one in Italy ??? While voyages across Europe did occur during this period, it's very unlikely that anyone from Darcy's family (let alone EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY) was travelling that much.
Next offender is something that bothered me quite a lot, and it was surprising because I am not usually bothered by age differences in historical fictions. Titus is clearly trying to protect Alathea like he would his own daughter, and, you know, although Alathea has a dark background that should give her quite a bit of maturity... Well it doesn't. Mostly because of the way Titus sees her as fragile and delicate and young, only just out of childhood... Which is also why I found it so weird that he would be interested by someone he looks at like his own daughter, I mean... yeah, gross. Maybe it's not explicitly that bad but... what can I say, it did throw me off and I wanted to point it out.
And then to my next and final point (I could say more but I'll stop there for your sake and my own)... I'm pretty sure Jane Austen, who wrote brilliant commentary pieces about women in the society she lived in, would be not so happy about the very terrible depiction of gay men as predators in this book. Of course, it is disguised as "something shocking at the time"... but still, having the only openly gay and feminine man be the main predator we actually see in action in the book is, well, not so great to say the least. Not only is it terrible representation but it's also a very bigoted way to portray homosexuality that is still shared by some people today who will be thrilled to have their biases that gay men are predators confirmed in this novel. And it bothers me a lot coming from a so-called Jane Austen sequel
Firstly, the locations. I'm sorry but in Austen's original works the characters travel from one place in Great Britain to another place in Great Britain, and Elizabeth going to live in Derbyshire is seen as very far away (while Jane settling near Longbourn is an absolute dream). Why in the world would Elizabeth and Darcy go to Vienna, have a daughter in Paris, and another one in Italy ??? While voyages across Europe did occur during this period, it's very unlikely that anyone from Darcy's family (let alone EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY) was travelling that much.
Next offender is something that bothered me quite a lot, and it was surprising because I am not usually bothered by age differences in historical fictions. Titus is clearly trying to protect Alathea like he would his own daughter, and, you know, although Alathea has a dark background that should give her quite a bit of maturity... Well it doesn't. Mostly because of the way Titus sees her as fragile and delicate and young, only just out of childhood... Which is also why I found it so weird that he would be interested by someone he looks at like his own daughter, I mean... yeah, gross. Maybe it's not explicitly that bad but... what can I say, it did throw me off and I wanted to point it out.
And then to my next and final point (I could say more but I'll stop there for your sake and my own)... I'm pretty sure Jane Austen, who wrote brilliant commentary pieces about women in the society she lived in, would be not so happy about the very terrible depiction of gay men as predators in this book. Of course, it is disguised as "something shocking at the time"... but still, having the only openly gay and feminine man be the main predator we actually see in action in the book is, well, not so great to say the least. Not only is it terrible representation but it's also a very bigoted way to portray homosexuality that is still shared by some people today who will be thrilled to have their biases that gay men are predators confirmed in this novel. And it bothers me a lot coming from a so-called Jane Austen sequel
kedawen's review against another edition
3.0
Alethea was my favorite character in the first book in this series and I was disappointed that we didn't see more of her, so I was glad that there is a whole book about her! I liked this one a lot more than the first; that said, it still has some of the same issues. Lots of characters, it feels rushed and somewhat unbelievable... I did like Titus, he was a well-developed character. I wish we could have seen more of them being happy together in the end - that's one thing that was definitely too rushed.
lisa_bergin's review against another edition
4.0
I love reading Pride and Prejudice continuations. This was very enjoyable.
btothebooks's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting follow up book to "Mr. Darcy's Daugthers," especially since the character of Alethea wasn't followed very much except for the end.
I did like how Aston caught us up on the lives of the sisters without a big long chapter about their domestic bliss, but used Aletha considering all of them as the means of catch up.
One of the things that bugged me was at the end, it didn't feel like Collins was very much in character. "As a clergyman[...]I find your morals shocking and depraved. As a human being[...]I wish you joy." Mr. Collins that Austen wrote would never had said that. He only thinks as a clergyman and the shame that it would bring.
I also wish they had delved into Napier's murder a little more - I think it was brushed over because it came at the end of the book and by that point you just want Alethea and Titus to finally kiss[!!] and so the sooner you get there, the better...
Other than those small details, I found it a lovely book and would love to add it to my collection of Austen contempary novels.
I did like how Aston caught us up on the lives of the sisters without a big long chapter about their domestic bliss, but used Aletha considering all of them as the means of catch up.
One of the things that bugged me was at the end, it didn't feel like Collins was very much in character. "As a clergyman[...]I find your morals shocking and depraved. As a human being[...]I wish you joy." Mr. Collins that Austen wrote would never had said that. He only thinks as a clergyman and the shame that it would bring.
I also wish they had delved into Napier's murder a little more - I think it was brushed over because it came at the end of the book and by that point you just want Alethea and Titus to finally kiss[!!] and so the sooner you get there, the better...
Other than those small details, I found it a lovely book and would love to add it to my collection of Austen contempary novels.