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2.96 AVERAGE
2.96 AVERAGE
I read this for a book club and after seeing others reviews, I don't feel so bad about not liking it much. I agree with others that this was just fan fic (anything beyond P&P is), but it wasn't very good fan fic. I have definitely read better.
Terrible book. The characters are boring, the event is a massive non-event and it's re-told about five times.
Didn't finish. I guess my first warning should have been the Author's Note at the beginning where P.D. James apologizes for writing this novel. I know she was apologizing to Austen for trying to add on to her work, but it should really be an apology to anyone who picks the novel up for trying to slog through.
I got as far as the discovery of the dead body, and couldn't go any further. Part of the problem is that the summary above makes you think Wickham is the dead body, but it's not. Captain Denny is the murder victim, a character I barely noticed or cared about in Pride & Prejudice. I don't think I'm usually bloodthirsty but I was looking forward to reading about Wickham getting his just desserts. The fact it's his friend just makes the unbearable prose even more unbearable.
I used to feel obligated to finish any book I start, but reading enough bad books over the years has cured me of that sentiment. Time to return this to the library and find something else to read.
I got as far as the discovery of the dead body, and couldn't go any further. Part of the problem is that the summary above makes you think Wickham is the dead body, but it's not. Captain Denny is the murder victim, a character I barely noticed or cared about in Pride & Prejudice. I don't think I'm usually bloodthirsty but I was looking forward to reading about Wickham getting his just desserts. The fact it's his friend just makes the unbearable prose even more unbearable.
I used to feel obligated to finish any book I start, but reading enough bad books over the years has cured me of that sentiment. Time to return this to the library and find something else to read.
I liked the idea of this book more than I liked the book itself. Not enough of anything to keep my interest. Read it because it was a book group selection but I thought the plot was lame, the mystery superficial, the resolution unsatisfying. I did think the characters of Elizabeth and Darcy were close to Austen's. This book had little of the charm or wit that makes Austen's books a pleasure to read.
It’s hard to explain how bad this book is. I’ll give it a shot, though, mostly because I’m so irritated after finishing it.
The whole mystery is convoluted and you’re not given enough evidence to figure it out. And it’s a big excuse to bring back the characters from P&P. Speaking of which, so much time is spent analyzing their feelings about the events in P&P, it’s ridiculous.
There are whiffs of JA’s writing style, but they can’t make up for the other shortcomings of the book. And seriously, you can’t use the pollution of the shades of Pemberley more than once in a book and expect it to work.
Finally, it wasn’t enough to use all the P&P characters, but she added many from Persuasion and Emma, too? So unnecessary.
Seriously, this is poorly written fan fiction. 🤦🏻♀️
The whole mystery is convoluted and you’re not given enough evidence to figure it out. And it’s a big excuse to bring back the characters from P&P. Speaking of which, so much time is spent analyzing their feelings about the events in P&P, it’s ridiculous.
There are whiffs of JA’s writing style, but they can’t make up for the other shortcomings of the book. And seriously, you can’t use the pollution of the shades of Pemberley more than once in a book and expect it to work.
Finally, it wasn’t enough to use all the P&P characters, but she added many from Persuasion and Emma, too? So unnecessary.
Seriously, this is poorly written fan fiction. 🤦🏻♀️
This is a bit of a slow read, with a somewhat less satisfying payoff than a story written by Austen. Overall, it's a skillfully written sequel to Pride & Prejudice, though Mr. Darcy has perhaps become here TOO perfect. But this book is not quite a murder mystery and not quite a romance, which makes it difficult to either describe or recommend. I can only suggest that if the concept sounds interesting to you, then yes, go ahead and read it! But I would not, perhaps, put it at the top of your list (particularly in the summer; this one goes much better with a hot cuppa).
I generally hate Austen knock-offs because I am very protective of the characters, but thought I could trust P.D. James. She uses similar sentence structure as is found in the original book, so the voice was somewhat consistent, and the murder mystery was very P.D. James, but Elizabeth is sadly lacking in wit and intensity while Darcy is basically impotent. Hardly surprising, I guess, given the murder and having two young children and a great estate to manage, but hard to forgive. I think I enjoy Pride and Prejudice as a study of character and as a romance, but neither is really present here although Elizabeth and Darcy do miss each other when they are apart.
This book was just a disappointment overall. Not because, as so many other readers, I am some huge fan of Jane Austen and cannot get past the bastardization of her book. Rather, because it was just a SLOW, poorly edited book with so much unnecessary exposition I wanted to scream. One of my biggest pet peeves with authors is that they think their shit doesn't stink and don't let editors do their rightful job -- clip, cut and make it better. This book had chapters upon chapters of unnecessary background and exposition it was painful at times to read. The underlying story was not too big of a mystery either, as I figured it out within 10 pages of the reveal of the murder victim. In this case, the reader reviews were far more accurate than the critical ones, and man am I glad I got this book from the library! Usually, I can recommend most books to a specific type of reader -- not this one. Save yourself the trouble and don't pick it up. Perhaps at 92 its time for PD James to hang up her writing hat.