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kate_reads_literature's review
5.0
This was really sweet and reminded me why I like Persuasion and the second chance romance trope so much.
Austen can be hard to adapt into a high school setting, especially Persausion as Anne Elliot is a more mature heroine, but LaZebnik’s Anna Elliot really steals the show and adapts the character in a way that feels authentic for a teenager. All my Jane Austen loving friends should give this book a try.
Austen can be hard to adapt into a high school setting, especially Persausion as Anne Elliot is a more mature heroine, but LaZebnik’s Anna Elliot really steals the show and adapts the character in a way that feels authentic for a teenager. All my Jane Austen loving friends should give this book a try.
sungmemoonstruck's review
3.0
3.5 stars
This modern retelling of Persuasion was simply adorable, with some clever parallels to the original Austen, a cute romance between the main characters, and a portrayal of senior year that really rang true. Recommended for chick lit and Austen fans.
This modern retelling of Persuasion was simply adorable, with some clever parallels to the original Austen, a cute romance between the main characters, and a portrayal of senior year that really rang true. Recommended for chick lit and Austen fans.
blue_squishie's review
3.0
Super cute book, a good transformation of Persuasion into a modern day setting. I lol-ed a bit at Lily/Louisa being described as a Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl. Could’ve used more Oscar, I wanted him to have a happier story rather than just a happy coda.
aprilbooksandwine's review
3.0
Claire LaZebnik's The Last Best Kiss loosely follows Jane Austen's Persuasion. This book is a good lowkey read if you just want fun and gossip. Read my full review here Link goes live 8/28/2017
kylek's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
I'm going to be honest here and say I have never read Persuasion or any book by Jane Austen. Shocker I know, but well I have just never gotten around to it. So I can't say if this LaZebnik's latest retelling stayed true to the original. What I can say is I enjoyed it. It fit the cute and fluffy mood I was in.
Even though this was a cute book overall, there was quite a lot of it that was plain heartbreaking. First I felt so bad for Finn. His affection was genuine and he was 100% true to himself and watching how Anna kept reacting with her friends was just sad then. But the thing is, she really did like Finn back and she wasn't doing it to be mean, she just had no real backbone to stand with at the time. I just hated the whole sad situation.
Then Anna finally takes it too far and realizes what she has been doing, but it's too late Finn is gone now and Anna is heartbroken and dammit I felt for her! Even though I was beyond pissed with her for how she was treating Finn and not realizing it, once he left I was sad for Anna.
But then Finn comes back! And Anna just can't help be drawn to him again, but Finn isn't having any of it. Good for him! This is where I have even more mixed feelings. I didn't like her group of friends. Most of them still felt like they were trying too hard and only really shone through every now and then. Lucy was, surprisingly, the one I could stand the most, but asides from her, I just didn't like any of them, specially the twins.
I liked how Anna isn't actively trying to get Finn back, she knows what she did was wrong and doesn't deserve him, so instead she is just trying to figure out how to apologize after all this time and at least get back to being friends. Finn gets sucked back in anyway and they are just too cute and adorable together!
I didn't like Anna's family except for Molly, of course, and her relationship problems sucked as well. Her sister and dad were incredibly annoying not to mention Ginny (I think that was her name). She took the cake. I wanted to strangle her every time she made an appearance.
All in all The Last Best Kiss delivered exactly what I had been expecting with some good points and others not so good, but I ultimately enjoyed the ride.
I'm going to be honest here and say I have never read Persuasion or any book by Jane Austen. Shocker I know, but well I have just never gotten around to it. So I can't say if this LaZebnik's latest retelling stayed true to the original. What I can say is I enjoyed it. It fit the cute and fluffy mood I was in.
Even though this was a cute book overall, there was quite a lot of it that was plain heartbreaking. First I felt so bad for Finn. His affection was genuine and he was 100% true to himself and watching how Anna kept reacting with her friends was just sad then. But the thing is, she really did like Finn back and she wasn't doing it to be mean, she just had no real backbone to stand with at the time. I just hated the whole sad situation.
Then Anna finally takes it too far and realizes what she has been doing, but it's too late Finn is gone now and Anna is heartbroken and dammit I felt for her! Even though I was beyond pissed with her for how she was treating Finn and not realizing it, once he left I was sad for Anna.
But then Finn comes back! And Anna just can't help be drawn to him again, but Finn isn't having any of it. Good for him! This is where I have even more mixed feelings. I didn't like her group of friends. Most of them still felt like they were trying too hard and only really shone through every now and then. Lucy was, surprisingly, the one I could stand the most, but asides from her, I just didn't like any of them, specially the twins.
I liked how Anna isn't actively trying to get Finn back, she knows what she did was wrong and doesn't deserve him, so instead she is just trying to figure out how to apologize after all this time and at least get back to being friends. Finn gets sucked back in anyway and they are just too cute and adorable together!
I didn't like Anna's family except for Molly, of course, and her relationship problems sucked as well. Her sister and dad were incredibly annoying not to mention Ginny (I think that was her name). She took the cake. I wanted to strangle her every time she made an appearance.
All in all The Last Best Kiss delivered exactly what I had been expecting with some good points and others not so good, but I ultimately enjoyed the ride.
andiabcs's review
3.0
Cute story. Slow at parts but still an easy read. Hated Lily but loved Anna and Finn.
loveisnotatriangle's review
4.0
This book will be reviewed on my blog Love is not a triangle closer to the release date.
I'm a big fan of modern takes on classic stories, especially those inspired by the works of Jane Austen. But inevitably, I always feel like they miss their mark in some way. There's just no way to perfectly recreate the magic from the original story. Persuasion is one of my favorite books, though I haven't read a lot of adaptations of it. I was really excited to discover that Clare LaZebnik was going to tackle it in The Last Best Kiss. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this retelling.
First, this story works very well in a high school setting. Not only does it actually seem like high school today - the fashion, phones and culture - but the story set up was believable. A girl just entering ninth grade likes a geeky boy, and he likes her, but she is ashamed to tell her popular friends about him. This rejection costs her his affection, and soon after the boy leaves the area with his parents. He comes back three years later right before their senior year, only to have grown up and not be quite so dorky anymore. The girl feels bad about how she treated him in the past and wants desperately to reconnect with him, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. It get's harder when he becomes part of her group of friends and seems to be interested in one of them.
This girl's name is Anna and I felt all of her raw emotions in this book. Her shame and embarrassment at how she'd treated Finn in the past, as well as her desire to fix what she'd destroyed, oozed off the page. Although Anna's initial rejection of Finn is so hard to watch, it felt honest, and I could sympathize with her. She is a young high school girl who feels left out at home and is desperately trying to fit in with her friends. Finn's anger and hurt at Anna is equally understandable. I loved the tension between them throughout this book, and the fact that he isn't perfect either.
Although the beginning of this book worked very well as an adaptation - I could feel Anna's emotions intensely - where this book faltered a bit for me was the author's attempts to stick to the some of the side plots from the original story. As I've read more adaptations of classics and fairy tales, I've discovered that my favorites are ones that take the spirit of the original tale and adapt it to a new story, as opposed to trying to stick to all of the original elements. Updated in this contemporary high school setting, some of the details from Persuasion didn't work as well for me. They didn't make sense except that they came from the first story. Especially the inclusion of Ginny and the drama surrounding her relationship with Anna's father. However, I really like what the author did with Anna's sister Molly's storyline and the parallels it provided to Anna's experiences.
One of my favorite moments in Persuasion is the explosive end where Anne gets the letter from Captain Wentworth that proves his love. Of course, I was hoping for something equally climactic at the end of The Last Best Kiss. What we actually get isn't that profound (looking back, I'm glad the author didn't try to compete with the original in this part), but the end is sweet. However, I did feel like the story extended past when it needed to, in order to wrap up some of the side plots.
Overall I really enjoyed The Last Best Kiss and I want to read the rest of LaZebnik's Austen adaptations.
Love Triangle Factor: Mild
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone
I'm a big fan of modern takes on classic stories, especially those inspired by the works of Jane Austen. But inevitably, I always feel like they miss their mark in some way. There's just no way to perfectly recreate the magic from the original story. Persuasion is one of my favorite books, though I haven't read a lot of adaptations of it. I was really excited to discover that Clare LaZebnik was going to tackle it in The Last Best Kiss. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this retelling.
First, this story works very well in a high school setting. Not only does it actually seem like high school today - the fashion, phones and culture - but the story set up was believable. A girl just entering ninth grade likes a geeky boy, and he likes her, but she is ashamed to tell her popular friends about him. This rejection costs her his affection, and soon after the boy leaves the area with his parents. He comes back three years later right before their senior year, only to have grown up and not be quite so dorky anymore. The girl feels bad about how she treated him in the past and wants desperately to reconnect with him, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. It get's harder when he becomes part of her group of friends and seems to be interested in one of them.
This girl's name is Anna and I felt all of her raw emotions in this book. Her shame and embarrassment at how she'd treated Finn in the past, as well as her desire to fix what she'd destroyed, oozed off the page. Although Anna's initial rejection of Finn is so hard to watch, it felt honest, and I could sympathize with her. She is a young high school girl who feels left out at home and is desperately trying to fit in with her friends. Finn's anger and hurt at Anna is equally understandable. I loved the tension between them throughout this book, and the fact that he isn't perfect either.
Although the beginning of this book worked very well as an adaptation - I could feel Anna's emotions intensely - where this book faltered a bit for me was the author's attempts to stick to the some of the side plots from the original story. As I've read more adaptations of classics and fairy tales, I've discovered that my favorites are ones that take the spirit of the original tale and adapt it to a new story, as opposed to trying to stick to all of the original elements. Updated in this contemporary high school setting, some of the details from Persuasion didn't work as well for me. They didn't make sense except that they came from the first story. Especially the inclusion of Ginny and the drama surrounding her relationship with Anna's father. However, I really like what the author did with Anna's sister Molly's storyline and the parallels it provided to Anna's experiences.
One of my favorite moments in Persuasion is the explosive end where Anne gets the letter from Captain Wentworth that proves his love. Of course, I was hoping for something equally climactic at the end of The Last Best Kiss. What we actually get isn't that profound (looking back, I'm glad the author didn't try to compete with the original in this part), but the end is sweet. However, I did feel like the story extended past when it needed to, in order to wrap up some of the side plots.
Overall I really enjoyed The Last Best Kiss and I want to read the rest of LaZebnik's Austen adaptations.
Love Triangle Factor: Mild
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone
colbyymayer's review
4.0
Oh my goodness. I have so many thoughts.
First and foremost: one of my really good friends is named Finn and it was weird to be reading about him. So there's that. And the fact that Finn Westbrook actually reminded me of my friend is even stranger. But I actually really liked his character aside from that.
I really liked the relationship between Anna and Finn. Well, aside from how she ditched him, but I could understand why. I sort of wish we could have Finn's perspective about that particular event, instead of just what he told Anna because he definitely felt more than he told her.
Likes:
- Finn and Anna's carpool relationship (before it became more)
- FINN JUST BEING A CINNAMON ROLL
- NO REALLY I WANT FINN WESTBROOK TO EXIST IN REAL LIFE
- AND I WANT HIM TO GO TO MY SCHOOL
- BECAUSE HE IS THE MOST PURE CINNAMON ROLL ON THE PLANET
- I also really liked Molly and Anna's relationship
The one thing I wasn't a super fan of was But whatever. To be fair, I did know I was going to be annoyed by this book, but I picked it up anyway and spent a precious $10 on it. And I don't regret spending those dollars. I know that this is also a retelling of [b:Persuasion|2156|Persuasion|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385172413s/2156.jpg|2534720] but because I haven't read it, I don't really know what is different or the same between the two. I definitely am more inclined to read Persuasion now, but I always find it difficult to read the "classics" because they are incredibly dense and have very difficult language. But regardless, I really enjoyed this book, even though it was incredibly frustrating at times.
All in all, I thought that this was an AMAZING book if you are looking for a light, fluffy read and are willing to be annoyed at both Finn and Anna, along with literally everyone else in the book...especially Lily.
First and foremost: one of my really good friends is named Finn and it was weird to be reading about him. So there's that. And the fact that Finn Westbrook actually reminded me of my friend is even stranger. But I actually really liked his character aside from that.
I really liked the relationship between Anna and Finn. Well, aside from how she ditched him, but I could understand why. I sort of wish we could have Finn's perspective about that particular event, instead of just what he told Anna because he definitely felt more than he told her.
Likes:
- Finn and Anna's carpool relationship (before it became more)
- FINN JUST BEING A CINNAMON ROLL
- NO REALLY I WANT FINN WESTBROOK TO EXIST IN REAL LIFE
- AND I WANT HIM TO GO TO MY SCHOOL
- BECAUSE HE IS THE MOST PURE CINNAMON ROLL ON THE PLANET
- I also really liked Molly and Anna's relationship
The one thing I wasn't a super fan of was
Spoiler
the emotional cheating that took place nearer to the end of the book, and sort of the entirety of the book because Finn was low key... no, definitely high key... in love with Anna the whole time which was sort of infuriating. Also, the fact that Lily was very much into someone else and spending more time with him than her friends or her boyfriend AFTER HE LITERALLY SAVED HE LIFE BUT WHATEVER I'M FINE.All in all, I thought that this was an AMAZING book if you are looking for a light, fluffy read and are willing to be annoyed at both Finn and Anna, along with literally everyone else in the book...especially Lily.
nataliesboooks's review
3.0
This is the second Persuasion retelling I’ve read this year. I absolutely loved Finn. He was sweet and charming. Anna definitely had some character growth from being so focused on what others think of her in her freshman year to becoming more of an individual by her senior year. I couldn’t stand Lily and I thought her storyline was filled with unnecessary drama. Finn and Anna did have some sweet moments, but I didn’t care for a lot of the other characters.