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mrsadler's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Was a fun read. Romantic relationships felt a little rushed and at times lacked detail, but the main character was pretty loveable. I also loved all the pop culture references but can see how this will age in a few years.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Self harm
jgarrin93's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.25
honestly, I wouldn't have finished reading this if it weren't the chosen novel for my book club. I've studied Pride and Prejudice retellings for a long time and this missed the mark by a long shot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder, Transphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Self harm, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Cancer, Body shaming, and Addiction
ktkncd's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Self harm
demjin's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
2 Stars in reality but it gets an extra star because I love to see black/asian/trans women thrive.
Pride & Prejudice is my favourite book but I'm not a stickler about adaptations and retellings. I don't need them to be wound super closely to the original story. This book started off hitting the same beats as the original P&P, but it veered off quite a lot towards the end, which I didn't hate but I also didn't love. However overall I think the story is pretty good.
My main issue is that there's a lack of conflict in this book. The characters face some struggles that come with finishing college and navigating relationships, but they were solved quite quickly. I felt like it only got really juicy at one point and I got really excited, but that was kind of it. And I think because of this it missed out on a lot of the tension and pining that makes P&P great. Will & EJ get together quite early on, which I wasn't a huge fan of, and it made the ending drag quite a lot for me.
(Also everyone does therapy, which doesn't help with the conflict thing, because unfortunately I like my characters a little unlikeable.)
The dialogue is also a little clunky and cartoonish but not unreadable, and there are A LOT of pop culture references (both real and made up). This doesn't bother me, but if you're someone who hates pop culture references then definitely skip this because there's at least 3 per page.
Overall I think this book is okay, it made me laugh and was quite cute at times! I also really appreciate having minorities centered in retellings, especially when their happiness rather than their trauma is the focus. I just also loved seeing a trans woman in a healthy straight relationship!
Pride & Prejudice is my favourite book but I'm not a stickler about adaptations and retellings. I don't need them to be wound super closely to the original story. This book started off hitting the same beats as the original P&P, but it veered off quite a lot towards the end, which I didn't hate but I also didn't love. However overall I think the story is pretty good.
My main issue is that there's a lack of conflict in this book. The characters face some struggles that come with finishing college and navigating relationships, but they were solved quite quickly. I felt like it only got really juicy at one point and I got really excited, but that was kind of it. And I think because of this it missed out on a lot of the tension and pining that makes P&P great. Will & EJ get together quite early on, which I wasn't a huge fan of, and it made the ending drag quite a lot for me.
(Also everyone does therapy, which doesn't help with the conflict thing, because unfortunately I like my characters a little unlikeable.)
The dialogue is also a little clunky and cartoonish but not unreadable, and there are A LOT of pop culture references (both real and made up). This doesn't bother me, but if you're someone who hates pop culture references then definitely skip this because there's at least 3 per page.
Overall I think this book is okay, it made me laugh and was quite cute at times! I also really appreciate having minorities centered in retellings, especially when their happiness rather than their trauma is the focus. I just also loved seeing a trans woman in a healthy straight relationship!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Car accident, Cancer, Self harm, Stalking, Misogyny, and Body shaming
foreverinastory's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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
5.0
Thank you to Turn the Page Tours, Montlake and Netgalley for an eARC and a finished copy in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.
Oh my god, I loved this so much!! I definitely forgot I was reading a Pride & Prejudice retelling at times, but then elements from the original would appear and I would love this story even more! Cannot recommend enough.
The Bennet Women follows EJ, a Black woman navigating college life as a RA and Engineering major. She is the RA for Bennet House, the only all-women's dorm at Longbourne University. With her are her two best friends, Jamie who has recently come out as transgender and studies French and theatre, and Tessa, a Filipina studying astronomy with major guy problems.
When Jamie runs into Lee Gregory, the two hit it off immediately. Unfortunately, for EJ, this means dealing with Lee's best friend, Will, who is very grumpy and insults EJ behind her back immediately after meeting her. EJ is civil with Will for Jamie and Lee's sake, but the more she learns about Will, the more she thinks maybe she judged him too harshly at first.
This was such a good retelling. I loved the Bennet family reimagined as a cohort of college women! I also loved the diversity of experiences we had in Bennet House. I think I missed whoever were supposed to be Mary and Catherine/Kitty, but it didn't take away from the story for me. Seeing EJ, Jamie and Tessa constantly be there for each other was so heartwarming. I loved their friendship so much and I'm so glad they supported each other through the whole book!
I also really enjoyed Will and EJ's relationship. These two definitely get off on the wrong foot, but I loved how they worked their way back to each other. I'm really glad Will did not send that first letter he wrote too. I was laughing so hard when he read it to his sister and Zara. The tension between these two was so fun and I loved every second of their relationship and how it developed.
EJ was such an easy character to care for. She cares so much for everyone around her. She's also so strong, but is somewhat struggling with what she wants. That I can definitely relate to. I loved seeing a college age character at the end of their degree questioning what they should do next. That's very much where I was when I finished mine and had grad school not worked out, I would've been in the same position as EJ.
I loved seeing EJ dive into her family relationships to untangle her motivations behind what she's done. She comes to terms with things in her past in order to figure out what she wants for her future and that was such a powerful message. EJ is also given some advice to take the summer off before her next steps and I think this is something that should be said to more women of color. EJ does so much throughout this book, constantly pushing herself to the edge of exhaustion and she deserves to rest and be happy.
Overall, this was fantastic, and such an easy book to love.
Midsize Black cishet female MC, white trans heterosexual female MC, Chinese cishet male MC, Black biracial cishet male side character, Afro-Latina cishet female side character, Chinese lesbian cis female side character, Filipina cishet female side character.
CWs: Cursing, racism, fatphobia, sexism, sexual content, toxic relationship. Moderate: mentions of drug use and drug trafficking, transphobia/transmisia, stalking, addiction, body shaming, grief, past mentions of disordered eating and excessive exercising, emotional abuse, suicide attempt, alcohol consumption. Minor: cancer, car accident, death of parent, death of grandparent, infidelity, self harm, abandonment.
Oh my god, I loved this so much!! I definitely forgot I was reading a Pride & Prejudice retelling at times, but then elements from the original would appear and I would love this story even more! Cannot recommend enough.
The Bennet Women follows EJ, a Black woman navigating college life as a RA and Engineering major. She is the RA for Bennet House, the only all-women's dorm at Longbourne University. With her are her two best friends, Jamie who has recently come out as transgender and studies French and theatre, and Tessa, a Filipina studying astronomy with major guy problems.
When Jamie runs into Lee Gregory, the two hit it off immediately. Unfortunately, for EJ, this means dealing with Lee's best friend, Will, who is very grumpy and insults EJ behind her back immediately after meeting her. EJ is civil with Will for Jamie and Lee's sake, but the more she learns about Will, the more she thinks maybe she judged him too harshly at first.
This was such a good retelling. I loved the Bennet family reimagined as a cohort of college women! I also loved the diversity of experiences we had in Bennet House. I think I missed whoever were supposed to be Mary and Catherine/Kitty, but it didn't take away from the story for me. Seeing EJ, Jamie and Tessa constantly be there for each other was so heartwarming. I loved their friendship so much and I'm so glad they supported each other through the whole book!
I also really enjoyed Will and EJ's relationship. These two definitely get off on the wrong foot, but I loved how they worked their way back to each other. I'm really glad Will did not send that first letter he wrote too. I was laughing so hard when he read it to his sister and Zara. The tension between these two was so fun and I loved every second of their relationship and how it developed.
EJ was such an easy character to care for. She cares so much for everyone around her. She's also so strong, but is somewhat struggling with what she wants. That I can definitely relate to. I loved seeing a college age character at the end of their degree questioning what they should do next. That's very much where I was when I finished mine and had grad school not worked out, I would've been in the same position as EJ.
I loved seeing EJ dive into her family relationships to untangle her motivations behind what she's done. She comes to terms with things in her past in order to figure out what she wants for her future and that was such a powerful message. EJ is also given some advice to take the summer off before her next steps and I think this is something that should be said to more women of color. EJ does so much throughout this book, constantly pushing herself to the edge of exhaustion and she deserves to rest and be happy.
Overall, this was fantastic, and such an easy book to love.
Midsize Black cishet female MC, white trans heterosexual female MC, Chinese cishet male MC, Black biracial cishet male side character, Afro-Latina cishet female side character, Chinese lesbian cis female side character, Filipina cishet female side character.
CWs: Cursing, racism, fatphobia, sexism, sexual content, toxic relationship. Moderate: mentions of drug use and drug trafficking, transphobia/transmisia, stalking, addiction, body shaming, grief, past mentions of disordered eating and excessive exercising, emotional abuse, suicide attempt, alcohol consumption. Minor: cancer, car accident, death of parent, death of grandparent, infidelity, self harm, abandonment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Fatphobia, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Drug use, Transphobia, Addiction, Body shaming, Alcohol, Grief, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Stalking
Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, Car accident, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Cancer
kimi72714's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved the romance of the book, I love the way the story was adapted, I love that the characters COMMUNICATED with each other, and I absolutely adored EJ. The friendships between the women were fantastic and that's everything I want out of a P+P retelling.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Self harm
Also unnecessary mentions of diets and calorie counting, and HP references (from a trans woman, of all characters). But many of the CWs are well placed and not out of the blue.tays_books's review
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Self harm
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