Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix

I really hoped this would be good, and it absolutely was! Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books, and I loved this take on the story. It's a significant change for the Elizabeth role to be filled by Oliver, and I think the author did a good job of showing how that change would impact the rest of the narrative. This is definitely written in a more modern cadence, it doesn't read like it's trying to imitate Jane Austen's style, and I think that also suits the story changes and the different character perspectives. I really liked getting to see Darcy and Oliver communicate openly with each other without the limitations of the more historical restricted conversations between sexes, it helped make the romance feel more natural. I do wish the story hadn't ended somewhat abruptly, I would have liked the epilogue to cover more after

Oliver comes out to his family. We don't get to see the sister's reactions, and I would have liked a little more time with his mother treating him as her son. I also wonder how Charlotte would be impacted by her husband's schemes and loss of inheritance and how that would impact her friendship with Oliver.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was fantastic.

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sunmaebee's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.0

Most Ardently is an interesting queer take on Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. I admit that I picked this one up without reading the synopsis, so I was only aware that it was Novoa’s own spin on a classic that happened to be queer. It was certainly a surprise to discover that Elizabeth Bennet in this retelling is actually Oliver Bennet, a trans teenage boy. This decision to have a trans protagonist made it that Novoa added another complex layer to the existing discussions about gender dynamics in the original novel. It was interesting to see how Novoa’s queering of Pride & Prejudice impacted the direction of the story, which was simultaneously familiar yet not, as a result of having to attend to what it meant to be queer during the Victorian era. I thought Novoa handled this pretty well without getting too caught up in the details to lose the plot. I did feel that Oliver’s thoughts were a bit repetitive once you’re further in the novel, but this might not bother everyone.

Also, a warning to trans readers: Considering the time period and the protagonist being trans, it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that transphobia is rampant in this novel. There’s very frequent deadnaming and misgendering, which is critical in the development of the story.

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evarinya's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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eleos01's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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bootrat's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

I was trying to get hold of this book for MONTHS (it was out of stock from the publishers), and I finally got a copy today.

Did I read the entire book in 4 hours? Yes.
Did I nearly cry in the middle of a bookshop/cafe?
Yes.
Am I fundamentally changed forever by this adorable queer reimagining of my favourite book?
Yes.

There were a few changes from the source material in this book (aside from the obvious), some of which made sense to the story and some of which didn't.
- Longbourn is in London in this, with Netherfield just on the outskirts. This change made sense for Oliver to be able to visit places as himself, and to escape his life as Elizabeth easily. This change takes some getting used to, as the original Elizabeth Bennet is very much a country girl, but I'm not mad about it. (Conversely, the Gardiners live at "Gracechurch", which is a house/estate in the countryside, and near to Pemberley, rather than in London.)
- Oliver, and therefore all the other characters (except Georgina?), are younger than in the original novel. Oliver is only 17, where Elizabeth was 20, and other characters are varying numbers of years younger too. I don't know why this change was made, or why it was needed, so I wasn't a fan of it.
- Wickham's backstory, and the way in which he was a villain, and his history with Darcy, were all changed. Some of these changes made sense to the story that was being told, and were needed, but some didn't. I didn't like it.
- Collins isn't a parson, and isn't under the patronage of Lady Catherine, he's just ?? A Guy? Seems to be a gentleman, with his own house/estate, but there's no clear reason for this change. He's still known to Lady C, and is invited to Rosings occasionally, but the relationship is different. This is another change I didn't understand the need for, so I didn't like it. Also Anne DeBourgh just fully doesn't exist.
- Lastly there's one continuity error?? Wickham refers to a character (we never meet) as Genevieve, but she's later referred to Liliana?? It's not addressed at all, and we don't find out whether Wickham was just lying about her name or if this was just a case of the author fully forgetting what they'd already named the character and unintentionally renaming her.

Despite that (long 😅) list of changes, I absolutely adored this book. 100% recommend to anybody looking for a queer romance story with a happy ending, whether you're a fan of Pride and Prejudice or not.

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blue_birdy's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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spark_879's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

i loved this book! i highly recommend it to anyone considering reading it :)

in a few places the story seemed a bit too good to be true but i think that was something i needed to read when i kept expecting bad reactions from everyone at all times when learning about the mc being trans.

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