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A review by junibjones
Most Ardently by Susan Mesler-Evans
3.0
Susan Mesler-Evans has given us “Most Ardently,” a modern and queer take on Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice. Set in an Ohio town, we are introduced to familiar characters in new and unfamiliar packages. The Benitez family is Mexican while Darcy Fitzgerald and much of her family are mixed race. While the bones of Pride and Prejudice are what support the plot, Mesler-Evans creates situations in which I doubt the Bennet sisters had ever found themselves to be in.
We’re introduced to Elisa Benitez, a high school senior given early access to college courses. It is through this class that she meets Darcy Fitzgerald and Elisa is quick to note all of Darcy’s less attractive qualities (snobbery, pretentiousness, cold demeanor just to name a few). As the story rarely deviates from Elisa’s perspective, the reader is only privy to her thoughts on the subject. Darcy, the audience notes, is incredibly decisive in her opinions of the people she surrounds herself with. Elisa soon realizes that while she can’t seem to stand her for a good portion of the story, people in Darcy’s circle are all in agreement that she’s a wonderful person.
The plot follows the events in Pride and Prejudice but gives them a modern twist. Gone are the balls and parties in grand homes with vast properties—in their place are rundown apartment buildings, drunken parties in woodland cabins and obscene McMansions. Instead of horses and a carriage, the Benitezes have a janky minivan that’s seen them through all five daughters. Bobby Charles is the same oblivious good natured person that Charles Bingley was and Wickam’s character is still a predator.
As happy as I was to find a queer retelling of Pride and Prejudice, I found the story lacked the necessary tension to keep me invested the entire time. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Elisa and Darcy and while she was one of five, I couldn’t really distinguish any of Elisa’s sisters from each other. Even her sister Camila, whom I was happy to find out was trans, didn't have a memorable personality to make her stick in my head. It was genuinely like, “wait which sister was she? Oh, the trans one right” like it was her one defining characteristic. I wished that other characters were as fleshed out as Elisa. Most of the other characters felt very one dimensional to me.
Colin’s relationship to his mother made sense, being a giant mama’s boy who was never self actualized, up until she attacked him for choosing to stay with his girlfriend over listening to her. Katherine wasn’t like her character from Pride and Prejudice. Where Catherine de Bourgh was regal and classist, Katherine just seemed like a bitch for the sake of being a bitch. Minor nobility vs Head of the PTA— they’re on very different levels of snobbery.
It wasn’t my favorite story, but it also wasn’t the worst take on Pride and Prejudice I’ve ever seen. As a queer person I’m always leaning for decent wlw or mlm rep, and Most Ardently meets the criteria—leaving much to be desired, but it still counts. For anyone that hasn’t read the source material, the story is fine. It just didn’t blow my expectations out of the water.
We’re introduced to Elisa Benitez, a high school senior given early access to college courses. It is through this class that she meets Darcy Fitzgerald and Elisa is quick to note all of Darcy’s less attractive qualities (snobbery, pretentiousness, cold demeanor just to name a few). As the story rarely deviates from Elisa’s perspective, the reader is only privy to her thoughts on the subject. Darcy, the audience notes, is incredibly decisive in her opinions of the people she surrounds herself with. Elisa soon realizes that while she can’t seem to stand her for a good portion of the story, people in Darcy’s circle are all in agreement that she’s a wonderful person.
The plot follows the events in Pride and Prejudice but gives them a modern twist. Gone are the balls and parties in grand homes with vast properties—in their place are rundown apartment buildings, drunken parties in woodland cabins and obscene McMansions. Instead of horses and a carriage, the Benitezes have a janky minivan that’s seen them through all five daughters. Bobby Charles is the same oblivious good natured person that Charles Bingley was and Wickam’s character is still a predator.
As happy as I was to find a queer retelling of Pride and Prejudice, I found the story lacked the necessary tension to keep me invested the entire time. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Elisa and Darcy and while she was one of five, I couldn’t really distinguish any of Elisa’s sisters from each other. Even her sister Camila, whom I was happy to find out was trans, didn't have a memorable personality to make her stick in my head. It was genuinely like, “wait which sister was she? Oh, the trans one right” like it was her one defining characteristic. I wished that other characters were as fleshed out as Elisa. Most of the other characters felt very one dimensional to me.
Colin’s relationship to his mother made sense, being a giant mama’s boy who was never self actualized, up until she attacked him for choosing to stay with his girlfriend over listening to her. Katherine wasn’t like her character from Pride and Prejudice. Where Catherine de Bourgh was regal and classist, Katherine just seemed like a bitch for the sake of being a bitch. Minor nobility vs Head of the PTA— they’re on very different levels of snobbery.
It wasn’t my favorite story, but it also wasn’t the worst take on Pride and Prejudice I’ve ever seen. As a queer person I’m always leaning for decent wlw or mlm rep, and Most Ardently meets the criteria—leaving much to be desired, but it still counts. For anyone that hasn’t read the source material, the story is fine. It just didn’t blow my expectations out of the water.