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A review by jordana_dear
The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi
2.0
Two stars for the diversity, some good writing moments, and being a somewhat enjoyable read. While I appreciated the diversity, this one was missing a lot for me in regards to handling of the characters, plot, follow through, etc. I was so hopeful and ended up underwhelmed. I think if the author tried to give more time and space for the story it could have really been wonderful.
The story and writing were a struggle for me. Everything lacked conflict or obstacles and was so idealistic it made me feel like I was reading a junior high or high school aged girl's fantasy about what being a grown up in their last year of college would be like. Things that would be a day to day conflict anyone might face glanced off and disappeared as if anyone could handle all of dailys life's struggles and even added struggle of celebrity/class/race/etc without anything ever really going wrong or being more than what felt like a passing mention. Maybe that was the intention? Maybe I've just never lived in that world but you can avoid treating things like trauma porn and still have real life struggle... it got soooo close to touching on so many things without really every going there and it was so frustrating. It made it so hard to see the real life that existed in each of these characters and it could have been SO beautiful and such a great retelling with current real world diversity in all of the things it was mixing. Not to mention it bounces around to several POV but nothing ever really flowed together for me. The different views and time jumps really just made the story feel clunky even when the writing had good moments.
I loved that Jamie (our Jane) was Trans and that her story wasn't focused on or seeped in trauma. She was free and clear and living and in the first 20 or so pages she already jumped out to me. I was incredibly worried about where her story could go knowing Jane's PP arc and how a careless author could treat Jamie as a Trans woman with that arc in mind, but Appiah-Kubi did not take that road and I am very grateful for that. That being said, I felt that the author also stayed away from giving Jamie's part of the story any kind of conflict. She and Lee (our Bingley) never really have any issues and when they do everything goes so smoothly because, as explained in the book, they both have been in therapy since they were young so that somehow makes it easy for them to talk and progress with no conflict other than a difference of opinion about their relationship which in my experience, just isn't reality for even the most loving and respectful of relationships. It was also ofd it was so easy for them to slide through that conversation when we were just tood Jamie was straight up avoiding these converstions with Lee... Any other issues Jamie experiences are kind of passed off. A mother who was super supportive when Jamie came out as a child but struggled when she came out as Trans could have created so much more complexity than it did, for Jamie's relationship with Lee, or with her mom or with Lee and her mom meeting without treating the conflict in a traumatic or even overplayed way. Also an advisor who was transphobic (and sexist), was just throw out passively but we never saw Jamie handle this even though its brought up in a way that seems it was a big thing she faced theough the whole year this books takes place. I felt these real life experiences for Trans individuals were kind of tossed out as a means to identity Jamie as Trans more so than to give the reader any understanding or insight of who Jamie is, or what she and many Trans people go through, or even just give Jamie a real storyline. It left Jamie one dimensional. Especially when the story was told from her perspective and was used as a means to continue driving EJ's (our Elizabeth) story, not to really tell her own or add to the dimensions of the overall story. Jane is my favorite character from PP and I was prepared to fall for Jamie just as hard and really just feel like I missed her completely. It did leave me with a hunger for Jamie's story - so I'm going to be looking out for that book. (I'll take recommendations if anyone's got one.)
EJ (Elizabeth) too felt like a bundle of cliches. We never really get too deep into some of the things she's dealing with and again everything is so easy and really lacks detail and obstacles. Every character, moment, etc. is just missing something to take it all the way through to the point. There was a lack of threading or flow through the book and even though the events loosely followed PP, it just ultimately missed the mark.
The story and writing were a struggle for me. Everything lacked conflict or obstacles and was so idealistic it made me feel like I was reading a junior high or high school aged girl's fantasy about what being a grown up in their last year of college would be like. Things that would be a day to day conflict anyone might face glanced off and disappeared as if anyone could handle all of dailys life's struggles and even added struggle of celebrity/class/race/etc without anything ever really going wrong or being more than what felt like a passing mention. Maybe that was the intention? Maybe I've just never lived in that world but you can avoid treating things like trauma porn and still have real life struggle... it got soooo close to touching on so many things without really every going there and it was so frustrating. It made it so hard to see the real life that existed in each of these characters and it could have been SO beautiful and such a great retelling with current real world diversity in all of the things it was mixing. Not to mention it bounces around to several POV but nothing ever really flowed together for me. The different views and time jumps really just made the story feel clunky even when the writing had good moments.
I loved that Jamie (our Jane) was Trans and that her story wasn't focused on or seeped in trauma. She was free and clear and living and in the first 20 or so pages she already jumped out to me. I was incredibly worried about where her story could go knowing Jane's PP arc and how a careless author could treat Jamie as a Trans woman with that arc in mind, but Appiah-Kubi did not take that road and I am very grateful for that. That being said, I felt that the author also stayed away from giving Jamie's part of the story any kind of conflict. She and Lee (our Bingley) never really have any issues and when they do everything goes so smoothly because, as explained in the book, they both have been in therapy since they were young so that somehow makes it easy for them to talk and progress with no conflict other than a difference of opinion about their relationship which in my experience, just isn't reality for even the most loving and respectful of relationships. It was also ofd it was so easy for them to slide through that conversation when we were just tood Jamie was straight up avoiding these converstions with Lee... Any other issues Jamie experiences are kind of passed off. A mother who was super supportive when Jamie came out as a child but struggled when she came out as Trans could have created so much more complexity than it did, for Jamie's relationship with Lee, or with her mom or with Lee and her mom meeting without treating the conflict in a traumatic or even overplayed way. Also an advisor who was transphobic (and sexist), was just throw out passively but we never saw Jamie handle this even though its brought up in a way that seems it was a big thing she faced theough the whole year this books takes place. I felt these real life experiences for Trans individuals were kind of tossed out as a means to identity Jamie as Trans more so than to give the reader any understanding or insight of who Jamie is, or what she and many Trans people go through, or even just give Jamie a real storyline. It left Jamie one dimensional. Especially when the story was told from her perspective and was used as a means to continue driving EJ's (our Elizabeth) story, not to really tell her own or add to the dimensions of the overall story. Jane is my favorite character from PP and I was prepared to fall for Jamie just as hard and really just feel like I missed her completely. It did leave me with a hunger for Jamie's story - so I'm going to be looking out for that book. (I'll take recommendations if anyone's got one.)
EJ (Elizabeth) too felt like a bundle of cliches. We never really get too deep into some of the things she's dealing with and again everything is so easy and really lacks detail and obstacles. Every character, moment, etc. is just missing something to take it all the way through to the point. There was a lack of threading or flow through the book and even though the events loosely followed PP, it just ultimately missed the mark.