A review by henrygravesprince
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding an ALC copy of the audiobook from Net Galley, so while I imagine this audiobook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.

The novel makes its themes and the overall message very clear to me, and I would say it’s successful at communicating the subject of an optimistic Regency-era romance for LGBT youth. I believe the strongest aspect here is the clear interest the author has in LGBT history and in incorporating it into this novel, and the weaker aspect is the conflict. Ultimately, I think a couple more rounds of line editing and tightening up the plot could have done it some good. The flow is natural and straight-forward.  The exposition is relatively well-done, with the brevity that I think does very well for “younger” prose. The information is given to us when it’s relevant and it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb; info-dumping isn’t an issue in this. There’s a degree of repetition in verbiage, particularly towards the end, that bogged down some sentences.

I found the character dynamics very compelling. Regarding Mrs. Bennet’s dynamic with Oliver,
I can understand that some people may have difficulty suspending their disbelief in a historical narrative in which someone who was pressuring their child to be a “respectable lady” accepts their transgender son. However, the particular kind of parent to trans children that Mrs. Bennet here falls into isn’t often portrayed, and I think trans youth need to see a wider breadth of familial dynamics in our media. Mrs. Bennet here reminds me of someone in my life who had difficulties accepting who I am out of fear for how people would treat me and my prospects in the world.
I think if I had seen representation of such a dynamic when I was a closeted teenager, I might have had more hope for my own familial relationships surviving that particular strife.
Mr. Bennet, who is much more accepting, reminds me so much of my father, one of the people who has stood by me the most in my transition,
and I was very glad to be able to see a dynamic like that reflected here.

Taking believable historical dialogue and making it accessible to a modern reader was achieved here. It maintains a Regency ‘feel’ without sacrificing the quick, modern writing style. While I doubt it’s 100% accurate to the conventioms of the era, it reproduces the concept of historical speech well without being jarring. It seems like the author put a lot of effort into walking the line of portraying LGBT history and writing a positive story for modern LGBT youth. I was giddy to hear references to actual pieces of our history, such as Molly Houses woven into the narrative, and I was also impressed that the story overall takes an optimistic tone on portraying the complexities of historical trans and gay relationships.

The note at the end where the author talks about personally hoping there are many trans people in history who we simply don’t know existed because they weren’t outed is something that I really appreciate: there have been extremely difficult times for us, but there have also always been people who found each other and forged community regardless. I would definitely recommend this to any trans young adult looking for a sweet historical M/M romance that has some of our own history woven throughout it, as well as for someone looking to gift an appropriate and inclusive book to a young trans loved one. Overall, I felt a little too grown for the aged-down aspect of the novel, but I know if this book had been around ten years ago, it would have meant a lot to me. I’d definitely be interested in checking out the author’s other work.

(Edit: I’ve docked this book’s rating down from 4.5 to 4, because these past few months, it hasn’t really held up in my memory & it’s just not “for me”. It’s a 4 in that it’s well-made, good, and was a worthwhile read, but this book didn’t come out at a time where I was in the age bracket and life experience that it would’ve impacted me best: as a kid, a young teen in particular, I would have gotten a lot more from this book. I stand by everything in this review, but it just feels like this is a more adequate rating for how I feel about it.)
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