A review by weirdtea
Magic and Manners by C.E. Murphy

3.0

I was conflicted throughout this book. Ultimately I enjoyed it, but it was a struggle at times--mostly due to its relation to its source material/primary inspiration. The main storyline follows Pride and Prejudice. Indeed, this book uses many of its more famous lines, word for word. It's a jarring strategy because at the same time it stays so close to P&P it changes names. I never really stopped translating. Leopoldina was always "oh that's Lydia" and so on. The effect was lesser with characters that were given a new storyline or traits, but it was still there. I will also confess that I skimmed through sections where little new happened.

Once the book gets going the dissonance is easier to deal with because the story becomes more original. The magic eventually plays a role other than a symbol for prejudice--or at least goes deeper into it.

I liked the changes to story and character. I've seen some of the moves before in other stories, and I welcome them. The text veers into speech making, but as I'm sympathetic to the ideas, it wasn't too bad.

There's a lot to like about the book and I found pleasure in reading it.