crafalsk264 's review for:

The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi

3.75

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Bennet House is the only all-women’s dorm at Longbourn University which is home for three close friends who will have their most eventful year of their lives. E.J. is a dedicated Black engineering student. Jamie is a newly out woman studying French and theatre. Teresa is a Filipina astronomy major and has her own problems with men. These three women young women are studying for professions that match their passions. These passions extend to a group of lovers in their lives.

Jamie brings Lee , a fun-loving of a Hollywood producer, whose gentlemanly behavior has all three women flattered and complimented. Lee has a friend named Will who is a wealthy Asian actor taking a break from his acting career to finish his degree. He is also supposedly recovering from a public breakup with his actress/internet darling girlfriend. Collin is a possessive, charismatic scrounged and just needs to be left behind.

This book is marketed as a Pride-and-Prejudice retelling. I seldom choose books that are retellings of past classics and know in advance that is what a book is. So I didn’t realize that  was the case with this one until I was reading reviews after I read the book. There were a lot of characters in this book ad the POVs alternated throughout. This was ok but I found myself getting engrossed with one plot line and then all of a sudden we switched narrators. I found myself tempted to skip forward to continue a story line. But since it was an audiobook, I kept listening to the chapters in order. The characters were fairly well developed but I can’t say I really cared about the outcome for any of them but E.J. And Will were definitely my favorites. I did like the way the author used a residence hall as a safe place for the women to find safety  and friendship. The author was knowledgeable about public relations and social media. Recommend to readers of romance, especially retelling,