A review by tortue_abroad
The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath

4.0

I give most attempts to write any kind of sequel to Pride and Prejudice a wide berth; however, this book really intrigued me because it was dealing with Mary, who'd I'd never given much thought to. I was really impressed by how she was developed here, how her actions in the original novel can be understood as coming from a young girl that thought she had already figured out how the world worked (see: adolescence and parental neglect), but here she really gets a chance to mature and come into her own. The book also examines some other minor characters in a very interesting light. Her romantic lead was, well, unexpected and I had a bit of difficulty believing the attraction between them, but overall, I thought it was sweet. I'm glad that I read this and it's given me a new perspective for whenever I read P&P again.

2nd read: Still enjoyed it, but I found the love interest a lot more jarring and tacked on this time. Maybe more like a 3.5 stars. I feel like it's sort of a given there needs to be one in an Austen spin off book, but honestly I would've rather seen her relationship develop with Anne more? And I really wish the book did more with Lydia. Every year I get more and more strident in my belief that Lydia deserves better. She's, what, 16 when she marries Wickham? Yikes.