A review by loveisnotatriangle
The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer

2.0

I wasn’t prepared for how trashy this was going to be. Although it was fun to see Mr. Knightly’s perspective and some aspects of the 21st century retelling of Emma worked well (and were amusing), I didn’t like how much this author turns the story into an adult romance novel. Jane Austen has such wonderful subtlety and slow built up between characters, and this retelling missed that when it turned into a trashy beach read. Mr. Knightly wasn’t nearly as attractive when he was objectifying Emma in every scene. And Emma came across way too clueless and ditzy, far more than she appears in the original. This made her her far less endearing. For instance, it’s obvious in this retelling that Mr. Elton is into Emma and not Harriet, but she is so clueless about it that she looks like an idiot. This is the first in a series, and I was really looking forward to the adaptation of Persuasion, which is next. But if it’s going to be like this one, I don’t think that I’ll be reading it.