shollandbeck 's review for:

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

2.5

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is my second time reading this, and all I remembered of the plot was that it had a play in it. After reading it again, there's not much else that really was added for me. I adore Austen but this continues to be my least favorite of her works. I appreciate that it's different from her other books as she focuses more of moral standards and duty to family and how social classes impact life, but I just find it a bit difficult to really want to read about any of these characters.  I like Austen's female leads, but Fanny is a bit of a bore and I like Austen's romantic pairings but this one really I can't buy into.

Knowing that Edmund and Fanny end up together (and disregarding that they're cousins), even up until 20 pages from the end Edmund still refers to Fanny in a sisterly dynamic and then once it's revealed by the narrator in the last chapter that Edmund had romantic feelings towards Fanny he says that he realized that he had been shaping who she was since she was 10 years old...

This one will probably continue to be my least favorite Austen novel and I will likely continue to remember it as "the one with the play"