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A review by angieinbooks
Most Ardently by Susan Mesler-Evans
2.0
When I saw there was a Pride and Prejudice adaptation with two women in the Elizabeth and Darcy roles, I knew I would read this. Hell, I've been waiting forever for this. I wanted to write this. LOL. So I came in expecting to love this. And it's Pride and Prejudice, so there's really no way for me not to like this, right? Wrong.
I struggled to get into this book. Seriously, two three-week check out periods from the library and I still had not gotten past the 20% on this book. If it wasn't for sheer determination and stubbornness to finish (and a third check-out period that I came close to missing again), it wouldn't have happened. By contrast, when I was assigned Pride and Prejudice in high school, I read it in one night--the first night it was assigned because I couldn't put it down.
My primary issue is the portrayal of Elisa Benitez. Elizabeth Bennet is charming, witty, smart. I found Elisa none of those things. She was mostly just mean and judgmental and kind of stupid (and I'm referring here to her immediate belief of Wick's sob story, which just made no sense--not in the way he told it, just in that she was so willing to believe it). I didn't really like her. By contrast, I immediately loved Darcy. And I really didn't get why Elisa was so determined to hate her.
Another thing that threw me off is their ages. They're all so young. Elisa is 18 in this novel--still technically in high school, although she's taking courses in the local community college, having completed her high school credits early. And I don't care that she's 18 except that there's a lot of talk and expectation about finding The One, and it kind of made me uncomfortable in a novel set in the 21st century. And especially in a novel with the Wick/Lucia storyline.
There are definitely other issues with the novel, but once I broke over the 20% wall, the story did pick up. All the major moments in Pride and Prejudice happen here and I enjoyed a lot of the changes Mesler-Evans makes to adapt this story to a contemporary time. But one of the things that makes Pride and Prejudice so great is the way it critiques and comments on society, and none of that was here.
I realize this is a debut novel and that I've been a bit harsh. I do hope we get to see more from Mesler-Evans because there's a lot of promise here, including a really diverse cast of characters (Elisa is latina, Darcy is black, one of the Benitez sisters is transgender!). Adapting Pride and Prejudice just comes with added pressure and expectations.
I struggled to get into this book. Seriously, two three-week check out periods from the library and I still had not gotten past the 20% on this book. If it wasn't for sheer determination and stubbornness to finish (and a third check-out period that I came close to missing again), it wouldn't have happened. By contrast, when I was assigned Pride and Prejudice in high school, I read it in one night--the first night it was assigned because I couldn't put it down.
My primary issue is the portrayal of Elisa Benitez. Elizabeth Bennet is charming, witty, smart. I found Elisa none of those things. She was mostly just mean and judgmental and kind of stupid (and I'm referring here to her immediate belief of Wick's sob story, which just made no sense--not in the way he told it, just in that she was so willing to believe it). I didn't really like her. By contrast, I immediately loved Darcy. And I really didn't get why Elisa was so determined to hate her.
Another thing that threw me off is their ages. They're all so young. Elisa is 18 in this novel--still technically in high school, although she's taking courses in the local community college, having completed her high school credits early. And I don't care that she's 18 except that there's a lot of talk and expectation about finding The One, and it kind of made me uncomfortable in a novel set in the 21st century. And especially in a novel with the Wick/Lucia storyline.
There are definitely other issues with the novel, but once I broke over the 20% wall, the story did pick up. All the major moments in Pride and Prejudice happen here and I enjoyed a lot of the changes Mesler-Evans makes to adapt this story to a contemporary time. But one of the things that makes Pride and Prejudice so great is the way it critiques and comments on society, and none of that was here.
I realize this is a debut novel and that I've been a bit harsh. I do hope we get to see more from Mesler-Evans because there's a lot of promise here, including a really diverse cast of characters (Elisa is latina, Darcy is black, one of the Benitez sisters is transgender!). Adapting Pride and Prejudice just comes with added pressure and expectations.