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A review by eemilycolleen
Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
feels a little bit like this whole book was contrived off the sentence “daria fitzgerald had slid into her DMs” and frankly — it works! beat for beat, this is an EXTREMELY confident romance novel. you can always tell when the author has a real love for the source material, and this just shines with love.
pride & prejudice adaptations hinge on their elizabeths, and i loved this one. liz is sharp, fun, smart, selfish, judgmental, a bit of a slacker, more than a bit of a mess: spot on. also it must be said, liz looking at daria in a nice suit early on and thinking not “oh no she’s hot” but “oh no i want that outfit” is THEE elizabeth/darcy shit. (also of course a Vital moment of queer identificatory desire! that’s what it’s all about ladiesss!) to me the most essential elizabeth bennet vibe is a sort of unearned breezy confidence even through disaster, and the elizabeth/darcy vibe is, like, looking at each other, seeing something familiar, and scowling through that recognition. PLENTY of scowling here! i love my awful kids!
i found the through-line of liz’s complicated gender expression and the way she finds herself changing her behavior depending on the gender expression of the people she’s trying to impress, OOF, VERY relatable. and the way they find common ground in these intricacies of gender?? beautiful!! in general it’s all just a really thoughtful exploration of (white) queerness.
other p&p notes:
- obsessed that this book’s pemberley section takes place at a gay running club. of course.
- TWO hand kisses. TWO!
- i’m not sure the lydia problem is perfectly adapted; that’s always the hardest part for modern p&p stories, it rarely scans precisely right. in general the bennet family is fun though!
- loved the last scene in a MEADOW. i am so simple!
- “you are a piece of fucking work.” yeah. that’s my shit!
pride & prejudice adaptations hinge on their elizabeths, and i loved this one. liz is sharp, fun, smart, selfish, judgmental, a bit of a slacker, more than a bit of a mess: spot on. also it must be said, liz looking at daria in a nice suit early on and thinking not “oh no she’s hot” but “oh no i want that outfit” is THEE elizabeth/darcy shit. (also of course a Vital moment of queer identificatory desire! that’s what it’s all about ladiesss!) to me the most essential elizabeth bennet vibe is a sort of unearned breezy confidence even through disaster, and the elizabeth/darcy vibe is, like, looking at each other, seeing something familiar, and scowling through that recognition. PLENTY of scowling here! i love my awful kids!
i found the through-line of liz’s complicated gender expression and the way she finds herself changing her behavior depending on the gender expression of the people she’s trying to impress, OOF, VERY relatable. and the way they find common ground in these intricacies of gender?? beautiful!! in general it’s all just a really thoughtful exploration of (white) queerness.
other p&p notes:
- obsessed that this book’s pemberley section takes place at a gay running club. of course.
- TWO hand kisses. TWO!
- i’m not sure the lydia problem is perfectly adapted; that’s always the hardest part for modern p&p stories, it rarely scans precisely right. in general the bennet family is fun though!
- loved the last scene in a MEADOW. i am so simple!
- “you are a piece of fucking work.” yeah. that’s my shit!