A review by genevievesbooknook
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

"From the sound of it, no one who'd known Grigg since infancy could have doubted he was born to be a heroine."

This is one of those rare cases of when the movie is better than the book. I thought I would like this book, because I like the movie, but I did not like it. 

There are a few reasons: firstly, it was very shallow in its exploration of Austen and her works in relationship to the story of the characters. It's basically a book which shoves her name in so that we apparently care about the characters and see how their life pans out like one of her novels which they really don't. The characters are really boring and have no personality so you don't really care (except Grigg, he's cool.)

Secondly, the changes in structure in this book were ridiculous. In most of the book, it flicks between the past and the present of said character who we focus on in the chapter. This is illustrated through spacing, however, in the 'May' chapter, each section is headed by quotes from Mansfield Park. I don't mind, as I love the book, but could the structuring at least be consistent? 

Thirdly, there are a couple of major errors that really annoyed the hell out of me. The main one, which I thought was in the movie script but it's actually taken from the book. It regards Grigg stating that he has read 'The Mystery of Udolpho' and mentions about
Laurentina's skull which it isn't because of the plot twist which I won't mention.
So now I have no reason to be mad at Hugh Dancy. 

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