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A review by ellebibliotecario
Finley Embraces Heart & Home by Anyta Sunday
3.0
This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC.
A Mansfield Park contemporary retelling. Finley and his mother move into his new home in Mansfield to live with her mom's new beau and new beau's son, Ethan. From there, a sullen, resistant-to-change Finely begins to see Mansfield as home with a lot of help with the support and company of his new step-brother. Of course, more than familial bonding forms between Ethan and Finely as they both try to resist their attraction to each other.
The story follows Finley and Ethan's relationship through their teenaged years well into their adulthood. The attraction between them felt almost two instantaneous to me, but the slow build of yearning between the two was torturous journey to take with these two, especially with the challenges and distractions thrown their way. This type of forbidden relationship is a first for me to read about, and I was invested in it more than I expected I would be. It was also a delight to see how the Anyta integrated plot points of Austen's Mansfield Park into this retelling.
Despite this book's good points, this was not my favorite in the series. And this is for sure due to my reading preferences and also the themes inherited from its source material. Finely came off as very insulated within his world Mansfield or focused in feelings for Ethan, to the point that any chance for him to leave Mansfield to see more of the world or experience new things is met with resistance and then grudging acceptance because Ethan pushed him to do so. Finely hardly has an real friends or a life outside of Mansfield that doesn't revolve around Ethan in some way. Which was frustrating and sometimes claustrophobic to read, especially since the story is told in Finley's perspective. And the side characters were all for the most part obnoxious, or seemed, like Bennet, mainly there as a plot device making the story a bit more tedious to get through for me. I get it though, the themes explored is around home, hearth, family, and romance centered around a specific household, and I think Anyta portrayed those themes well. And in a more enjoyable fashion than Mansfield Park did in my lowly opinion.
All in all, a solid addition to the Love, Austen series. This book did make me excited for the Sense & Sensibility retelling considering some appearances by the Dashwood family!
A Mansfield Park contemporary retelling. Finley and his mother move into his new home in Mansfield to live with her mom's new beau and new beau's son, Ethan. From there, a sullen, resistant-to-change Finely begins to see Mansfield as home with a lot of help with the support and company of his new step-brother. Of course, more than familial bonding forms between Ethan and Finely as they both try to resist their attraction to each other.
The story follows Finley and Ethan's relationship through their teenaged years well into their adulthood. The attraction between them felt almost two instantaneous to me, but the slow build of yearning between the two was torturous journey to take with these two, especially with the challenges and distractions thrown their way. This type of forbidden relationship is a first for me to read about, and I was invested in it more than I expected I would be. It was also a delight to see how the Anyta integrated plot points of Austen's Mansfield Park into this retelling.
Despite this book's good points, this was not my favorite in the series. And this is for sure due to my reading preferences and also the themes inherited from its source material. Finely came off as very insulated within his world Mansfield or focused in feelings for Ethan, to the point that any chance for him to leave Mansfield to see more of the world or experience new things is met with resistance and then grudging acceptance because Ethan pushed him to do so. Finely hardly has an real friends or a life outside of Mansfield that doesn't revolve around Ethan in some way. Which was frustrating and sometimes claustrophobic to read, especially since the story is told in Finley's perspective. And the side characters were all for the most part obnoxious, or seemed, like Bennet, mainly there as a plot device making the story a bit more tedious to get through for me. I get it though, the themes explored is around home, hearth, family, and romance centered around a specific household, and I think Anyta portrayed those themes well. And in a more enjoyable fashion than Mansfield Park did in my lowly opinion.
All in all, a solid addition to the Love, Austen series. This book did make me excited for the Sense & Sensibility retelling considering some appearances by the Dashwood family!