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lifeand100books's review against another edition
5.0
In reading a large variety of Pride and Prejudice variations, I’ve come to expect works of all shapes and sizes. What I didn’t expect, however, was a work that centers on an online dating site. Such is the premise of Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match by Marilyn Brant. Sure, we’ve seen modern adaptations on the beloved original, yet this is a new twist that adds another dimension to the story between the Lizzy and Darcy that we all cherish. How would this timeless love story survive in a world governed by digital matchmaking?
The last thing that Beth Ann Bennet wants to do is end up on a dating site, but much to her chagrin, here she is. As a social worker studying sex-based stereotypes, she signs on to Lady Catherine’s Love Match Website under a pseudonym in order to get a firsthand account of said stereotypes. She is surprised, however, when she meets Dr. William Darcy through the site. He has his own secrets, however, as he too is signed up for the dating service under false pretenses. In order to settle a bet and win funding for a new clinic he is building, Darcy agrees to sign on to the site and find a match. Now that they have met, both agree that it would be in their best interests to stay apart, yet there seems to be an invisible force that draws them to each other, making that original promise much harder to keep. Although they both assume that the site will give them a superficial and fleeting glance at a relationship, what they actually encounter is something much deeper and more personal. What will happen once they come to find that this meeting is not what they originally intended, but something much more involved indeed?
At first blush, I found the idea behind this story to be intriguing and fresh. Always up for a new take on the P&P variation genre, I was excited to see what Brant had in store. I was surprised to find that the storyline between Darcy and Elizabeth seemed to be swapped somewhat with the plot between Jane and Bingley, but this didn’t seem to detract from the flow of the work at all. In fact, it made me read faster. After a while, the old Darcy and Elizabeth I’ve come to know and love made their appearance, as the story made a course correction and we came back into familiar territory. When this was coupled with references to Roman Holiday and high tea, I began to feel like I was reading a book that was a greatest hits of all the things I love in life. Brant couldn’t have done a better job at pulling me into the story and keeping me hooked until the end. I loved how her work was different enough that I felt really out of my element at first, but then brought back to the themes of compassion, forgiveness, and love that really hold Darcy and Elizabeth together. This was an amazingly smart move that left me more than satisfied at the end of this work. In fact, I liked this book so much that I delayed watching the season 3 premiere of Downton Abbey!! (This is a huge deal) In all, if you’re up for a new and exciting change in the P&P variation world, I strongly suggest that you give this a try. Who doesn’t love a fresh look at our Darcy and Elizabeth?
Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
Originally Posted on the Austenprose Blog
http://wp.me/p18lIL-1A2
The last thing that Beth Ann Bennet wants to do is end up on a dating site, but much to her chagrin, here she is. As a social worker studying sex-based stereotypes, she signs on to Lady Catherine’s Love Match Website under a pseudonym in order to get a firsthand account of said stereotypes. She is surprised, however, when she meets Dr. William Darcy through the site. He has his own secrets, however, as he too is signed up for the dating service under false pretenses. In order to settle a bet and win funding for a new clinic he is building, Darcy agrees to sign on to the site and find a match. Now that they have met, both agree that it would be in their best interests to stay apart, yet there seems to be an invisible force that draws them to each other, making that original promise much harder to keep. Although they both assume that the site will give them a superficial and fleeting glance at a relationship, what they actually encounter is something much deeper and more personal. What will happen once they come to find that this meeting is not what they originally intended, but something much more involved indeed?
At first blush, I found the idea behind this story to be intriguing and fresh. Always up for a new take on the P&P variation genre, I was excited to see what Brant had in store. I was surprised to find that the storyline between Darcy and Elizabeth seemed to be swapped somewhat with the plot between Jane and Bingley, but this didn’t seem to detract from the flow of the work at all. In fact, it made me read faster. After a while, the old Darcy and Elizabeth I’ve come to know and love made their appearance, as the story made a course correction and we came back into familiar territory. When this was coupled with references to Roman Holiday and high tea, I began to feel like I was reading a book that was a greatest hits of all the things I love in life. Brant couldn’t have done a better job at pulling me into the story and keeping me hooked until the end. I loved how her work was different enough that I felt really out of my element at first, but then brought back to the themes of compassion, forgiveness, and love that really hold Darcy and Elizabeth together. This was an amazingly smart move that left me more than satisfied at the end of this work. In fact, I liked this book so much that I delayed watching the season 3 premiere of Downton Abbey!! (This is a huge deal) In all, if you’re up for a new and exciting change in the P&P variation world, I strongly suggest that you give this a try. Who doesn’t love a fresh look at our Darcy and Elizabeth?
Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
Originally Posted on the Austenprose Blog
http://wp.me/p18lIL-1A2
itsjulia_reads's review against another edition
2.0
This book was an okay read. I would recommend it to someone who wanted a quick read. I did not like the writing style because it was inconsistent, and did not want you to continue reading. The concept of the plot was interesting but poorly executed. I do NOT like how the author used the same names from Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my favorite books. The ending was really cheesy and it concluded too quickly. Overall, I'd give this book 2.6 stars.
emslovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
I've been on a huge Austen adaptation kick lately. I just want to read ALL THE ADAPTATIONS. Seriously. I have a shelf dedicated to the ones I own and another to the ones I've checked out at the library. I think I've only met one adaptation that I didn't love. I just love the feels that come along with a great Austen adaptation. I love experiencing the stories in a new way.
This one was no exception. I've given the whole online dating thing a shot and I totally understand the pressure that goes along with it. I've always tried to be completely honest in my profiles, but I've been caught unawares by those who aren't up front. For example, one of my great disasters was with a guy who said online that he was a senior software engineer. There are certain expectations that go along with a profession like that, so when he showed up and complained long and loud about my $3 salad, I knew something was up. I brought the topic around to work, and it turns out that he'd been out of work for over a year and had never even been a software engineer. Cut that one short. Yeah.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the book.
Both parties in this one are guilty of falsifying information, or at least, not telling the whole truth. The hijinks that ensue are a ton of fun and I found myself cringing at all the right moments. It was hilarious. I totally guessed how some things were going to turn out, but that didn't bother me at all. This wasn't supposed to be some deep, heavy, philosophical read. It was supposed to be a fun ride and it was.
I liked the characters, especially Jane, Beth Ann's best friend. She was just exactly what you'd want in a best friend - someone who is always there for you, lets you make mistakes and is there to help you pick up the pieces, helps you put your life back together, etc.
My favorite among the males was Bingley MacNamara, Darcy's cousin and meddler-in-chief. He cracked me up. He was a lot more astute than I originally suspected, so he was a very nice surprise. I'd have liked to see more of him.
Dr. Darcy is prickly, but not as much as he could have been. I'd have liked to see him stay a little truer to character, but it didn't bother me that much. He was still a cool guy, and his motives were awesome.
Beth Ann was also not as true to Elizabeth as she could have been, but I'm putting that up to artistic license. I wish she'd been a little stronger, but she was okay. Of all the characters, she was probably my least favorite, though I definitely didn't dislike her.
Reading Pride and Prejudice as an online dating story was pretty cool. It was definitely true to life and mirrored a lot of what I've seen and/or experienced myself. I like that Marilyn Brant took it this direction because it was so much fun. It was clean too. I'd recommend it with no reservations (i.e. 'there's this one part...') to anyone who loves Austen adaptations. I read it in a couple of hours and wanted to start over the minute I finished. I'm glad I bought a copy for my Kindle app!
It's a 3.5 Eiffel Tower book for me.
Content Advisory:
Language: Moderate
Sexuality: Mild
Violence: Mild
This one was no exception. I've given the whole online dating thing a shot and I totally understand the pressure that goes along with it. I've always tried to be completely honest in my profiles, but I've been caught unawares by those who aren't up front. For example, one of my great disasters was with a guy who said online that he was a senior software engineer. There are certain expectations that go along with a profession like that, so when he showed up and complained long and loud about my $3 salad, I knew something was up. I brought the topic around to work, and it turns out that he'd been out of work for over a year and had never even been a software engineer. Cut that one short. Yeah.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the book.
Both parties in this one are guilty of falsifying information, or at least, not telling the whole truth. The hijinks that ensue are a ton of fun and I found myself cringing at all the right moments. It was hilarious. I totally guessed how some things were going to turn out, but that didn't bother me at all. This wasn't supposed to be some deep, heavy, philosophical read. It was supposed to be a fun ride and it was.
I liked the characters, especially Jane, Beth Ann's best friend. She was just exactly what you'd want in a best friend - someone who is always there for you, lets you make mistakes and is there to help you pick up the pieces, helps you put your life back together, etc.
My favorite among the males was Bingley MacNamara, Darcy's cousin and meddler-in-chief. He cracked me up. He was a lot more astute than I originally suspected, so he was a very nice surprise. I'd have liked to see more of him.
Dr. Darcy is prickly, but not as much as he could have been. I'd have liked to see him stay a little truer to character, but it didn't bother me that much. He was still a cool guy, and his motives were awesome.
Beth Ann was also not as true to Elizabeth as she could have been, but I'm putting that up to artistic license. I wish she'd been a little stronger, but she was okay. Of all the characters, she was probably my least favorite, though I definitely didn't dislike her.
Reading Pride and Prejudice as an online dating story was pretty cool. It was definitely true to life and mirrored a lot of what I've seen and/or experienced myself. I like that Marilyn Brant took it this direction because it was so much fun. It was clean too. I'd recommend it with no reservations (i.e. 'there's this one part...') to anyone who loves Austen adaptations. I read it in a couple of hours and wanted to start over the minute I finished. I'm glad I bought a copy for my Kindle app!
It's a 3.5 Eiffel Tower book for me.
Content Advisory:
Language: Moderate
Sexuality: Mild
Violence: Mild
stephanielee's review
5.0
This is a predictable book but I enjoyed reading it. I never read Pride and Prejudice, but I got the point.
thearomaofbooks's review
DNF around 25%.
1. It's not a P&P retelling just because everyone has names from the original story.
2. Not a huge fan of stories where the problem isn't that they don't understand each other, but that they've literally and purposely started out by lying to each other.
3. Already completely over Beth's college research on "confirming male gender stereotypes," not because I don't believe those stereotypes exist, but because of how incredibly insistent she is that they are 100% negative, and that finding a man with those stereotypes automatically makes him a jerk. Legit her list starts with "greater size and strength"... I'm sorry, that isn't a stereotype, it's an actual scientific fact that the majority of men have greater size and strength than the majority of women...??? And being better at spatial/mathematical skills is negative because...??? Her list of seven things *are* typical of males, but I don't understand why she is acting like if she finds a guy who fits them, she will have found a horrible person. Being a jerk is what makes you a jerk, not being independent and competitive.
It's possible that by the end of the book Beth Ann matures and comes to realize that being goal-oriented and valuing the rational over the emotional aren't negative stereotypes, but are in fact an excellent balance for the stereotypical female's tendency to multitask and value the emotional over the rational, but I doubt it, and I really don't want to spend any more time listening to these two lie to each other just to find out.
1. It's not a P&P retelling just because everyone has names from the original story.
2. Not a huge fan of stories where the problem isn't that they don't understand each other, but that they've literally and purposely started out by lying to each other.
3. Already completely over Beth's college research on "confirming male gender stereotypes," not because I don't believe those stereotypes exist, but because of how incredibly insistent she is that they are 100% negative, and that finding a man with those stereotypes automatically makes him a jerk. Legit her list starts with "greater size and strength"... I'm sorry, that isn't a stereotype, it's an actual scientific fact that the majority of men have greater size and strength than the majority of women...??? And being better at spatial/mathematical skills is negative because...??? Her list of seven things *are* typical of males, but I don't understand why she is acting like if she finds a guy who fits them, she will have found a horrible person. Being a jerk is what makes you a jerk, not being independent and competitive.
It's possible that by the end of the book Beth Ann matures and comes to realize that being goal-oriented and valuing the rational over the emotional aren't negative stereotypes, but are in fact an excellent balance for the stereotypical female's tendency to multitask and value the emotional over the rational, but I doubt it, and I really don't want to spend any more time listening to these two lie to each other just to find out.
pgchuis's review
2.0
The story of Beth Bennet, a social work student, who meets Will Darcy, a doctor, through Lady Catherine's Perfect Match dating website. There were lots of other Pride and Prejudice references: Beth's first husband was called Pete Wickham, Darcy's cousin was called Bingley and Beth's best friend was Jane. However, the plot bore no real resemblance to The Austen novel and in particular Jane and Bingley never even met.
I bought this Kindle book after failing to win a copy through the first readers' scheme, but I should have been content not to win. The writing wasn't great, everyone was either lying to or manipulating everyone else to a bewildering extent. Darcy went from being unable to countenance a relationship with a single mother to the extreme opposite seemingly because Beth's son had been very brave and polite after breaking his arm. Darcy was supposed to be so full of neuroses from his childhood that I don't think I would have taken him on. Beth and Darcy fell in love despite Beth lying so completely about her life that I fail to see what they could possibly have conversed about on their dates (and indeed the dialogue quoted was sparse and awkward).
I bought this Kindle book after failing to win a copy through the first readers' scheme, but I should have been content not to win. The writing wasn't great, everyone was either lying to or manipulating everyone else to a bewildering extent. Darcy went from being unable to countenance a relationship with a single mother to the extreme opposite seemingly because Beth's son had been very brave and polite after breaking his arm. Darcy was supposed to be so full of neuroses from his childhood that I don't think I would have taken him on. Beth and Darcy fell in love despite Beth lying so completely about her life that I fail to see what they could possibly have conversed about on their dates (and indeed the dialogue quoted was sparse and awkward).
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