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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld
5 reviews
zoiejanelle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
here’s a horrible secret… i have never read Pride and Prejudice. this is my first experience with it (outside the 2000s movie) and i am genuinely obsessed. this is definitely not the type of book i would normally go for, so i am very proud i actually read it!
this book was recommended to me by my Children’s Book Council mentor and took me a few months to get to. boy am i glad i did. it was a perfect time capsule of 2013 culture—from the white, republican parents, to the confusion about trransgender people, to the classism and social hierarchy, AND the fashion/fitness trends… this was a trip.
equal parts cringey and charming, the story itself was fun to read and experience alongside the quirky cast of characters. i loved the tweaks that the author made to each character, but that the overall story remained largely the same. of course, i loved darcy most ardently. wink.
because of the slight transphobia and extremely datedness of the book, i cant give it a full five stars. it was extremely slow (but so is the original, i hear) and very character driven, so i got lost at a few points trying to determine where the story was headed. however, i cringed, i laughed out loud, i cried, i swooned, and i shouted… and those are all signs of a good book.
bonus—this semi-viral tweet came from my listening to this audiobook:
“instead of enemies to lovers, i'm looking for haters to lovers. two people with bad attitudes whose relationship is wholly based off their mutual, yet completely unjustified, disrespect for one another. two people who antagonize each other until it somehow turns into love.”
this book was recommended to me by my Children’s Book Council mentor and took me a few months to get to. boy am i glad i did. it was a perfect time capsule of 2013 culture—from the white, republican parents, to the confusion about trransgender people, to the classism and social hierarchy, AND the fashion/fitness trends… this was a trip.
equal parts cringey and charming, the story itself was fun to read and experience alongside the quirky cast of characters. i loved the tweaks that the author made to each character, but that the overall story remained largely the same. of course, i loved darcy most ardently. wink.
because of the slight transphobia and extremely datedness of the book, i cant give it a full five stars. it was extremely slow (but so is the original, i hear) and very character driven, so i got lost at a few points trying to determine where the story was headed. however, i cringed, i laughed out loud, i cried, i swooned, and i shouted… and those are all signs of a good book.
bonus—this semi-viral tweet came from my listening to this audiobook:
“instead of enemies to lovers, i'm looking for haters to lovers. two people with bad attitudes whose relationship is wholly based off their mutual, yet completely unjustified, disrespect for one another. two people who antagonize each other until it somehow turns into love.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Infertility, Eating disorder, Classism, Sexual content, Sexism, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Racism, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Fatphobia
Minor: Vomit, Homophobia, Abortion, Cursing, and Medical content
jjbug86's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
I love Jane Austen, so I'm typically game for anything Austen-adjacent. That said, this book was an enormous disappointment. Had I not been reading it as part of a book club, I definitely would not have finished it. It swung between tedious (why do I need to know the names of all the streets in Cincinnati?) and, at times, downright offensive (racist, transphobic, fat-phobic, etc). Besides their names, the characters bore little resemblance to Austen's creations. They were shallow, one-dimensional, and generally irredeemable. The author did a poor job of translating Austen's world into a modern context, and it often read like she couldn't decide which century she was writing in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Fatphobia
pattyreader's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
A superficial rewrite of Pride and Prejudice, the characters are never developed and serious topics such as being transgender, facing discrimination, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, infertility and abortion are dismissed as minor, irrelevant or with voyeurism. This rewrite is the furthest from what Jane Austen wrote.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Outing, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm really not sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it, and was very invested in what was going to happen. I wasn't at all bored by it because I knew how Pride and Prejudice goes, or anything like that.
On the other hand, for the first third of the book I hated all of the characters, and I still don't really like most of them by the end. There's a lot of transphobia, fatphobia, racism, and homophobia. Some of these are very clearly faults of the characters, but others are less easily dismissed. (More details on each of these under the spoiler warning.)
Transphobia: a major plot point in the novel is when a character is revealed to be trans, and this is treated very badly by almost every character. This is actually the one spoiler I knew ahead of time, because I'm trans and I read a little bit about this part of the book before starting it. But what I didn't realize is that even Lizzy was going to be weird and transphobic about it. She does quickly learn what she said/did was wrong, and becomes better towards the end of the book. But still, that section was frustrating and I didn't like it. It feels way out of proportion for her to fly home because of this, and to be honest I think Darcy forgives her too easily for this. Overall though it's clear Sittenfeld meant the transphobia to be a fault of the characters, and she herself doesn't agree with that, and so on and so on. I'm glad it was so clearly disputed in the book. But I still wouldn't have made that this big of a deal in the book at all.
Fatphobia: the fatphobia is one of the bigger issues I have with the book, as it's both blatant and not super clearly disagreed with. Lizzy as the narrator repeatedly says things like how she tries not to get caught up in diet talk, but that she's not completely successful. The characters' fatphobia is made fun of in some ways but reinforced in others. Charlotte is the only fat character that I can think of who is presented in a positive light, but she's repeatedly called unattractive--by the characters, but still. I think all of the characters who are portrayed as attractive are straight size, if not actively thin.
Racism: part of me wants to say the racism is disputed in similar ways to the transphobia, but I know I might also just be less focused on that since I'm white. Lizzy does definitely point out that several characters are racist, and this is seen as bad, and it's clear neither Lizzy as the narrator nor Sittenfeld as the author think any of the racism is okay. However, the casual racism just scattered throughout the book was still obviously not great, and I'm not sure how much of it was necessary or relevant to the plot.
Homophobia/lesbophobia: the homophobia was pretty bad in the beginning, and got a little better later on. I feel it could have been addressed more clearly, rather than just being accepted as normal, but I have less issue with the homophobia than with the rest of the things listed above. Lizzy's sisters are kind of awful about it though, and if you don't feel like reading a bunch of "haha you're a lesbian" "no I'm not" interactions, I wouldn't recommend this book.
Overall, I'm pretty torn on if I liked this book or would recommend it. In general I like Sittenfeld's writing, but the more of her books I read, I'm not sure if I should want to read them. I don't think this was a terrible retelling of Pride and Prejudice, though it's definitely a different story with different characters. I was also not super convinced by Darcy's character in general; I feel like in the beginning he was an almost irredeemable asshole, and then later he just sort of became nice and interesting. I don't buy that that's the same person with the same motivations.
On the other hand, for the first third of the book I hated all of the characters, and I still don't really like most of them by the end. There's a lot of transphobia, fatphobia, racism, and homophobia. Some of these are very clearly faults of the characters, but others are less easily dismissed. (More details on each of these under the spoiler warning.)
Transphobia: a major plot point in the novel is when a character is revealed to be trans, and this is treated very badly by almost every character. This is actually the one spoiler I knew ahead of time, because I'm trans and I read a little bit about this part of the book before starting it. But what I didn't realize is that even Lizzy was going to be weird and transphobic about it. She does quickly learn what she said/did was wrong, and becomes better towards the end of the book. But still, that section was frustrating and I didn't like it. It feels way out of proportion for her to fly home because of this, and to be honest I think Darcy forgives her too easily for this. Overall though it's clear Sittenfeld meant the transphobia to be a fault of the characters, and she herself doesn't agree with that, and so on and so on. I'm glad it was so clearly disputed in the book. But I still wouldn't have made that this big of a deal in the book at all.
Fatphobia: the fatphobia is one of the bigger issues I have with the book, as it's both blatant and not super clearly disagreed with. Lizzy as the narrator repeatedly says things like how she tries not to get caught up in diet talk, but that she's not completely successful. The characters' fatphobia is made fun of in some ways but reinforced in others. Charlotte is the only fat character that I can think of who is presented in a positive light, but she's repeatedly called unattractive--by the characters, but still. I think all of the characters who are portrayed as attractive are straight size, if not actively thin.
Racism: part of me wants to say the racism is disputed in similar ways to the transphobia, but I know I might also just be less focused on that since I'm white. Lizzy does definitely point out that several characters are racist, and this is seen as bad, and it's clear neither Lizzy as the narrator nor Sittenfeld as the author think any of the racism is okay. However, the casual racism just scattered throughout the book was still obviously not great, and I'm not sure how much of it was necessary or relevant to the plot.
Homophobia/lesbophobia: the homophobia was pretty bad in the beginning, and got a little better later on. I feel it could have been addressed more clearly, rather than just being accepted as normal, but I have less issue with the homophobia than with the rest of the things listed above. Lizzy's sisters are kind of awful about it though, and if you don't feel like reading a bunch of "haha you're a lesbian" "no I'm not" interactions, I wouldn't recommend this book.
Overall, I'm pretty torn on if I liked this book or would recommend it. In general I like Sittenfeld's writing, but the more of her books I read, I'm not sure if I should want to read them. I don't think this was a terrible retelling of Pride and Prejudice, though it's definitely a different story with different characters. I was also not super convinced by Darcy's character in general; I feel like in the beginning he was an almost irredeemable asshole, and then later he just sort of became nice and interesting. I don't buy that that's the same person with the same motivations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Racism, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Classism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Hate crime, Addiction, Incest, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy
Minor: Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Alcoholism, Death, Vomit, Ableism, Outing, and Mental illness
transphobic slur (t slur)nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Like most devoted bookworms out there, I have a particular passion for Pride and Prejudice and all that Jane Austen has contributed to the literary world over the past two hundred years.
Unfortunately, Curtis Sittenfeld's Pride and Prejudice retelling for The Austen Project just didn't cut it for me. Though Sittenfeld did an admirable job adjusting the Pride and Prejudice story to modern times in Cincinnati, incorporating characters and events in surprising but logical ways, her renditions of Liz, Darcy, and the rest of the Bennet family and cast were flat and unsatisfying.
We begin with the arrival of Chip Bingley, one-time star of find-love reality show Eligible in Cincinnati, where Liz and Jane Bennet have been visiting from New York after their father's heart attack only to discover the family house and financial situation in near ruin. While Liz prioritizes her job as a writer for a women's magazine and trying not to worry about her fourteen-year affair with her married best friend, Jasper Wick, Jane is pursuing motherhood through artificial insemination, which gets complicated when she enters a whirlwind flirtation with Chip Bingley himself.
Of course, the true star of a Pride and Prejudice retelling should be one Fitzwilliam Darcy. Sittenfeld's Darcy is an accomplished neurosurgeon with massive California estate and a seeming commitment to bachelorhood. In fact, I quite liked this version of Darcy, and I appreciated Sittenfeld's acknowledgement of how much Darcy smiles in the original book (I certainly like him more than Sittenfeld's whiny, clueless Liz); however, as the book reached its climax, so much happened so quickly, and Darcy's sudden confession felt so much more unexpected and dramatic than the original.
In short:
Jasper Wick sucks and the fact that Liz pined over him for over a decade is a shame, particularly for a character based on one of the most independent, feisty women in literature.
Bingley and Jane were done very well. I loved Jane's modernized storyline, and I thought they both exhibited their characteristic naive sweetness in a charming way.
Lydia and Ham were intriguing and sympathetic, which is a bold move given the drama surrounding Lydia's storyline in the original. It's not clear to me whether Sittenfeld wanted this partnership to be as damning as Austen's, so I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and accept this as an interesting shift in the retelling.
Mary weirdly got the last word, and I don't really understand what she did to deserve it.
The discriminatory language--racist, homophobic, body shaming--was appalling, especially given this book's relatively recent publication date. Nearly every page had some sort of inappropriate comment or language, and it poisoned me against so many of the characters.
Unfortunately, Curtis Sittenfeld's Pride and Prejudice retelling for The Austen Project just didn't cut it for me. Though Sittenfeld did an admirable job adjusting the Pride and Prejudice story to modern times in Cincinnati, incorporating characters and events in surprising but logical ways, her renditions of Liz, Darcy, and the rest of the Bennet family and cast were flat and unsatisfying.
We begin with the arrival of Chip Bingley, one-time star of find-love reality show Eligible in Cincinnati, where Liz and Jane Bennet have been visiting from New York after their father's heart attack only to discover the family house and financial situation in near ruin. While Liz prioritizes her job as a writer for a women's magazine and trying not to worry about her fourteen-year affair with her married best friend, Jasper Wick, Jane is pursuing motherhood through artificial insemination, which gets complicated when she enters a whirlwind flirtation with Chip Bingley himself.
Of course, the true star of a Pride and Prejudice retelling should be one Fitzwilliam Darcy. Sittenfeld's Darcy is an accomplished neurosurgeon with massive California estate and a seeming commitment to bachelorhood. In fact, I quite liked this version of Darcy, and I appreciated Sittenfeld's acknowledgement of how much Darcy smiles in the original book (I certainly like him more than Sittenfeld's whiny, clueless Liz); however, as the book reached its climax, so much happened so quickly, and Darcy's sudden confession felt so much more unexpected and dramatic than the original.
In short:
Jasper Wick sucks and the fact that Liz pined over him for over a decade is a shame, particularly for a character based on one of the most independent, feisty women in literature.
Bingley and Jane were done very well. I loved Jane's modernized storyline, and I thought they both exhibited their characteristic naive sweetness in a charming way.
Lydia and Ham were intriguing and sympathetic, which is a bold move given the drama surrounding Lydia's storyline in the original. It's not clear to me whether Sittenfeld wanted this partnership to be as damning as Austen's, so I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and accept this as an interesting shift in the retelling.
Mary weirdly got the last word, and I don't really understand what she did to deserve it.
The discriminatory language--racist, homophobic, body shaming--was appalling, especially given this book's relatively recent publication date. Nearly every page had some sort of inappropriate comment or language, and it poisoned me against so many of the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Body shaming, Transphobia, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Medical content, and Medical trauma
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