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hollidayreadswithme's review against another edition
2.0
First of all, this book is too damn long.
It's very funny to see Liz being portrayed as someone weak from what I remember from the original book she wasn't weak and now we have her having an affair with a married man and fawning over Darcy. I'm not sure what I can say about her except that I don't care for her because she's not the oldest and yet she feels responsible for everybody.
There aren't a lot of differences except what is considered acceptable has changed they are the same upper middle class white people however one is asexual the other is old and because of the age, that is where we get the insistence must be married. However all of that is very played out in today's society. People are no longer using that marriage as a stepping stone to the next thing. If they were talking culturally about a different culture, maybe it would make more sense.
I find it frustrating that the thing Jane and Chip have a disagreement about is about whether or not James looks like an expensive gift from Chip and Darcy taking that to mean that she doesn't love him. and the fact that her sisters tease Mary mercilessly about being gay because she has no interest in being matched. The fact that Liz has to do research about how to deal with a transgender family member, or what asexuality is, speaks to the fact that she's not good at her job. She is riding for a feminist magazine Mascara and does not have any information about the transgender movement.
This book reads like it was written by someone who wanted to take all the things that the Baby Boomers were afraid of and stockpile them into one book. Jane is pregnant out of wedlock, Liz is sleeping with a married man, Mary doesn't want anybody, Lydia is married to a transgender man, and Kitty is dating a black guy. All of Mrs. Bennett's nightmares. I'm not sure if it was hinted in the original book that Mrs. Bennet was racist but the way they work to that end was awful.
It felt like a massive deviation from the plot. It felt like Sittenfeld didn’t know how to keep it current, considering that there was language from the original era peppered throughout the book. Making Georgie an anorexic was just a throwaway. Unconscionable. Because if you are going to bring up something serious like that; it has to be dealt with, not just mentioned. Splitting Wickham’s character into Jasper and Ham was a weird step in the wrong direction; the whole point of the tension between Lydia and Wickham was that he was a wicked man and everyone warned her but she didn’t listen. Creating a trangender man to take that place doesn’t really sound right.
With all that said, I’ll give it a 2 out of 5 stars. There were so many things that I didn't like that I could go on for ages but the main fact is that it was wholly disappointing and too long for what it could have accomplished in half the pages.
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A retelling of a classic
2019 ATY Challenge - 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New
It's very funny to see Liz being portrayed as someone weak from what I remember from the original book she wasn't weak and now we have her having an affair with a married man and fawning over Darcy. I'm not sure what I can say about her except that I don't care for her because she's not the oldest and yet she feels responsible for everybody.
There aren't a lot of differences except what is considered acceptable has changed they are the same upper middle class white people however one is asexual the other is old and because of the age, that is where we get the insistence must be married. However all of that is very played out in today's society. People are no longer using that marriage as a stepping stone to the next thing. If they were talking culturally about a different culture, maybe it would make more sense.
I find it frustrating that the thing Jane and Chip have a disagreement about is about whether or not James looks like an expensive gift from Chip and Darcy taking that to mean that she doesn't love him. and the fact that her sisters tease Mary mercilessly about being gay because she has no interest in being matched. The fact that Liz has to do research about how to deal with a transgender family member, or what asexuality is, speaks to the fact that she's not good at her job. She is riding for a feminist magazine Mascara and does not have any information about the transgender movement.
This book reads like it was written by someone who wanted to take all the things that the Baby Boomers were afraid of and stockpile them into one book. Jane is pregnant out of wedlock, Liz is sleeping with a married man, Mary doesn't want anybody, Lydia is married to a transgender man, and Kitty is dating a black guy. All of Mrs. Bennett's nightmares. I'm not sure if it was hinted in the original book that Mrs. Bennet was racist but the way they work to that end was awful.
Spoiler
Can we talk about Jasper's incident, why were we accusing him of being a racist? I can understand him being a philanderer because that's bad enough but because we wanted to make sure that the audience still like Liz after she was also in that affair and, coincidentally has no consequences for have a year’s long affair with a married man with a kid.It felt like a massive deviation from the plot. It felt like Sittenfeld didn’t know how to keep it current, considering that there was language from the original era peppered throughout the book. Making Georgie an anorexic was just a throwaway. Unconscionable. Because if you are going to bring up something serious like that; it has to be dealt with, not just mentioned. Splitting Wickham’s character into Jasper and Ham was a weird step in the wrong direction; the whole point of the tension between Lydia and Wickham was that he was a wicked man and everyone warned her but she didn’t listen. Creating a trangender man to take that place doesn’t really sound right.
With all that said, I’ll give it a 2 out of 5 stars. There were so many things that I didn't like that I could go on for ages but the main fact is that it was wholly disappointing and too long for what it could have accomplished in half the pages.
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A retelling of a classic
2019 ATY Challenge - 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New
rlmwrenn's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
camimil8872's review against another edition
3.0
Personally, only 3 stars because I love pride and prejudice. As a whole, I felt like this book could have been shorter. Not a bad book though.
heyyimaki's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
katiegilley's review against another edition
This was my first Sittenfeld and I am definitely going to find more by her. It was so much fun! This is a modern adaption of Pride and Prejudice, which I usually have absolutely no interest in. P&P is too perfect and nothing could hold a candle to it. But you must read this! All of the characters are named the same and their directions in the story are exactly the same, but they are modernized in the most perfect way. Lizzie is a big shot writer and editor and Jane is a yoga instructor in New York City when they are both called home to Cincinnati due to Mr. Bennett's sudden heart attack.
All of the daughters, except for Lizzie, depend on their father's inheritance heavily to make it through life and Mrs. Bennett is desperate for at least one of her daughters to find a nice, wealthy man to marry. And when Mr. Bingley comes to town, a recent reality TV star on a show that is very much like The Bachelor, it seems like the perfect opportunity for some matchmaking. Hilarity ensues. Seriously, this was laugh out loud funny in multiple places and I am so glad that I picked this up. I was looking for a fun, light read for the holiday season, and this was perfect.
All of the daughters, except for Lizzie, depend on their father's inheritance heavily to make it through life and Mrs. Bennett is desperate for at least one of her daughters to find a nice, wealthy man to marry. And when Mr. Bingley comes to town, a recent reality TV star on a show that is very much like The Bachelor, it seems like the perfect opportunity for some matchmaking. Hilarity ensues. Seriously, this was laugh out loud funny in multiple places and I am so glad that I picked this up. I was looking for a fun, light read for the holiday season, and this was perfect.
caitless's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
laura_corsi's review against another edition
2.0
Granted I had low expectations, but I found this retelling of Pride and Prejudice to be lighthearted, occasionally funny, and surprisingly brilliant in the way Ms. Sittenfield incorporated the current cultural moment into the story of Liz and Jane. It was helpful instead of annoying that the author kept the names the same, as well. I read the book with Amazon's whispersync feature and found the audiobook to be very well done. It really helped me get into the P&P mode to hear it read rather than to only read it. I also found it interesting how the author reinterpreted some of the characters. Was Jane really that insipid in Jane Austen's version? Also, Lydia and Kitty while still rather vulgar come off slightly better in this day and age when such behavior is less scandalous. Thus, we are able to see through to something redeemable in them both. An interesting and mildly amusing romp into a modern Austen-esque world that shows the Austen fan that it is not necessary to travel back in time to have their own Austen experience.
carriecarvalho's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
deckleeditproof's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0