Jane of Austin
In this modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, Jane and her sisters, Celia and Margot, are forced to find creative ways to live on their own with their mother dead and their father fleeing the country to escape some seriously shady business dealings.
Let me start by saying that I loved the idea of this book. It's a modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, but with a few twists. Who wouldn't love that? I reread Sense & Sensibility right before reading Jane of Austin, in part because I wanted a solid review of the main plot points in S&S, and also because I just really love that damn book. So much.
So, yes, I loved the idea, mostly because I love Sense & Sensibility with a burning passion. I didn't love the execution of the idea quite as much.
While the story did live up to its promise of being a modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, I was a bit disappointed with the characters presented in the story. Jane, particularly, was difficult for me to grow to like, and I felt that all of the characters were a bit forced. The whole "show, don't tell" writing style that we learned in seventh grade was either not present or the situations in which pieces of each individual character's personality was displayed felt contrived.
That being said, I did love the story, and I actually did grow to like Jane and most of the other characters, despite the rough beginning that I had with them.
On an unrelated note, this book also happened to be published through a Christian publisher. You would, however, have to squint to be able to parse any religious motifs or teachings. Whether or not this absence of Christian ideas despite the fact that this is a Christian publisher is a drawback or an asset depends entirely on the reader of the story. I will say, however, that it was a clean romance.
Overall, I would say that the this was a short, sweet book, and, although the writing and characterizations seemed a bit forced in some places, I loved the simplicity of the story and also grew to like the characters by the end.
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. The opinions reflected in the review are my own.
Let me start by saying that I loved the idea of this book. It's a modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, but with a few twists. Who wouldn't love that? I reread Sense & Sensibility right before reading Jane of Austin, in part because I wanted a solid review of the main plot points in S&S, and also because I just really love that damn book. So much.
So, yes, I loved the idea, mostly because I love Sense & Sensibility with a burning passion. I didn't love the execution of the idea quite as much.
While the story did live up to its promise of being a modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, I was a bit disappointed with the characters presented in the story. Jane, particularly, was difficult for me to grow to like, and I felt that all of the characters were a bit forced. The whole "show, don't tell" writing style that we learned in seventh grade was either not present or the situations in which pieces of each individual character's personality was displayed felt contrived.
That being said, I did love the story, and I actually did grow to like Jane and most of the other characters, despite the rough beginning that I had with them.
On an unrelated note, this book also happened to be published through a Christian publisher. You would, however, have to squint to be able to parse any religious motifs or teachings. Whether or not this absence of Christian ideas despite the fact that this is a Christian publisher is a drawback or an asset depends entirely on the reader of the story. I will say, however, that it was a clean romance.
Overall, I would say that the this was a short, sweet book, and, although the writing and characterizations seemed a bit forced in some places, I loved the simplicity of the story and also grew to like the characters by the end.
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. The opinions reflected in the review are my own.
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