Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Kensington (October 1, 2009)
Genre: Austen-inspired, romance
FTC Disclosure: Own, from Barnes and Noble
Reading Challenge: A to Z Reading Challenge (A Title)
I really, really wanted to love this book. I'd heard such awesome things with this one....but, I was sorely disappointed. What started with a great premise ended with great disappointment.
We follow Ellie back and forth through her years from a sophomore in high school to her early thirties and all her love disappoints in between and all with Jane Austen in her head.
I really didn't like Ellie. I just wanted to hit her over the head so many times. I also wanted to hit the author Ms. Brant over the head as well. Her heroine was too goo-goo over guys always wanting to find someone to marry...like to get married for the sake of marrying...her relationships were lust and that was it, though, she played as if it were love. I was really shocked ....spoiler....
when she portrayed her first time with a boy at seventeen as normal when she was pretty much raped or all but...it was icky and yet was made to seem as just a bad sexual experience...um, no.
Also underage drinking was portrayed as no big deal...now I understand that underage drinking happens, but I don't know I feel like authors need to have some semblance of responsibility when it comes to things like this...there was way too much language for my liking...the f-bombs thrown around, even when they weren't really necessary...and the sex scenes were a bit too graphic for my taste especially when the guys she was dating were absolute creeps.
Then there's her "Mr. Darcy" Sam...I have no idea why she even found this guy remotely attractive...when we're first introduced to him he's sexually harassing her...flipping her bra, saying crude things to her...basically a creep. So we're supposed to understand that he changes over the years, but I never saw the change.
So great premise, just really poor delivery.
Yikes, I'm sorry this is such a harsh review; I don't like doing that. But there are just too many anti-women themes in this one that I can't get passed and I just have to vent...
Rating: 1/5
Part of the A to Z Challenge Title starting with an A!
Wow, tell us how you really feel, Hether, LOL. I so appreciate honest reviews like this. After reading your review I am pretty sure I'd have many of the same issues with it you did.
ReplyDeleteOh no good, he's not like Mr.Darcy. :(
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your review about this book. The description sounds great, but your review made me think twice. :)
I know, I'm really mean in this review...it just rankles the feminist in me.
ReplyDeleteI, too, appreciate your honesty. There are too many books to choose from, so any and all reviews help us determine whether we personally would want to spend time reading them.
ReplyDeleteboooo! So sad you didn't like this! :-( I really want to love it, too!
ReplyDeleteThis has been on my to-read list for some time. I've read so many great reviews of it, yours is the first negative one I've seen! So sad it didn't live up to your expectations. Even sadder is that there are graphic sex scenes...blehhh. Reading stuff like that makes me cringe — bring on the romance, not the smut!
ReplyDeletegood to know about this book. I had a feeling it was going to be disappointing. Now I know I shouldn't buy this book. I'll wait until I can borrow it or library it.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I am not happy to hear this. My book club is reading it this month, though none of us can figure out why, as no one seems to have particularly wanted to... Curiouser and curiouser...
ReplyDelete