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A review by reader_of_rohan
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I love Pride and Prejudice, and it was blatantly obvious to me when I read it that Charlotte was gay, so I was conceptually thrilled by this book.
I found the characterisation of Charlotte somewhat irritating, as she was so incessantly negative, but the rest of the characters were written to be quite likeable and I especially enjoyed the author's own characters, rather than their development of Austen's - though I would have never read a period romance without it being in the Austenverse, as it were.
The plot was standard, and for me the slow burn was way too slow. This may come down to the fact that I'm just not really a fan of romance novels in general.
Some of the book read like the author wanted to prove that they were familiar with the source material: there were bits of Pride and Prejudice canon that were dropped in for seemingly no purpose other than to prove that the author knew it. I also found some of the linguistic choices too repetitive, and it felt neither authentic for the time period nor even like British English, in parts.
All of this being said, it was not a badly-written book, and if this is your kind of thing, you'd probably adore it. Sadly, lesbians from Meryton was not enough for me to overlook the bits that I didn't love.
I found the characterisation of Charlotte somewhat irritating, as she was so incessantly negative, but the rest of the characters were written to be quite likeable and I especially enjoyed the author's own characters, rather than their development of Austen's - though I would have never read a period romance without it being in the Austenverse, as it were.
The plot was standard, and for me the slow burn was way too slow. This may come down to the fact that I'm just not really a fan of romance novels in general.
Some of the book read like the author wanted to prove that they were familiar with the source material: there were bits of Pride and Prejudice canon that were dropped in for seemingly no purpose other than to prove that the author knew it. I also found some of the linguistic choices too repetitive, and it felt neither authentic for the time period nor even like British English, in parts.
All of this being said, it was not a badly-written book, and if this is your kind of thing, you'd probably adore it. Sadly, lesbians from Meryton was not enough for me to overlook the bits that I didn't love.