Only With You Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway!

Welcome to the Casual Dread stop of the Only With You Blog Tour!
This is my first book blog tour, and I'm very excited that it was for a book I really enjoyed! Please read my review below and enter the awesome giveaway! You can find the rest of the tour stops here.

Title: Only With You
Author: Cecilia Gray
Genre: YA, Jane Austen-paralit, romance
Published: May 2014
Pages: 130
Rating: 9 / 10
Challenges: N/A

Synopsis: "Dive into the fabulous, fun lives of six Academy girls as their friendships are tested, torn and ultimately triumph…

Emma has it all – looks, money, and luck. It’s not like she keeps it all to herself – she’s totally committed to helping those less fortunate. AKA, everyone. She invites her heartbroken friend to help with a weekend charity event with an eye to matchmake, but when that friend turns her eye toward the guy Emma wants for herself, how will she choose between friendship and her own feelings?

* * *

The last thing that the girls at the elite Jane Austen Academy need is hot guys to flirt with. But over the summer the school has been sold, and like it or not, the guys are coming. And it’s about to turn the Academy—and the lives of its students—totally upside down…

The Jane Austen Academy series are modern retellings of Jane Austen classics set at a beachside California boarding school."

AUTHOR BIO:

Cecilia Gray lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She also pens her biographies in the third person. Like this. As if to trick you into thinking someone else wrote it because she is important. Alas, this is not the case.

She’s rather enamored of being contacted by readers and hopes you’ll oblige.

Author Links:
Homepage
GoodReads
Facebook
Twitter

My Review: This was the Jane Austen Academy story I was looking forward to more than any other. Emma is my favorite Austen heroine. I love her because she's flawed, and also because she reminds me of myself. I, too, have played matchmaker for my friends - one couple even got married on my birthday! - and I've also put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count. I may not be as rich nor as perfect as Austen's Miss Woodhouse, but I admire her earnestness and lively spirit. Thankfully, Cecilia Gray's Emma is just as lively (and as flawed, even if she doesn't want to admit it). This novella is a quick, breezy read that kept me entertained and eager to see what would happen next. Or rather, to see how it would play out - the happily-ever-after-with-the-guy-of-her-dreams is a foregone conclusion, but getting there is a lot of fun. Emma invites steadfast Anne, male BFF Knight, and playboy/actor Josh to her parents' house for a weekend. The goal: hookup Anne and Josh, both of whom are nursing broken hearts. The reality turns out to be a bit more complicated, as Anne's ex, Rick, also shows up. The kids spend time volunteering at an animal shelter (complete with a vet named Frank Churchill!) and Emma learns a thing or two about love - namely, that she can (and does!) feel it.

One thing I love about Gray's adaptations is seeing how the characters fit into the minor roles in each new book. Josh, ever the playboy, takes on both Mr. Elton and Frank Churchill. Anne makes a much more interesting Harriet Smith than OG Harriet ever did, and Rick is pretty much spot-on as Robert Martin. There are a few characters absent, of course (understandable, given how short the book is). I love Jane Fairfax as a foil to Emma in the original and would've loved to have seen Lucy in that role. That would've paired her with Josh, too, but I get the feeling that's being saved for the Louisa-Benwick-Wentworth triangle in the last book. Another interesting change from the source material is Emma's relationship with her elderly widowed father. Here, Emma's mother is living and Emma constantly tries to live up to her. It bothered me a bit at first (that father/daughter dynamic is central to Emma's characterization, I feel), but it makes a lot of sense. Both Emmas are trying hard to live up to expectations, and I love the idea of modern Emma being a insecure "mean girl" who isn't actually mean.

I received a review copy of Only With You, but you can purchase one at B&N or Amazon. Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Only With You Blog Tour

Exciting news: I'm part of the Only With You Blog Tour! I reviewed the other books in the series earlier this year, and this is the one that I was the most looking forward to - Emma is my favorite Austen heroine! Come back tomorrow to read my review and find out how to enter an awesome giveaway.

I'm a Lizzy! And also Anne?

Which Jane Austen heroine are you? Find out here!

Which Jane Austen hero is your soulmate? Find out here!

Review: Suddenly You

Title: Suddenly You
Author: Cecilia Gray
Genre: YA, Jane Austen-paralit, romance
Published: 7 May 2013
Pages: 128
Rating: 7 / 10
Challenges: NetGalley Challenge

Synopsis: "Fanny doesn't want to be at The Jane Austen Academy. She intends to lay low until graduation when she can try out for the Olympic track team. She doesn't need friends or love. She only needs her running.

But The Academy is in danger. In an effort to save it, Fanny joins forces with the friends she never knew she wanted. Suddenly, Fanny finds herself center stage in the middle of the Academy's biggest love triangle as the lead in the school play...only this track star can't afford to break a leg." (from GoodReads)

My Review: This was my least favorite of the Jane Austen Academy novellas available now, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I read through them too quickly and got burned out? Maybe the enjoyment I got out of Kat's book made it difficult for me to enjoy Fanny (who is honestly my least favorite Austen heroine) and her adventures as much? The romance part of the story itself is pretty similar to Mansfield Park in that Fanny has a crush on someone she views as unattainable (NOT her cousin this time, hooray!) and she spends a lot of time mooning over him and trying to fight off the advances of Josh (as Henry Crawford this time). This book frustrated me because so much of the conflict could've been avoided if Fanny just communicated with people more (her mom, Tran, Josh, Lucy) instead of just letting everything happen to her and then dealing with it. The best part of this book for me was the surprising character development of Josh. He's been the bad guy in four different stories, and it seems like he's finally getting some growth. I'm really looking forward to what happens to him in Emma's story.

This was still a good story, my quibbles aside. It's cute and fun and a really quick read. I'm excited about the last two books in this series and can't wait to read them!

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Reviews: So Into You and When I'm With You

Titles: So Into You and When I'm With You
Author: Cecilia Gray
Genre: YA, Jane Austen-paralit, romance
Published: 2012
Pages: 125 and 129 (respectively)
Ratings: 7 / 10 and 8 / 10 (respectively)
Challenges: Net Galley Challenge

Synopses: So Into You - "Sweet and sensible Ellie hasn't met a problem her mom's yoga mantras can't fix. But when Ellie's parents threaten to pull her from the Academy just as her flirtation with the cutest boy in school heats up, will Ellie be able to keep her cool?" (from GoodReads)

When I'm With You - "Kat is destined to be a star and her big break has arrived at last! As the assistant to a celebrity classmate on the set of a feature film, she's going to show everyone she has what it takes. That is, until she discovers pursuing her dreams may mean forfeiting her heart. Unless she can find a way to have both…" (from GoodReads)

My Review: I decided to review both of these at once, since I binged and read them pretty much back-to-back. (Did I mention how much I'm enjoying this series?) So Into You really surprised me at how much it deviated from the Sense & Sensibility template. Instead of being forced out of her home, Ellie is given a chance to stay at the Academy. Flirtatious Emma stands in for lively Marianne, bad boy Josh Wickham does double-time as Willoughby, and funny man Ed is Ellie's OTP, Edward Ferrars. Lucy also makes an appearance, for added angst, but Colonel Brandon and the rest of the Dashwood/Ferrars clan are absent. Essentially the only part of the original story that appears is the relationship (or lack thereof) between Ellie and Ed. Fortunately, the author doesn't just rely on rehashing Austen plotlines; Ellie's story is enjoyable for its own merits as well. She has to work hard to maintain her place in the Academy, and she does it in the same quiet, determined way that Elinor Dashwood would have. The sororal relationship between Ellie and Emma works well here, and it was nice to see the beginnings of Emma's story (which I can't wait to read!).

I think I enjoyed When I'm With You even more than the first two books in this series. Northanger Abbey is far from my favorite Austen novel, but I really enjoyed this updated version. Kat is still naive, but instead of being enamored with gothic novels, she's in love with acting and being the center of attention. Josh Wickham appears as yet another bad guy (John Thorpe this time), but the only other characters who made the cut were Isabella, Henry, Henry's father (all as fellow actors). Izzy and Josh were perfect as the manipulative Thorpes, and as much as I hated the way they treated Kat, I couldn't help but love (and pity) them. Henry was adorable, and his hats (and the explanation behind them) were a nice touch. I appreciated the changes made to the original plot - Izzy's redemption, Tom Trenton's apparent duplicity - because it seemed more believable (at least, by my understanding of Hollywood). I also enjoyed getting away from the Academy for a bit and letting Kat have her own adventure, free from the other girls. It was great to see her grow as a character and learn from her mistakes. I'm hoping that she will interact more with the others now, because I really enjoyed her as a protagonist and want her story to continue.

Full disclosure: I received electronic copies of these books from NetGalley. Also, I'm not big on the covers (especially that second one).

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Review: Fall For You

Title: Fall For You
Author: Cecilia Gray
Genre: YA, Jane Austen-paralit, romance
Published: 10 February 2012
Pages: 175
Rating: 8 / 10
Challenges: NetGalley Challenge

Synopsis: "To say Lizzie and Dante are polar opposites is the understatement of the century. He’s a snooty Exeter transfer with more money than Google. She’s a driven study-a-holic just barely keeping up with tuition. It’s obvious that Dante thinks he’s way too good for Lizzie. And Lizzie knows Dante is a snob with a gift for pressing her buttons.

But things are changing fast this year at the Academy. And when Lizzie’s quest to stop those changes blows up in her face, taking her oldest friendship with it, she has nowhere else to turn but to Dante, with his killer blue eyes, his crazy-sexy smile, and his secrets… Secrets Lizzie can’t seem to leave alone, no matter how hard she tries…" (from GoodReads)

My Review: Disclaimer: I received a copy of this e-book from NetGalley. I hadn't heard of this series before, but as a Jane Austen fan, I knew I had to give it a shot. This is very obviously the first book in a series. The story focuses on Lizzie (Elizabeth Bennett, from Pride & Prejudice, her best friend Ellie (Eleanor Dashwood, from Sense & Sensibility, her new roommate, Anne (Anne Elliot, from Persuasion), and her "nemesis," Emma (Emma Woodhouse, from Emma). The girls all attend a fictional boarding school in California, and the major conflict in this book is that the school is going co-ed for the first time. Anne is having trouble dealing with her parents (mom?) no longer being in charge, and Lizzie, as the editor-in-chief of the school paper, is trying to figure out a way to put a stop to all the changes going on at the Academy. The plot overlaps between P&P and Persuasion, but there are elements of other Austen novels woven in. I loved the modernized characters - Lizzie is a driven, stubborn journalist; Ellie is a laid-back surfer girl; Anne is lovesick and quietly dealing with the loss of her family's wealth; and Emma is bubbly and gossipy. At first I was annoyed by Emma's "personality" (she's my favorite Austen heroine, so I'm rather protective of her), but about halfway through I realized that was Lizzie's characterization, not the author's. It was really nice to see how Lizzie's prejudices about all of the characters evolved throughout the book, not just her opinion of Dante/Darcy. I also found it clever how one character in this book could stand in for multiple Jane Austen characters - Anne is also Jane Bennett, Ellie is a Harriet Smith for Emma, Rick is both Wenthworth and Bingley, etc.

This is a fast, easy read (not surprising, at under 200 pages), but I really enjoyed it. There are lots of plot threads that I'm looking forward to exploring in the rest of the series. I will say that I'm not a fan of the cover (that doofus is NOT Darcy, by any stretch of the imagination), but since it's an e-book I didn't even notice it really until now.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Aisha

Look, y'all, it's an Indian Emma:



I really wish I knew Hindi (other than "I am a big duck"), so I could understand what they were saying. I'm really looking forward to seeing Miss Woodhouse get the Bollywood treatment. Too bad there's no U.S. release date (yet?).

[via Austen Blog]

Hi, there.

I'm still around, just really busy with school. Our brand-new building is beautiful, but my air conditioning doesn't work and I'm still getting used to the seven periods a day (as opposed to four 1.5 hr-long blocks). I'm hoping to get caught up with grading this weekend, which would give me more free time for playing on the Internet. I'm still posting (sporadically) on Twitter, but I do have a bunch of books to review and new recipes to post, so those will hopefully go up in the next week or so. Congrats to all the BBAW winners! Hopefully you'll all be hearing from me again soon. :)

Is anyone else reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters? I'm loving it! I'm only a few chapters in, but it's so much fun. I loved P&P&Z, too. It was pretty much 75% Austen, 25% zombies. S&S&SM is more like 25% Austen, 75% sea monsters, and it works. Poor Colonel Brandon with his face tentacles...

Mini-Review: Colonel Brandon's Diary

I wasn't going to buy any new books (packing up two bookcases + random piles that no longer fit onto the shelves will do it to you), but I saw this in a bookstore last weekend and couldn't resist. I loved Amanda Grange's other Austen retells (Mr. Darcy's Diary, Mr. Knightley's Diary, Captain Wentworth's Diary, and - coming soon to my bookshelves, no doubt - Edmund Bertram's Diary), and Colonel Brandon's Diary was no exception. I'm glad she chose to write from Colonel Brandon's point-of-view, rather than Edward's, because 1) I think Brandon's back story is more interesting, and 2) I really, really enjoyed picturing Alan Rickman as Brandon while I was reading it. (Yes, yes, I know: "He's too old to be Brandon!" I don't care. It's ALAN RICKMAN.)

The story begins when Brandon is a student at Oxford; he reveals his feelings for Eliza, their plans to elope, and the tragic end to their affair. It also covers Brandon's time in India and his military (naval?) career, his relationship with Eliza's daughter (also called Eliza), his friendship with Sir John, and his eventual introduction to the Dashwoods, culminating in the requisite happy ending. I liked the first half of the novel more than the second, I think. It's nice to read such a fleshed-out story about a situation that was mentioned briefly in Sense and Sensibility - it's very similar to what Grange was able to do with the Wentworth/Anne backstory in her retelling of Persuasion. It also sets Brandon up as a big ol' romantic, something that helps make his attention to Marianne more realistic. That's the main reason I really enjoyed this book: the idea of impulsive, wild Marianne settling down with prim and proper Brandon always seemed a bit strange to me. Some of their interaction in the back half of the novel seems a bit off (a sure sign it's time for a re-read of S&S), and Grange's characterization of Brandon (a reciter of poetry and part-time matchmaker!) is...maybe not exactly how I pictured him, but it works.

Waiting On Wednesday: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I've never done a "Waiting On..." post before, but when I checked my Google Reader this morning (okay - afternoon...I saw The Half-Blood Prince at midnight last night and needed to sleep in to get my seven hours) I found a bunch of posts about a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I loved.

Are you ready for this?

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters! Heck yes. Although I think Persuasion would've been a better choice for sea monsters (Captain Wentworth, the Lyme Regis trip), I can't wait to read this book.

There's an official book trailer, too:



September 15th can't come fast enough!

Mini-Review: Jane Austen in Scarsdale

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs, by Paula Marantz Cohen, is one of the best Jane Austen-paralit novels I've found. I picked it up in a used bookstore for a few bucks based on the name alone, and now I really want to read Ms. Cohen's other books. Jane Austen in Scarsdale is an updated Persuasion, but knowledge of the original is not necessarily needed to enjoy it. Anne Erlich is a guidance counselor at a prep school full of students with college-obsessed parents. Her wealthy family talked her out of marrying the love of her life, Ben Cutler, believing him to be beneath her. Now her family's going broke and Ben has become a successful world traveler. He unexpectedly shows up at Anne's school to enroll his nephew, and zany romantic comedy shenanigans ensue. There's a predictably happy ending, of course, but getting there is so much fun! This was a witty modern take on Persuasion. How great is it that Austen's plots and characters are still relevant and fresh?

Other Reviews:
AustenBlog

Free Comic Books!

Tying in with the release of Sword of My Mouth, Jim Monroe is offering his graphic novel Therefore Repent as a free download:

What if the religious right… are actually right?

Without warning, multitudes of Christians float bodily up into the sky.

For the immoral majority, life goes on pretty much as usual.

Except that after the Rapture, magic works — for those willing to risk demonic mutations.

And an angelic army appears to have been deployed to mop up the sinners.

But through it all, outsiders Raven and Mummy face the possibility of a bigger problem than the end of the world: the end of their relationship.

And Marvel has a preview of the first five pages of the new Pride and Prejudice comic book (!!!!) available for your viewing pleasure here.

Sunday Salon 01 February 2009: Mini-Review and a giveaway

Happy February, Sunday Saloners! Hope everyone has had a great week. I'm just excited because the reviews I set to auto-post while I was at school actually worked! I really liked being able to post that way, because it saves me time during the week. I also liked the doing the mini-reviews rather than full ones. I think I'll start doing mini-reviews for all the books I read, and save full reviews for challenge reviews. Maybe.

Here's a mini-review I didn't get to this week: Austenland, by Shannon Hale
I'm not familiar with Hale's other books (The Princess Academy series and other YA fiction); I picked this up because I lurve Jane Austen and I had read some good reviews of it. Austenland is about a young woman named Jane who is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice, and with Mr. Darcy specifically. An older relative (great-grandmother, great-aunt, something like that) finds out about this obsession and bequeaths her a trip to a P&P-style amusement park, with costumes, balls, and accents instead of roller coasters.

I think I liked the idea of this book more than the actual execution of it. Who wouldn't want to completely immerse themselves in Austen's world, even for just a few days? It'd be like living in the 1900 House. But, you know, a century earlier. Anyway, I had a few minor quibbles with this book. First of all, why does a woman in her 30s treat her copy of the BBC P&P DVD like porn? There's no need to hide it in a plant - plenty of people read (and watch) Austen and they don't feel ashamed of it. And secondly, I don't think Jane is actually obsessed with Austen. She's obsessed with Darcy, and that's a big difference. That being said, though, this isn't a bad book. It's short and fluffy. There's even a big twist in the end that really surprised me. Darcy fanatics will love it; Austenites will probably deem it "cute" and move along.

Here's the giveaway part. I somehow ended up with two copies. I've loaned one out to friends, and the other I'm going to give to one of you! If you'd like to be entered in the drawing, leave a comment answering the following question: If you could be magically transported into any book in the world (a la Inkheart or Thursday Next), which would it be and why? I'll have a drawing next Sunday and announce the winner then. Good luck!

Stuff I found on Google Reader today...

For some reason, there was a plethora of awesomeness in GR today, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

First, today is Jane Austen's 233rd birthday! Celebrate by visiting Austen Blog to learn how you can win some Austen swag.

Neil Gaiman had lots of interesting links today, too. In addition to pimping out the amazing Coraline movie website, where you can make a button-eyed picture of yourself:
(I went with the "bookworm buttons," in case you were curious), he also mentioned that there are now 26 different alphabet cards scattered across the internets to promote the movie. "N" is at his site; I'll be looking for the rest as soon as I finish typing this post. ALSO also, the Coraline movie people sent various bloggers incredibly wonderful handmade boxes filled with paraphernalia. This blog's box came with a letter addressed to Dewey; I hope she received her box before she passed, because I know she would have loved it! Carl also got one, and was nice enough to post pictures.

Speaking of book-related web-wide treasure hunts, Scott Sigler has a new book coming out (which you can listen to free as a podcast or read as a PDF; visit his site for more info). There are twelve promo posters for Contagious out there. The list of participating sites can be found here. I think this is an incredibly genius marketing strategy. It certainly got my attention!

Next up: I wasn't going to join any more challenges (I've already signed up for next year, in addition to the I'm already participating in!), but Eva made the Science Book Challenge sound so interesting, I had to reconsider.

And finally, there's a trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine:



I didn't really enjoy the comic book "Origins" story that the movie seems to heavily rely on (I prefer my Wolvie to be a man of mystery), but I'll still be there opening night, because this looks interesting. A little full, character-wise, but interesting.

Buy Books for the Holidays!

I posted previously about my decision to buy books for the holidays, and now there's another reason to do it: The Kool-Aid Mom is having a Books Bucks giveaway to help support bookstores this holiday season. Visit her site to enter and to find out how to get bonus entries. Hint: blogging about it is one way. :)

This will probably NOT be the last Twilight-related link I post. They're too funny! I can't stop!

And don't forget, tomorrow is Jane Austen's birthday! I'm sure I'll end up watching Pride and Prejudice to celebrate.

Feelin' lucky

So, I wasn't going to join any more challenges. But then I heard about the A - Z Reading Challenge and said, "Well, I'll probably read at least 52 books next year anyway; why not?" And then I read about the Dewey's Books Reading Challenge and said, "Well, it's for Dewey, so I need to do it." And then I joined up on My Year of Reading Dangerously just because. Sigh. I am going to be a very busy reader next year. Well, at least I'll have plenty to do this summer...

You know how people always say that good things happen in threes? Well, I recently won THREE book giveaways! Jill at Fizzy Thoughts sent me a copy of The Last Days of Dogtown, which she reviewed here. It's been bumped up to the top of the TBR pile. I also won a copy of The Willoughbys from Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on and a copy of Matrimony from Veens at Giving Reading a Chance. I need to spread the love and luck by hosting some giveaways of my own, I think. :)

Random bonus links:
Pride and Prejudice, facebook-style
And the inspiration: Hamlet, facebook-style

Too funny.

Booking Through Thursday: 5 for Favorites

Today's Booking Through Thursday question(s):

1. Do you have a favorite author?

2. Have you read everything he or she has written?

3. Did you LIKE everything?

4. How about a least favorite author?

5. An author you wanted to like, but didn’t?

My absolute favorite author is Jane Austen. I've read all of her published novels and her three unfinished ones, but not her juvenile fiction (although I would love to get my hands on it someday). I enjoyed all of her novels, and I wish Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sandition had been completed because I'm sure I would've liked them as well. As fragments, they're not bad.

I don't have a least favorite author. There are a few books I've read that I didn't really enjoy (one of the Op Center novels by Tom Clancy - I can't even remember which one it was!) and others that I was just sort of "meh" about (The Ruins). I haven't bothered to read anything else by those authors, but that's more because I stick to what I like rather than out of any sort of active dislike. So there's not really an author I wanted to like, but didn't, either. Although I really wanted to like The Last Temptation of Christ, which I started reading for the 1% Well-Read Challenge, but I just had to stop. I loved the movie, but the book just wasn't holding my attention. I'll probably try and read it again some other time, but for right now, I'm giving up on it.

But you don't have to take my word for. Visit btt for more opinions.

Review: The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love (Giveaway!)

Title: The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love
Author: Rosie Rushton
Genre: YA
Published: 2005
Pages: 325
Rating: 7 / 10
Challenges: N/A
Awards: none

Synopsis:

The Dashwood sisters - Ellie, Abby, and Georgie - have always live an affluent life in their cozy Holly House in Sussex, England. Then one day, tragedy strikes, and the girls are forced to uproot their lives and move to Norfolk, a windswept country on the east coast of England. The sisters are devastated, but what starts off as the toughest challenge they've ever had to face quickly becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
Practical Ellie has always had her head firmly on her shoulders, until she loses it over a boy named Blake. He's perfect, except for two not-so-tiny problems: he's her horrible stepmother's nephew, and he just happens to have a girlfriend.
For impulsive Abby, moving to such a sleepy village is tantamount to social suicide. To amuse herself, she decides to play matchmaker for a new friend at school, but her scheme backfires when the guy falls for her instead. And things get even trickier when she meets Hunter, a boy who just might be too good to be true.
Even youngest sister Georgie finds herself in uncharted waters when suddenly boys are interested in her for more than her love of extreme sports. But will Georgie lose her inner tomboy just to be seen as a girl?
With lots of laughs and a spat or two, the Dashwood sisters navigate the ups and downs of sisterhood and romance, eventually discovering their very own secrets of love.

My Review: This is a very cute book. I won't go as into detail with this review as I normally would, because it should be rather obvious what the novel is about and how it ends. It's a modernized version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. It's a very cute update, but nowhere near as great as the original.
Things I liked: The youngest sister, Georgie (Margaret in S&S) gets a lot more screen/page-time in this version. The relationship between the Dashwood sisters and their father is explored more.
Things I didn't like: The "Lucy Steele" character in this novel is a raging bitch. I couldn't understand why Blake stayed with her. The same goes for the "Willoughby" character: in S&S, he really does love Marianne, but can't marry her for financial reasons. His loss. In this novel, Hunter is a complete jerk. I could tell from the get-go that he didn't really care about Abby. Having those two characters so unilaterally unsympathetic really bugged me.
Those small quibbles aside, I enjoyed this book. It's a fun, easy read. I registered my copy on BookCrossing; if you'd like to be entered into a drawing to win it, leave a comment. I'll draw a winner next Sunday.

Other Reviews:
AustenBlog

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Review: Enthusiasm

Title: Enthusiasm
Author: Polly Shulman
Genre: YA
Published: 2006
Pages: 198
Rating: 10/10
Challenges: N/A
Awards: None, which is a travesty.

Synopsis (from the back cover): "'There is little more likely to exasperate a person of sense than finding herself tied by affection and habit to an Enthusiast.' Julie knows from bitter experience. Her best friend, Ashleigh, veers wildly from one obsession to the next, dragging Julie along on her crazy schemes. Ashleigh's current fancy is also Julie's own passion: Jane Austen's great love story Pride and Prejudice. Dressed in a vintage frock and dragging her feet, Julie finds herself sneaking into a dance at an all-boys' prep school with Ashleigh, in search of heroes. Unfortunately, they both fall for the same one: the handsome and gallant Grandison Parr. Will Julie have to choose between loyalty and love? Or will Ashleigh's embarrassing antics drive him away before Julie gets a choice?"

My Review: I love Jane Austen. I have read all of her completed novels at least twice. I've read quite a few JA para-lit novels, and this is by far the best of the bunch. It includes allusions to not only P&P, but Emma, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, and even a little Mansfield Park, too. Although she borrows from Austen's characters, Shulman does a great job of making them (and the story) fresh and unique. There was never a doubt in my mind as to the ending (it is, after all, a romance, and a YA one at that), but getting there was so much fun! I wanted to read it all over again after I finished, and I probably will at some point in the future. I'm loathe to give out any details of the book, because I want everyone to discover it for themselves, but I will say that musical theater (more specifically, a musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream) comes into play. There are also sonnets, chocolate turkeys, fun new words (like "igsome" - "ig" for short - which is used to describe something/someone bad), romantic mix-ups, and all the usual high school drama.

I bought my copy through Scholastic's Book Club, and if it's ever made available again I'll probably buy a few more. Even if you're not a fan of Austen, I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy this book - it's just that wonderful.

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Weekly Geeks #17.1

I have been woefully AWOL from the blog for a few weeks now; I blame my busy teaching schedule and the fact that my roommate and I still haven't managed to get cable and internet hooked up at the apartment. Oh, well. I'm dog- and house-sitting this weekend, which gave me a chance to check out the ol' Google Reader (over 1,000 unread items!) and see what Dewey had cooked up for this week's WG.

This week’s activity is: A Quote a Day.

Which is great for me, because I just have to find seven quotes and set up Blogger's auto-post function. Voila!: I feel like a contributing member of book blogging society once more. :)

For my first quote, I went with an old favorite:

"Men of sense, whatever you may chuse to say, do not want silly wives." - Emma, Jane Austen (Volume 1, Chapter 8)

If only, Mr. Knightley, if only...

Tune in tomorrow to see another nugget of wisdom - and to find out if auto-posting works!