Review: The Darcy Monologues

I'm a Jane Austen fan so a short story collection told from Darcy's perspective was a pretty interesting idea. The Darcy Monologues was edited by Christina Boyd and includes 15 stories all told from the point of view of one of literature's favourite heroes, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. 

Here's the description of the collection:

“You must allow me to tell you...”
For over two hundred years, Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy has captivated readers’ imaginations as the ultimate catch. Rich. Powerful. Noble. Handsome. And yet, as Miss Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is established through Elizabeth Bennet’s fine eyes, how are we to know what his tortured soul is indeed thinking? How does Darcy progress from “She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me” to “I thought only of you”?

In this romance anthology, fifteen Austen-inspired authors assemble to sketch Darcy’s character through a series of re-imaginings set in the Regency through contemporary times—from faithful narratives to the fanciful. Herein “The Darcy Monologues”, the man himself reveals his intimate thoughts, his passionate dreams, and his journey to love—all told with a previously concealed wit and enduring charm.

Stories by: Susan Adriani * Sara Angelini * Karen M Cox * J. Marie Croft * Jan Hahn * Jenetta James * Lory Lilian * KaraLynne Mackrory * Beau North * Ruth Phillips Oakland * Natalie Richards * Sophia Rose * Melanie Stanford * Joana Starnes * Caitlin Williams

There have been countless Pride and Prejudice adaptations over the years and it's always cool to see what authors/directors/etc. will do with Austen's novel. The authors in this collection had the task of imagining how Darcy was feeling during the novel. Some of them wrote Regency era stories so they had the feel of an Austen story, and others wrote their stories set in different time periods. There was one during World War II, another during the sixties, and a few present day stories as well. Some of the Regency stories took place during Pride and Prejudice - some wrote what Darcy was going through after the rejected proposal - and others wrote stories that took place after Austen's novel ended. One even created a mash up of Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast (I'm still not sure how I felt about that one...). I loved that each other had a twist all their own and it was neat to see how they approached their own Mr. Darcy.

I did struggle with some of the stories and it's been really hard to put my finger on why. Part of it hasd to do with the way they were written. Some just didn't flow well as short stories. It was hard to notice that since I know the source material, Pride and Prejudice, fairly well so I was able to fill in gaps or smooth over awkward timing. I also think that some of the Regency era stories were too similar and I may have gotten a bit bored reading the same thing over and over again. I also found that the Darcy the author wrote sometimes didn't quite fit with the original Darcy. For example, one of the contemporary authors had her Darcy describe himself as a wuss which doesn't work with how I see Darcy and even how he was written in the rest of the story. I know each author can - and should - create her own story but changing Darcy's personality so much feels weird.

I especially liked seeing how the other era and contemporary authors approached their stories. What professions would the characters have? Darcy was a principal in one story and a captain in the war in another. Elizabeth was a radio DJ in the 60s and a sports journalist in present day. Would all of the characters be included? What storyline would they focus on? Sometimes the story took place between the proposals and sometimes it focused on Wickham and Lydia. Each one was very different and I loved that.

My favourite stories were two of the contemporary ones. I loved "Darcy Strikes Out" by Sophia Rose - and not just because it featured Darcy as a professional baseball player (give me a romance involving ball players and I'm a happy girl). I found this one to be well written and struck an excellent balance of staying true to the original story while also being so very unique. I did find myself picking apart the baseball storyline a bit though but I'm a bit particular when it comes to my sports stories! :) The other one wasn't exactly from "Darcy's" perspective as it was a modern day couple who met in a similar way to Darcy and Elizabeth. In "I, Darcy" by Karen M. Cox, the hero is actually named after Fitzwilliam Darcy (his mom was an English major) but goes by Liam because he hates being named after a character who he doesn't understand. I think I enjoyed this one because it focused on the two couples (Darcy/Lynley and Corbin (Charles Bingley)/Jane (Lynley's step-sister whose mother was also an English major). Again, it was well written and it was the perfect story to end the collection with.

Even though I had some issues with The Darcy Monologues, I think this is a neat read for anyone who appreciates fan fiction and Jane Austen. There's a reason we're all still obsessed with Mr. Darcy all these years later (200 years since Austen died, in fact) and it was really fun to see so many authors pay homage to Jane and her most enduring (and endearing?) hero.

*A copy of this collection was provided by the editor, Christina Boyd, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: After

I have been struggling with what to write about Anna Todd's After since I read it back in February. On the one hand, I couldn't put it down. On the other, it features one of the most messed up love stories I've ever read. Conflicted, I am.

Here's the synopsis:

Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.
But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.
But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.
He’ll call her beautiful, then insist he isn't the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.
Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin’s prejudice about nice girls like her?
Unless…could this be love?
There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER ... Life will never be the same.

Before I dive into the review, I will confirm that yes, this is the One Direction fanfiction book that was published on Wattpad. I don't know much about One Direction (and knew even less when I read the book, which was pre-Zayn leaving the band...and yes, I did have to Google his name to make sure I spelled it correctly) but I like to bop along to their music when it comes on the radio. So, the fact that Todd wrote this series with the band in mind played no part in my decision to read it. I was drawn in based on the synopsis alone.

I am completely over the "good girl meets total badass" storyline in New Adult. Just done. I probably wouldn't have minded too much with this one if it hadn't seemed like Tessa was totally abandoning who she was pre-Hardin. College is a time of discovering yourself, yes, but there are still some qualities that are quite defined by the time you turn 18. Not being treated like shit by someone is one of those qualities and I couldn't believe that Tessa was allowing Hardin to treat her like he was.

*breathes*

Ok. That was the major issue for me with this book. Hardin is awful to Tessa. And I really don't think I had a problem with it simply because I'm almost ten years older than these characters (good lord, has it really been almost ten years since I started university?). I can understand that Hardin has some serious issues. That's ok. But that is absolutely no excuse for being an asshole towards the girl you want to date. He's crazy jealous which is stupid because he also sometimes acts like he wants nothing to do with her in public. Or even in private sometimes. There were times he almost redeemed himself because I could see that he kinda sorta wanted to try to be a better person. But then he'd screw up again. And he screwed up big time at the end. I really couldn't believe how awful he was. It's mind boggling.

And yet...

And yet, I couldn't put the damn book down. There was something addictive about it. And I don't think it was the good kind of addictive. I imagine the pull I felt towards this book was similar to the feeling drug addicts have when they're looking for their next hit. Seriously. I know it wasn't really good (PS the writing in this one isn't super great either) but something kept pulling me back in.

Part of me wants to read the rest of the series to see if Hardin gets his act together and if Tessa grows a backbone. But the other part of me cannot bear to read any more about this unhealthy relationship.

So...do I think you should read After? Not really. Anna Todd came up with an intriguing idea, One Direction fanfiction, but she also came up with one of the most unhealthy romantic relationships ever. At the risk of sounding old and overprotective of teens, this is not a book you want your teenage daughter, friend, niece, whatever to be reading. I do not want girls of any age thinking that she can change the guy she's dating, not when he continually treats her like crap. And, ok, fine, I probably would read After I Collided, book two in the series, if it fell into my lap. I just can't look away.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Longbourn

It's not often that I'll allow myself to have (ridiculously) high expectations of a novel. When you start to expect something out of this world amazing you start to set yourself up for disappointment. I think I set the bar too high for the newly released Longbourn. I expected too much from it. Jo Baker's novel was well researched and well written but I found myself feeling only so-so about it as I read it. I enjoyed it as a whole but trying to put my finger on what it was that let me down has been a frustrating process.

Here's the synopsis:

Pride and Prejudice was only half the story.If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.
In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. 
Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own. 

I do think Pride and Prejudice fans would enjoy this. It's important to note, however, that the Bennets and friends are not the focus of the story. At least, not in the way that a lot of people might want or expect. The novel isn't set up like Downton Abbey where you see both upstairs and downstairs equally. You only see the upstairs when the servants are there. Everything is seen through their eyes - and I liked that. We didn't need anything more because we (at least the people who have read Pride and Prejudice) already know the upstairs story. This allows us to fill in some blanks. I liked that we got to see how the servants would have interpreted the goings on at Longbourn. Did you ever think about how their lives would be changed once Mr. Bennet died and Mr. Collins took over? I never did. This novel makes you realize how dependant the servants are on their masters. I liked knowing what was happening inside while James was waiting outside Netherfield in the carriage or upstairs when Lady Catherine de Bourgh sweeps into Longbourn. These parts of the novel, the adding to Pride and Prejudice, were nice to read about - if slow in the beginning.

I had some trouble determining exactly how much time was passing, especially near the end of the book. It was easy when the servants' story was running parallel to the story we know so well from Pride and Prejudice but once it went beyond the end of that novel I was quickly confused. I want to give examples to show why it was confusing but that would give away the end of the story! It's really not a huge deal but it distracted me a bit from the conclusion and bothered me enough that it warrants a mention.

I liked Sarah, the maid who serves as the heroine in this story. I was invested in her life and wanted only the best for her. There were other little stories that captured my interest as well but were slow to get really moving. We don't know exactly what James' story is, nor do we know why Mrs. Hill seems agitated (though I correctly guessed the reason). Even though I was glad to find out exactly what had happened to James, I wish there had not been 40+ pages devoted to explaining it. The history of it was mildly interesting but I didn't feel like it did anything for the story as a whole. The Mrs. Hill storyline contained a big shocker that Austen fans will probably really dislike because it paints a beloved Pride and Prejudice character in a less than favourable light.

Overall, I liked Longbourn. I didn't love it as I expected to and that probably coloured my review. I think if you go into reading Jo Baker's novel expecting a good story with an interesting and new take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice you'll probably quite enjoy it. There may be things that irk you, as they did for me, but it is a good story. I just think it could have been a little better. For those of you who have read this one already, what did you think of it? I'd love to hear what you thought!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Random House of Canada, in exchange for an honest review.*

My Thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey

Yep. I finally gave in and read Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James. I was curious to see what all the hype was about. Would I fall into the "OMG Christian Grey is sooooo hot and I LOVE these books!!!" camp or the "How the hell did this crap get published" camp? As it turns out, I kind of fell somewhere in the middle.

In case you've been living under a rock, this is what this book is about:

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.  Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

My boyfriend's mom always shares books with the ladies at work - it's like a giant book exchange. I've become their go-to girl for book recommendations and after hearing about their latest smutty book (can't remember what it was...a Bertice Small book, perhaps?) I figured I should mention the phenomenon that was E.L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy. Boy, were they happy about that suggestion. The books quickly made their rounds through the hospital where they work and caused much discussion. She made sure the first instalment was back in her hands for the May long weekend so I was able to read it. And read it I did.

I finished Fifty Shades of Grey in one day. It's not that I couldn't put it down, more that I had to have it finished before I left at the end of the weekend. It also wasn't a difficult book to read. I can see why many people have said that it's absolutely awful but I didn't find myself bothered by the writing quality. I didn't pay much attention to the quality of Twilight either - I read that for the story, not the writing.

Speaking of Twilight - I was constantly looking for comparisons between the vampire series and Ana and Christian's story. I knew that Fifty Shades started as a fan fiction and I can definitely see some similarities. Controlling bad boy? Check. Male best friend who's in love with the heroine? Check. (PS did she really have to call him Jose and make him Hispanic? Um, Jacob who's Native? Too similar for me) Takes place in Washington? Check. Naive, clumsy, "average" heroine? Check. Hero who had a tough upbringing, was adopted, and has adopted siblings? Check. Need I go on? Even though there are tons of similarities, many people could read Fifty Shades and not see any connections. Also, I thought it was...amusing? interesting?...that I wasn't in love with Christian. I don't really see his appeal, nor do I see Edward's appeal. I just find it interesting to note how the two series are so similar yet can stand alone quite easily to those who haven't read the other.

I can't complete this post without mentioning the erotic aspect of this book. Yes, there's a lot of sex. Is that all it is? No. There is a storyline there (even if some people will tell you that it's horribly written). It just so happens that Grey has a sexual fetish that factors heavily into his relationship with Ana. Nothing really shocked me - and I'm not sure what that says about me, perhaps I'm desensitized with all that stuff "kids these days" are seeing on TV? - but there were a couple of scenes that made me exclaim "WTF?!?" (If you've read it you probably know exactly what I'm talking about). It's not for everyone, that's for sure but it didn't really bother me at all.

Like I said, I fell somewhere in the middle of the "thought it was amazing" and "thought it was awful" scale. Did I enjoy reading it? Sure. I don't think I wasted my time. Did I think everyone and their mother should read it? No, not really. It's definitely a personal choice as many people would be mighty offended by the content. I can also tell that I wasn't that into it because I finished the first book almost a month ago and have little desire to read book #2 (Fifty Shades Darker, by the by). I'll eventually get around to finishing the series because I am curious to see how it wraps up. And yes, I'll probably watch the movie when it's released.

So, fellow readers, what did you think of Christian Grey? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading :)