Madison Reads Books

I absolutely loved this fun romcom. Charlie Lucas loves Pride and Prejudice, but is also terrified of ending up like he namesake, Charlotte Lucas. Charlie is down to earth and relatable, and Liam is the perfect book boyfriend. I also liked that Kasey Stockton references Pride and Prejudice, without making this a retelling.  *I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley

The Jane Austen Remedy by Ruth Wilson is a cross between a memoir and literary criticism. While I found this book to be thought provoking, it was also a very slow read. It functions as a memoir, but it is also very dense and academic.  * I received a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley 

An A-Z of Jane Austen is a collection of 26 short essays about Jane Austen's works based around a word starting with each letter of the alphabet. I enjoyed this book, but it definitely has more of an academic tone. Overall, I found this to be very informative. *I received a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley

Anybody who knows me knows my two favorite authors are Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, so I feel like this book was tailor made for me. Its a cozy mystery a la Agatha Christie featuring characters from all six Jane Austen novels. The book was well written, all of the characters felt true to the original novels, and the mystery kept me guessing until the end.  I received a review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. 

I love Pride and Prejudice and this is an excellent audio adaptation. The production value is very high and the voice acting is excellent. My only nitpicky issue is that Darcy and the Bingleys were given strong regional accents. I believe the accents are accurate to where the characters are from, but historically, people of their class would not have had strong regional accents.

I loved this fantasy retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in a regency world where magic is an integral part of society. While there are changes to plot and some situations to fit in with the fantasy world, all of the characters are still true to Austen's original. Lizzie Bennet is a powerful mage in a world where women are only supposed to learn small household magic and Fitzwilliam Darcy is a member of the committee that unanimously voted to deny her access to the academy.From there we get to see the familiar development of their romance within this magical world as Lizzie overcomes her Pride and Darcy his Prejudice. Overall this was a 4 star read for me, and one of the better Pride and Prejudice retellings I've read.