Book Review: Emma by Jane Austen

Emma. Emma, Emma, Emma. I find myself shaking my head and muttering that under my breath every time I read this book. While Emma is indeed a selfish and snobbish character, she is good-hearted and honest. She learns from her mistakes and only wants what's best for the people she loves. 

**Spoiler Alert**

With the guidance of my favorite Austen hero, Mr. Knightly (swoon), she learns how to see the value in people that she originally thought were beneath her. At the same time, she shows Mr. Knightly the depth of character that he originally thought was lacking in Harriet. 

Emma and Mr. Knightly's scenes are some of the best. It is always a pleasure to read the verbal sparring between two intelligent people, and to view the obviously well matched relationship between them blossom. If one can forget the age difference (apparently this wasn't an issue in Austen's time), Mr. Knightly and Emma have the best relationship in any of Jane Austen's books. 

I think this is the most well balanced of Jane Austen's stories. There is a good mixture of humor, real world issues and consequences, and superb character development. This variety makes for a very fun read.

Additionally, it's been the inspiration for some fantastic movies, tv shows, and web series: 

Clueless (1995), Emma Approved (2014), Emma (1996), Emma (2009), and Emma (1996). 

I re-watch Clueless and the Gwyneth Paltrow version all the time, and I am overdue for an Emma Approved re-watch.  I haven't seen the bottom two versions but I hear they are quite good as well.  

Jane Austen's Emma is my go to when I want something lighthearted, sweet, and romantic.  I hope you enjoy it as well. 

Happy Reading,

Cordelia M. Blythe

Book Review: The Secrets We Keep

I really wish Goodreads had the option for half stars, or at least expanded the number of stars to 10.  This book was better than 3 stars, but it wasn't quite as good as some of the books I've given 4 stars to.  So I'd give this book 3.5 stars or 7/10 stars. Here's why:

What I liked about The Secrets We Keep:

• I was sucked into the story immediately.  The relationship between Maddy and Ella was so complicated and interesting that I was excited to delve into their character development throughout the story.
• Trisha Leaver did a great job of laying out pieces of the puzzle throughout the story.  I always appreciate it when a mystery doesn't withhold vital information, leaving me bored with waiting for more details, and also keeps the mystery alive so I haven't figured it all out too early.
• The character development of secondary characters like Alex, Molly, and Josh was rock solid.  I love it when secondary characters are given backstory and depth as it makes the whole story feel complete. 
• Ella's reasons for taking over her sister's life wasn't jealousy but something closer to survivor's guilt.  It was refreshing to see the relationship between sisters be something other than, "I wish I had your life"
• The hints that Ella's Dad was starting to figure out that Maddy was actually Ella. 
• The satisfaction of everything finally coming out into the open.
• The audiobook narrator was fantastic!

What I didn't like:

• Ella never really seemed to try very hard to be her sister.  She said she was getting better at pretending, but the truth is that she didn't seem to give it her all.  In fact, I was surprised that Alex and a few other characters didn't figure it out. (Although, to be honest, Alex may have wanted Maddy to be alive so badly that he chose not to see the truth).
• Occasionally the writing would become repetitive.  We're inside Ella's headspace throughout the whole book and she says the same things over and over again.  Then, she'd say some of these things out loud.  So we end up reading the same line at least three times per two pages.  I was ready for the story to keep moving rather than listen to Ella's internal monologue again.  

Overall, this is a fast and enjoyable young adult mystery with intriguing characters and plot. I will definitely be checking out more of this author's works. 

Happy Reading,

Cordelia M. Blythe

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Book Review: The Flight of Gemma Hardy

*Spoiler alert*

I really enjoy reading retellings of classic stories, but I also think it is very hard to do it well.  The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey is a retelling of Jane Eyre set in the 1960s.  The first half of this book was fantastic! It was a perfect recreation of the original, up to when Jane left for Thornfield Hall, but I didn't feel like I was re-reading Jane Eyre word-for-word. It followed a similar pattern without copying and pasting its source material. The scenes at the boarding school were especially well written.  Because it wasn't set in the Gothic Victorian era, I was curious how Margot Livesey was going to interpret the tyranny of the teachers, as well as the death of her school friend (originally Helen).  Even though I knew the Helen-based character, Miriam, was going to die, I couldn't help but hold out hope that she would survive somehow.  When they introduced Miriam's Dad I though for sure that would be how she and Jane separate. But, alas, it wasn't to be.  Anyway, I truly enjoyed this part of the book and felt it was the best part of the story. 

The second half was not so great. Mr. Sinclair (Rochester) and Jane didn't really interact enough to believably fall in love.  Additionally, even though I'm glad Margot Livesey decided not to go with the crazy wife in the attic plot point, I was disappointed in her choice of Mr. Sinclair's BIG SECRET. It was confusing and rather innocuous comparatively.  Basically, Mr. Sinclair was afraid of the dark and so offered his sister to Seamus if he would switch places with him so he wouldn't have to be a miner. What Gemma was upset about was that Mr. Sinclair had lied to her about Seamus and his sister. Or something along those lines.  Really, this was a very contrived and confusing plot point, especially when Gemma spends the rest of story lying to a bunch of people so they like her and don't kick her to the curb. At this point I would have preferred a rehashing of the wife in the attic storyline.  

The one point in favor of the second half was Gemma's trip to Iceland to find her family.  This called back to the beautifully written character and story I cared about in the first half.  We were seeing honest communication and character development as opposed to checking off the plot marks that the story had since devolved into. 

Finally, I felt rather cheated at the end when Gemma and Mr. Sinclair "reconcile" because there was a lack of real conversation.  The story ends rather abruptly before they've really delved into the meat of their issues. To be honest, they've barely spoken to each at all, thus making me not care about what happens to them as a couple.  

In conclusion, while I enjoyed reading this book, I was hoping for more after the first half delivered so wonderfully.

Happy Reading,

Cordelia M. Blythe