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A review by beautifulminutiae
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
4.0
4.5 ⭐️
As a teenager, this was my favorite Jane Austen book, so I was excited to re-read it. 15 years later and I still LOVE it! I love Elinor and her selflessness, but teenage me was a Marianne for sure. I hope I’ve become more like Elinor over the years.
The characterization was beautiful and flawless. There were characters you loved and characters you loved to hate. I grew so attached to them all and was sad when the book came to end.
There’s also a lot of classic Austen humor and THE DRAMA! I loved it so much! The scene where Edward, Lucy and Elinor end up in a room alone together was like an Edwardian reality show and I was here for it! So much tension and I felt like I needed to eat popcorn during it, because it was so entertaining.
Spoiler-y thoughts ahead on my nitpicky dislikes that kept it from being perfect.....
The main thing I didn’t love as much that prevented it from 5 stars was the ending. I loved that Elinor ended up with Edward, but I didn’t feel like there was as much of a connection between Colonel Brandon and. Marianne. I’m glad Marianne ended up with someone who loved her and was her opposite, but I wish there’d been a bit more development of their relationship than a page or two tacked on.
The other aspect of the ending I didn’t love was the sympathy for Willoughby. I guess Elinor is just a better person than me, but the fact he felt bad and ended up in a loveless marriage while still thinking of Marianne didn’t make me feel sorry for him. At all. He deserved far worse. Also, Lucy deserved way more comeuppance than she got. Maybe I’m just more vindictive than Austen, but I felt like there should’ve been bigger consequences for Willoughby, Lucy and Robert (maybe Fanny and John too, to be honest. Apparently Edward is the only non-jerk in the Ferrars family).
As a teenager, this was my favorite Jane Austen book, so I was excited to re-read it. 15 years later and I still LOVE it! I love Elinor and her selflessness, but teenage me was a Marianne for sure. I hope I’ve become more like Elinor over the years.
The characterization was beautiful and flawless. There were characters you loved and characters you loved to hate. I grew so attached to them all and was sad when the book came to end.
There’s also a lot of classic Austen humor and THE DRAMA! I loved it so much! The scene where Edward, Lucy and Elinor end up in a room alone together was like an Edwardian reality show and I was here for it! So much tension and I felt like I needed to eat popcorn during it, because it was so entertaining.
Spoiler-y thoughts ahead on my nitpicky dislikes that kept it from being perfect.....
The main thing I didn’t love as much that prevented it from 5 stars was the ending. I loved that Elinor ended up with Edward, but I didn’t feel like there was as much of a connection between Colonel Brandon and. Marianne. I’m glad Marianne ended up with someone who loved her and was her opposite, but I wish there’d been a bit more development of their relationship than a page or two tacked on.
The other aspect of the ending I didn’t love was the sympathy for Willoughby. I guess Elinor is just a better person than me, but the fact he felt bad and ended up in a loveless marriage while still thinking of Marianne didn’t make me feel sorry for him. At all. He deserved far worse. Also, Lucy deserved way more comeuppance than she got. Maybe I’m just more vindictive than Austen, but I felt like there should’ve been bigger consequences for Willoughby, Lucy and Robert (maybe Fanny and John too, to be honest. Apparently Edward is the only non-jerk in the Ferrars family).