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A review by jenbsbooks
Pride & Prejudice & Airships by Caylen McQueen, A Lady
2.25
I haven't read much steampunk - but I LOVED Gail Carriger's Finishing School series. I've read a LOT of JAFF, and this was one of the more unique ones. I didn't love it, but it had it's moments. It was short. I had "purchased" the Kindle copy at some point, and the audio had been added (although just virtual voice - not as good as human narration).
This had a gender swap - so the Bennet family has five boys. The names all started with the same letters (Joseph, Elisander, Matthew, Kier, Lachlan. They had similar personalities ... although Matthew(Mary) seemed just as involved with Lachlan(Lydia) as Kier(Kitty), maybe more so. Darcy Fitzwilliam, Bin Li, Georgette Wickham and Wilhelmina Collins ... all women (Char too). Darcy still had a younger sister, Catherine De Bourgh was still a lady.
In this steampunk twist, the "swap" wasn't as profound because ... the Bennet's were still the poor family, home entailed, needing a good match. Bin and Darcy were still the wealthy, powerful people. Wickham was an actual pirate, NOT as bad as in the original book though.
3rd person/past tense ... but here (unlike the original) we got into the heads of various characters. I think one of the things that makes the original P&P work, is that we/the reader, only know what Elizabeth knows. Here, the reader gets background/feelings from so many other characters too. Really, Darcy wasn't a much of a main player.
At times it felt like it was trying too hard - recreating scenes, statements. The steampunk setting had some interesting ideas, but many things were too over the top, or not really interesting/appealing. The dialog struggled. While the gender swap had some fun aspects, at times it was a little cringy ...
This had a gender swap - so the Bennet family has five boys. The names all started with the same letters (Joseph, Elisander, Matthew, Kier, Lachlan. They had similar personalities ... although Matthew(Mary) seemed just as involved with Lachlan(Lydia) as Kier(Kitty), maybe more so. Darcy Fitzwilliam, Bin Li, Georgette Wickham and Wilhelmina Collins ... all women (Char too). Darcy still had a younger sister, Catherine De Bourgh was still a lady.
In this steampunk twist, the "swap" wasn't as profound because ... the Bennet's were still the poor family, home entailed, needing a good match. Bin and Darcy were still the wealthy, powerful people. Wickham was an actual pirate, NOT as bad as in the original book though.
3rd person/past tense ... but here (unlike the original) we got into the heads of various characters. I think one of the things that makes the original P&P work, is that we/the reader, only know what Elizabeth knows. Here, the reader gets background/feelings from so many other characters too. Really, Darcy wasn't a much of a main player.
At times it felt like it was trying too hard - recreating scenes, statements. The steampunk setting had some interesting ideas, but many things were too over the top, or not really interesting/appealing. The dialog struggled. While the gender swap had some fun aspects, at times it was a little cringy ...