First Impressions: A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and PrejudiceLawyer Eddi Boswick tries out for a production of Pride and Prejudice in her small Texas town. When she’s cast as the lead, Elizabeth Bennet, her romantic co-star is none other than the town’s most eligible–and arrogant–bachelor.
I have to admit something and I need you to promise not to panic. Or yell at me. Or string me up. Or declare me not a human. Or the opposite of a lady. *deep breath* I have never read Jane Austen. I’ve not read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Sense and Sensibility’ or ‘Emma’. Now I’ve probably doubled the depth of my lack of humanness for someone as I left off their favorite Jane book. I can’t give just one good reason (or excuse depending on your viewpoint) why I haven’t. I mean, while I appreciate this time period now, this isn’t my go to time period. I’m not certain it’s even a top five, maybe. It’s one I can appreciate but I’ll always reach for Civil War or even early 20th century before I go all historical England. I can’t say why I’ve never read the books but there’s my big reveal for the day. And, I’ve never watched the movie adaptations either. Though to be fair, I’m not a huge movie person outside a couple of favorites that I can quote. If you must chastise me, please, try to do so gently.
Earth shattering revelations aside, there’s a few that are not so polarizing with this book. And one of the bears the brunt of why I’m only giving it four stars. This book is a re-print. Originally released in 2004 it was refreshed and updated in 2018. Technology (or at least the acquisition and creation thereof) plays a significant role in this novel. Having read reviews from before the re-release things like palm pilots and internet servers would have to be refreshed in order to stay relevant. However, in refreshing a few things fell flat and some loose ends didn’t quite tie together seamlessly. There was some ambiguity regarding the cell phone thing and the home phone thing and even the computer and internet thing. This is the draw back of contemporary fiction, especially such that heavily include pop culture. Not that technology is pop culture but you know what I mean. Ten years from now what of our current life will be relevant? It was a valiant effort to bring this up to speed with this novel but it jangled awkwardly and didn’t quite update seamlessly. Technology aside, I also got a little tired of everyone jumping to conclusions about everything. There might have almost been insta-love but I was saved with conclusion-jumping. Still gotta say insta-love is a bigger pet peeve so there’s that.
The opposite side of this is that I really did enjoy this book. Yes, the characters were a bit all over the place. I’m still trying to figure out how Eddi managed to keep a law practice afloat and travel to visit her family so often and do the play and and and. The same for her sister traveling such a long distance on the regular just to do a play. The community felt disorganized and jumbled with their mixed up technology while using the home phone more than the cell phone. See what I mean? The flip side of that is they are endearing and they really do try to just do the next right thing, best as they can decipher what that might be. Dave, probably stepped over a line or twenty when it came to his cousin and Eddi’s baby sister, but he was just doing the ‘next right thing’. ‘First Impressions’ is really all about the dangers of conclusion jumping and doing the next right thing. I don’t know much about ‘Pride and Prejudice’ but I do know that this book is a great settle in for a cozy weekend read. I’m intrigued enough to want to read the rest of the series, updated or not.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
I was excited about reading First Impressions, as I am a big Jane Austen fan. I loved Pride and Prejudice and I have enjoyed many of the retellings of this classic novel that I have read over the years. Unfortunately, this retelling fell flat for me.
I do think that the storyline was a creative set up. The new characters shared initials with the original characters and followed along fairly well with updated personas. It was cute having the characters acting in a small theater production of Pride and Prejudice, too.
While others may thoroughly enjoy this contemporary tale, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I felt as if I was watching them going through the actions, but not able to feel any emotion between them. I also struggled with the pace of the story. It felt very slow to me for the first half of the book. It did pick up in somewhere in the second half of the story and I began to enjoy the novel a bit more at this point.
This is the first book that I have read by this author, and I may give Possibilities, the retelling of Persuasion, a try to see if that book suits me better.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I’ve read other Jane Austen retellings that take place in Texas, but this one was my first novel-length story. The verbal sparring that characterizes Pride and Prejudice translates well into modern times, and I mostly enjoyed Eddi and Dave’s interactions. I admit that it grew tiresome after awhile, but the author does stick somewhat to the timeline of Austen’s original, so we’re carried through the whole drama to its romantic conclusion.
My least favorite character was Mary Boswick, the matriarch of the Boswick family. Whoa, she’s annoying, but I suppose that that’s true to character. Linda was a close second. Her scenes in the book were a bit racy for something that’s supposed to be considered inspirational or Christian fiction. On the other hand, my most favorite character was Jeff. His scene with Dave totally made me cry. If you haven’t read the book yet, you’ll see what I mean!
There were a couple of issues with the story that really stood out to me. Eddie claims that her faith is very important to her, but other than regularly attending church, there’s very little spirituality mentioned in her life. No prayers, no scripture study, etc. The other thing that bothered me was that throughout the entire book, the characters in the story are rehearsing for a theatrical production of Pride and Prejudice. There are some times that Eddi and Dave make the connection between the lines that they’ve memorized and their own lives, but their other friends and family don’t even notice that they’re pretty much living out Austen’s book. Yes, I know that this is a work of fiction, but it felt just a little overdone. It’s still a sweet, romantic story to read, though, and I’ll probably read the rest of the series.
***I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
First Impressions by Debra White Smith
The Jane Austen Series
Eddi Boswick is a lawyer in the small town of London, Texas. Most of the people are friendly and easy to get along with. And then there is Dave Davidson. A man who only cares for himself and supposedly lives off of his aunt’s generosity.
Dave Davidson started over three years ago in London, along with his aunt. He wants who he used to be left in the past. Of course, some things never stay put. Like all the women who want him for his money. He does his best to stay away from them or in the case of Eddi…come off as a jerk so he’s not tempted to think she’s different.
This is one of many books in this series where the author takes a Jane Austen book and brings it to modern day. Just as in the play they are going to act out…Dave is a modern day Darcy and Eddi an Elizabeth. And just as in the real story, misunderstandings abound and tear people apart. A page-turning story from beginning to end.
**Received from Bethany House for an honest review
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