Author: Ophelia London
Publication Date: October 28, 2013
From Goodreads:
A new adult novel from Entangled's Embrace imprint...
Her theory of attraction is about to get a new angle...
Spring Honeycutt wants two things: to ace her sustainable living thesis and to save the environment. Both seem hopelessly unobtainable until her college professor suggests that with a new angle, her paper could be published. Spring swears she’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that happens.
“Whatever it takes,” however, means forming a partnership with the very hot, very privileged, very conceited Henry Knightly.
Henry is Spring's only hope at publication, but he's also the über-rich son of a land developer and cash-strapped Spring’s polar opposite. Too bad she can't help being attracted to the way he pushes her buttons, both politically and physically. As they work on her thesis, Spring finds there's more to Henry than his old money and argyle sweaters…but can she drop the loud-and-proud act long enough to let him in? Suddenly, choosing between what she wants and what she needs puts Spring at odds with everything she believes in.
Definitely, Maybe in Love is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice that proves true love is worth risking a little pride.
Review:
I previously identified five Jane Austen spin-offs that I wanted to read in 2014 and Definitely, Maybe in Love was at the top of my list for a particular reason. Even though the book is a take on Pride and Prejudice the main character is named Knightly! So of course I wondered would the book have elements of Emma as well? It turns out no, but it was a an updated version of Pride and Prejudice.
So what did I like: I liked the fact that the author chose to have Spring and Henry divided by more than social class. I liked that Henry's character was multidimensional and interesting but I didn't like that Spring was a stereotyped version of a closed-minded liberal feminist. Oops, I went to something I didn't like. Unfortunately what I didn't like far surpassed what I liked for two main reasons. First, in what world does a female undergraduate attending Stanford in 2010 rely on a male law student to help her write HER senior thesis? This was such an offensive part of this story it was almost enough to make me stop reading it. My second moment of exasperation was when Jules (the equivalent of Jane Bingley) makes a horrible decision that leads to a horrible outcome that the author is too quick to dismiss in my opinion. Without sounding too much like a member of the women's studies faculty, I truly believe that this book perpetuates two myths that need to be obliterated on college campuses.
So in the end I crossed off one of my five spin-offs but I would definitely NOT recommend this particular book.
Posted By: Sheri
Aww that's too bad!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I love Austen adaptations. But those two issues are definitely bothersome. Clearly this author didn't really think through her characters very well, I'm already annoyed by this girl getting a guy to help her write her thesis. And she's an identifying feminist? That makes no sense. I best stay away from this one. Sad, because I did want to read it.
ReplyDeleteI debated snagging this book, but am glad I didn't. I'm pretty over P&P retellings in general, so I definitely don't have time for a bad one. Completely agree that we need to stop perpetuating the hopeless female stereotype. I hope your next book is much better. Great review!
ReplyDeleteYAY! I'm really sorry that this one didn't work for you, but I can't help but be happy that I didn't request this one in the end. It just doesn't sound like the kind of book I would really enjoy. Why does she need some guy to help her with her thesis? Gah, I'm annoyed at the character and I haven't even read the book.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame. I will definitely take your recommendation on this one and not read it. If it's offensive to women that will not be ok with me
ReplyDelete