Framed's 2007 Book Reviews

Saturday, June 30, 2007

I am a true fan of Shannon Hale. She just writes so well. This book is a complete departure from her other books that I have read. Those three were a fantasy triology written for young adults and were so creative. Austenland is a romance written for adults, especially those adults with a fixation on Pride and Prejudice. Oh, grow up, you know who you are. Jane Hayes is unable to find lasting love because none of her "boyfriends" can measure up to the elusive Mr. Darcy. It doesn't take much to be classified as Jane's boyfriend as she tends to rush into relationships. A rich aunt bequeaths Jane a trip to Austenland where its guests experience Regency England for three weeks. The actors do their absolute best to make the guests feel like they have been romanced in the best of Jane Austen's style. It was so funny to read Jane's modern mind trying to play into the whole Regency scenario. There are a couple of twist and turns that made the novel even more enjoyable. The whole book made me laugh and was a fun, quick read, but it didn't have the same impact as her young adult novels. Still, I remain a dedicated Hale fan and look forward to her next book.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 10:52 AM

7 comments:
Framed said...
Sorry, Blogger is having a problem with its Edit HTML function and I can't fix these huge spaces in my post. Does anyone have an idea on this?
6/30/2007 11:02 AM
Alyson said...
That happens to me sometimes, and I don't know what to do to fix it. I enjoyed this book as well. I still need to write a post about it though...I'm about 6 books behind on my book blog. I agree with you comment about it not having the impact of her YA books. I think Hale is a better YA author, but I still loved this book.
7/01/2007 11:47 PM
Tristi Pinkston said...
I've got this book on hold at the library. I'm about 345687 out of ten million in line. :) I may cave and just buy the thing before then.
7/01/2007 11:57 PM
Anne Bradshaw said...
Yay! Another Jane Austen fan. This book is on my must-read list--I'm from England after all :-) I also loved Shannon's fantasy trilogy, and am so glad her work is getting recognized by the masses.Thanks for the blog, Framed. I shall be back. You're going on my favorites list.
7/04/2007 11:23 AM
Dance Chica said...
I'm glad to hear you liked this! I've had this on my Amazon wishlist since before it came out. I'm a big Pride and Prejudice fan and have some of Hale's children's books in my TBR (Princess Academy, The Goose Girl).
7/04/2007 8:51 PM
Julie Wright said...
Loved loved loved the line where Jane said, "If you were a woman, all I'd have to say is Colin Firth in a wet shirt, and you'd understand." I'm still laughing at that and it's been a month since I read it!
7/16/2007 10:53 AM
Lauren@Baseballs&Bows said...
Just thought I would let you know that I am reading this as part of Semicolon's book challenge because of your review! Thanks!