Fun and Frothy Chick-Lit for Jane Austen Fans
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Purchased
When I first read this book a year ago I gave it four stars mainly because I felt there were some unresolved issues and questions left unanswered. I recently treated myself (as an after Christmas present) to the second book in the series, Rude Awakenings of an Austen Addict. I decided to reread the first book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict before starting Rude Awakenings of an Austen Addict in order to refresh my memory. Now, having finished both books I feel I have the complete story and can write a more informed review. This review is for Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, my review for Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict will be coming soon…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the time of Jane Austen? Do you love her world so much that sometimes you long to “take a turn in the shrubberies” or “dance at an assembly ball?” Courtney Stone, a Jane Austen addict from the 21st century, sometimes felt that the world of Jane Austen was infinitely better than her own (especially when her best friend betrays her and her fiance cheats on her!) One morning she gets her wish as she wakes up to the startling discovery that she is no longer in Los Angeles, California, but in Somerset, England and the year is 1813! Can you imagine the shock!
No, this book is not all about time travel and it is not a modern adaption of a Jane Austen novel. It IS an enthralling journey of how a 21st century woman copes with being transplanted into Regency England where she discovers there is a deficiency of privacy and independence and an abundance of social proprieties. In addition to being transplanted to a different time period, Courtney is also in a body that is not hers and frequently experiences memories that are not hers.
I greatly enjoyed the concept of this book as I do believe that many fans of Jane Austen would love to be transplanted to and experience Regency England. In addition, I thought Laura Viera Rigler did an outstanding job of portraying how someone from our world would react to living in the another time period. Furthermore, I loved how the central theme of love and freedom were focused upon. Both Courtney and Jane (the woman whose body she’s in) mistrust men in their lives and they have been shutting them out. In addition, Courtney faces the reality that being a woman in 1813 meant that a lot of the freedoms and rights she enjoyed in 2009 do not exist. Maybe Jane Austen’s world isn’t as ideal as she thought it was…
After reading Rude Awakenings of an Austen Addict this book does not seem as unresolved as it did at first. Yes there are some questions left unanswered but mostly everything is explained in the second book. However, I still felt that the explanation of the body swap and the page time it took up was more complicated than it need to be.
This series is a lot of fun and Austen fans that enjoy chick-lit will find much to enjoy. However, people who are not fans of chick-lit or readers looking for a refined regency novel may be disappointed. As I said before, this series is a brilliant concept and the author got a lot of things right, I think it would make a spectacular movie!
It is a movie! They changed the tittle though to “Lost in Austen”. I don’t think they picked the best cast for certain characters, and some of the story has been changed. I really think they could have done a much better job of making it into a movie 🙁 Towards the end, the characters grew on me…I think I just could not get over the fact that I knew it could be better.
If you watch it, please tell me what you think… 🙂
Was this book the premise for Lost in Austen? I never thought so. While the plot is similar it isn’t the same – no actual body swapping takes place in “Lost in Austen”, the main characters have different names, and it specifically deals with the plot of Pride and Prejudice. I haven’t read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, being a bit suspicious of these time travel naratives, but from what I understand the heroine is not transplanted into an Austen novel, just the regency period. Am I correct? I wasn’t overly fond of Lost in Austen – it was cute but kind of annoying – and if this book is the basis for that movie I’m definitely NOT going to read it. However, if they are two different stories, I may give this one a chance if Meredith’s review for Rude Awakenings further sparks my interest.
I really enjoyed the part of this book that took place in the Regency Era. At times, I laughed out loud, which is a rare thing for me. My problem with it was that I had no interest in the modern character. But it was a fun read. I think four stars is perfect.
Yay! These books look great! I’m adding them to my “to read” list in Goodreads. And thank you, Meredith, for reading my interview on Maria’s blog. Isn’t she great??!
I’m glad to have found another lover of anything Austen. Her works are amazing.
I’m not so sure Lost in Austen is based off of these books, although they do have a lot in common and came out around the same time.
This book is from the POV of the 21st century girl (Courtney) and “Rude Awakenings” is from the POV of the 19th century girl (Jane). Lost in Austen’s main character is Amanda Price and like Alexa said she muddling up the plot of Pride and Prejudice. I really don’t think they have anything to do with each other.
Alexa- I was a little hesitant at first too, sci-fi and time travel aren’t really my things. But I found it to be a lot of fun and like Mary said there are a lot of laugh out loud moments. It is a great read for when you aren’t in the mood for something too heavy or too serious.
M. Gray- Thank you so much for stopping by! I enjoyed your interview very much and I adore Maria and her blog, she is a lovely person! Please come back again, we are all about Austen here!
I really enjoyed reading this book. I think many of us would love the chance to experience the era and I really liked how the memories were intermingled.
Also, re: comment above- Lost in Austen is a similar yet completely different story. Lost in Austen is a P&P story where the main character enters the Bennett household through a random portal in her bathroom and everyone knows she is not Elizabeth. Confessions is the story of Courtney who wakes up one day as Jane Mansfield and everyone thinks she is Jane Mansfield.
I didn’t think it resembled Lost in Austen all that much either. And of course the different challenges from 21st century hygiene to the past had me laughing and yet grateful for my life now as well as medical procedures. Very entertaining.