The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this, honestly more than I expected! I recently read another queer Pride and Prejudice re-imagining, so this slotted right in nicely, and I liked this one a lot more. For fans of historical romance, especially of this era, Austen is pretty much the gold standard, and for queer fans of  the genre this absolutely meets all expectations. 

Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet are both underutilized characters in the original novel, which leaves you with a lot of space to play with when reimagining their personalities a few years down the line. None of the other Pride and Prejudice characters really feature outside of letters that are used as scene-setting for most chapters, making this read more as a wholly-original novel rather than a reimagining or spiritual sequel. 

I felt like both women were very well developed throughout the story and their worries and personalities were very vivid and realistic, but the reliance on miscommunication throughout was a bit frustrating. However, as that is also a function of Pride and Prejudice’s plot, it’s easily forgivable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC! I thoroughly enjoyed this, honestly more than I expected! I recently read another queer Pride and Prejudice re-imagining, so this slotted right in nicely, and I liked this one a lot more. For fans of historical romance, especially of this era, Austen is pretty much the gold standard,…