First off, nothing can beat Jane Austen, but Ms. Cohen is fantastic at relaying the same sort of social sentiments and observations Austen made in her books. Not only is it a great story, as a someone who works closely with students and parents (albeit on the college level), it really hits a cord with how fanatical people can be about lives that aren't their own. The characterization of everyone, even people that hardly play a role, resonate with pretty much everyone. It's high school so characters like Jodi Fields and Skyler Landow will mentally transform into the characters that were in your own high school. ( )

A modern day take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion, this book looks at love lost and rediscovered. While nothing can match Austen’s Persuasion, one of my favourite books, I found this book to be enjoyable nonetheless. ( )

This was a light, quick read, but I cannot say it was anything more than just okay. I love to share good books with my friends who enjoy reading as much as I do, and I am not inspired to offer it to any of them before I trade it back to the local used book store. From the synopsis on the back cover, billing itself as a modern day update on Jane Austen's "Persuasion," I had certain expectations of plot, tone, style, etc., going into the story. Suffice it to say that they were not met. While I liked the main character well enough (perhaps because I also work with teenagers and could relate to some of her situations), I did not feel there was any connection between the story I was reading and "Persuasion." There is the plot point that the heroine allowed her family to dissuade her from marrying her true love many years ago due to his lack of prospects, only to find he has done quite well for himself since their parting, but that is where the similarities end. Aside from the grandmother, the other characters remained pretty flat, and the book never felt like it was about Anne & Ben nearly as much as it was about Anne and the students she counseled. That said, when it was time to bring about the expected reconciliation between Anne & Ben, it happened in a few sentences. Everything that actually brought them to a place of making that possible was explained after the fact...so if that was the main plot of the story, you are left feeling rather cheated as the reader. Perhaps in the glut of Austen spinoffs and parodies on the market, the assumption is that one need only pay lip service to the style of writing, plot or subject matter in order to snag Austen fans. I have shied away from such offerings in the past but recently decided to be adventurous; this book definitely doesn't inspire me to continue to be so. ( )

Adding to my Austen in August Reading Challenge participation at Roof Beam Reader

This was cute. The setup felt a little heavy-handed in the first 30 pages or so, but that may just be because I've read Persuasion about twelve times and was thinking, "Okay, I got it."

Cohen deviated from Persuasion's storyline enough that I didn't spend the entire story knowing exactly what was going to happen next. It's an adaptation, so it was apparent sometimes, but not always. So basically, I give her props for telling a completely separate story while harkening back to the basis for the tale.

Funniest moment in the book: Anne's grandmother lambasting women for trying to live Jane Austen novels, complaining that Persuasion's Anne Elliot was way too long-suffering to be allowed to be happy in real life. A clever bit of lampshade hanging. Hee. ( )