Oh. My. Pure genius!!Webster has taken all 6 of Jane Austen's novels and a little of her personal history and put them into a Choose Your Own Adventure format. That's right, the same kind of book you read at age 10. You, gentle reader, become Elizabeth Bennett. The author awards you points (connections, intelligence, etc.) based on the choices you make and your knowledge of all things Austen. Your mission is to move from one situation to the next while trying to make an advantageous match. Interspersed throughout the book are all kinds of hilarious asides courtesy of the author commenting on your progress (usually negative and very snarky).I had a ball going through this book and highly recommend it to anyone. Create your own Austen ending! ( )

Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com

LOST IN AUSTEN is basically PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the beloved novel by Jane Austen, written in modern English. Oh, and you can choose how the book ends.

At the end of every chapter you, Elizabeth Bennet, must make a decision. After making that decision you go to the specified page and read on until you come to the next two choices. Choice after choice, you must decide what Elizabeth should do in order to achieve her goal: to get married to a fine gentleman.

But the mission isn't as easy as it sounds. Not only do you have to make a choice between two objects at the end of each chapter, there is a point system that you must go through. Points fall under categories such as fortune, intelligence, accomplishments, and more.

Emma Campbell Webster writes a very fun and interactive book that all Austen fans will love. Even for those who aren't fans, this book gives a unique and entertaining twist to the classic that anyone can enjoy. ( )

I thought Lost in Austen was a lot of fun. Read my full review at http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009... ( )

I was very excited when I started reading this book. It's great fun for at least the first hours, although don't bother keeping scores: it takes the speed out of reading and isn't really necessary, although I thought it was fun for the first 100 pages.
After reading half of the book though, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Here it was, apparently you can create your own Jane Austen story when reading this book, but all you really seem to be doing is either re-reading Pride and Prejudice written in the "you" form: "you feel this, you do this, etc" or you get taken into other Jane Austen novels, which you will then proceed to re-live.. or you will choose alternative options, like accepting Darcy the first time: but those never seem to be as good as the other stuff, maybe those options could have done with some more thought. Although, I have to admit, some of them were funny. In the end most were short and melodramatic (as fannyprice said in an earlier review - melodramatic really is the right word). Over all these options could've done with a bit more indepth writing of the author herself: if it isn't part of a Jane Austen novel, the alternative options are usually only 1 page long.
The nice thing about the book was having the option of making different dicisions, for somehow I couldn't help but feel curious. Yet you can't help but feel the options aren't really realistic options.
*SPOILER*
For example, if you choose not to visit a concert in Bath at once, it seems Wentworth is engaged to another woman, while if you do go there at once, he still loves you and pines for you. And I really couldn’t see Elizabeth committing suicide.
Also, I didn't really like the ending. I knew the author has this idea that all Jane Austen novels give you the idea that interesting life ends when married. I had read it before in an interview. Thing is, I just don't need that morale at the end of the story. I enjoy Jane Austen's novels because I love dreaming of happy endings, even if in some people's minds it is wrong that books show that once you are married your life is over. Couldn't help it, it really put me off.
I was fairly happy when I ended up marrying Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightly though. Got a bit annoyed that apparently marriage to Wentworth could never be more than average.
*END OF SPOILERS*
I want to try and read this again in a few months time, maybe I will like it better. In the end, it was fairly enjoyable. ( )

A very enjoyable book, although probably more enjoyable to devotees of all Austen's work (I am only very familiar with [b:Pride Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158963071s/1885.jpg|3060926] and [b:Sense Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1212611360s/14935.jpg|2809709]) and to devotees of choose-your-own adventures. Personally, I'd have sprung for an anthology of crossover fanfic between Austen's various novels - but this was probably about as close to such a thing as I'm going to get! ( )

A very enjoyable book, although probably more enjoyable to devotees of all Austen's work (I am only very familiar with [b:Pride Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158963071s/1885.jpg|3060926] and [b:Sense Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1212611360s/14935.jpg|2809709]) and to devotees of choose-your-own adventures. Personally, I'd have sprung for an anthology of crossover fanfic between Austen's various novels - but this was probably about as close to such a thing as I'm going to get! ( )

I LOVED this book.

It is a Jane Austen Choose-your-own-adventure book. (Here is a link to Choose-your-own-adventure, if you're not familiar with them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Y...)

Knowing the story turned out to be very important as I worked my way through Regency England: If one follows the path that Elizabeth Bennett did in the book, one will be successful and marry appropriately, for money and love. If you stray from this path (which I did sometimes just for kicks), all sorts of interesting things happen.

I once wound up dead with a broken neck - I ignored Mr. Darcy to the point of going outside into the winter and slipping on the ice. I also wound up marrying Mr. Collins and killing him by throwing a bible at him.

One must be very careful! I agreed to marry Mr. Darcy at one point, before the whole Lydia thing happened. Without the Lydia episode, Mr. Darcy hadn't yet proven how wonderful a man he really was. He and Lizzie spar constantly and they wind up unhappy. So not only do you have to do the right thing...you have to do it at the right time.

One completely unexpected thing happened: I found myself on a picnic with Jane Fairfax and Mr. Knightley. I somehow wandered out of Pride and Prejudice and into Emma. Apparently, Mr. Knightley is equally as good a match as Mr. Darcy.

I think this book would be a STELLAR review tool if one was reading Pride and Prejudice for school. If you don't know what Lizzie did when Mr. Collins proposed, you'll wind up married to him and failing in your mission. If you don't know what Old Money is, you'll make an ass out of yourself in front of society. If you don't act prudently and in the best interest of your family, you might find yourself wasting away in a debtor's prison. Beware!

One other thing - this book encourages you to keep track of Confidence points, List of Superior Connections, and things like that. It seemed too fussy for me and I didn't keep track. The book read just fine without keeping tabs on my Fortune points and things like that.

Oh, and I really disliked the pictures. Everyone kind of looked like an evil villain. But, they were easy to ignore.

All in all, FUN BOOK. Find it and read it. ( )

This book fall in the same concept bucket as the create-a-mysteries I read as a kid , where at the end of each section the reader makes a choice and then turns as directed to another part of the book. The idea is that there are lots of different stories to be created by the reader. In this book, the reader is Elizabeth Bennett, making decisions along the storyline of Pride and Prejudice. Different decisions lead Miss Elizabeth Bennett into other Austin novels, interacting with other characters. There are little quizzes along the way as well. The author haas a running commentary along the way as well, which I found quite humorous. This was a really fun book - loved imagining all of the Austin books intertwined like this. ( )

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

This book is amazing! It has several different endings, many of which involve characters from other Austen novels, but still managed to be original and completely entertaining. As an Austen fanatic, I loved the quizzes and inside jokes, and I'll be interested to hear how people unfamiliar with Austen react to it. ( )

This book is so much fun! You make decisions and answer questions and such as if you're Elizabeth Bennet. The author throws in characters and events from other Austen novels as well, though Pride and Prejudice is the main novel, obviously. It's also quite funny at times, and I very much enjoy it especially for the interactive part. ( )

I can not recommend this book enough for a Jane Austen fan. Miss Campbell Webster took a remarkable idea and created dozens of enchanting tales. What reader of Jane Austen hasn't ever wanted to choose what happens to Elizabeth Bennett? One might think, 'if only Lizzy hadn't gone to see the Collinses' or 'if only she had agreed to marry Mr. Darcy the first time he asked'. With this book, you are given the chance to decide. The commentary on Austen was incredibly witty and I was in love with the points system. Overall, I would say this is a must-read for any Austen fan. It was fantastic and I look forward to reading it again and again. ( )

Choose your own Jane Austen adventure. Yes, indeed you did hear me right. You are Lizzy Bennet, and your job is marry for love and prudently. I loved getting to choose which paths I took. In the book you could meet any of Austen's characters from Mr. Darcy to Captain Wentworth. This book was just so much fun! I got decide if I wished to go to Bath or London and in the end I married Mr. Darcy. It is a must read for Austen fans! ( )

This book is hilarious. Want to see what happens if Elizabeth Bennet had married Mr. Collins, or hadn't gone to Pemberly? It is a choose-your-own-adventure version of Pride and Prejudice. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My only problem with the book is that every ending I caught that wasn't the "right" ending was miserable. There weren't any that were just unhappy or dull. I wish there had been more of a range of possibilities. ( )

At first I was a little put off by the sassiness of the narrator, but as I kept reading I really enjoyed it. The choose your own adventure idea is a great way to be reminded of Austen's masterpieces in a fresh, fun, and funny way. I like how the author uses dialogue from the novels with her own narration. And the factoids are at the back and the quizzes dispersed throughout also make it interesting. I didn't really have high hopes for this given that nothing can beat the real Austen, but I couldn't resist buying it and don't regret it now. ( )

If I wanted a recap of Pride and Prejudice, I would have bought the CliffNotes. Quite a disappointment. ( )

This book is terrific fun, mostly because Webster writes all her commentary with a strangely endearing, saucy, and authoritative voice. The illustrations, however, don't move me much. Overall, the writing makes a clever game out of Austen, and (my favorite part) places you nicely in Lizzie's shoes. It's extremely well-planned and is sprinkled with surprisingly good trivia presented very enticingly, and any Austen fan would get hopelessly, happily lost in it. The structure is like that of the pick-your-own adventures books you may have read as a kid -- but, thankfully, this particular adventure is never frustrating, even if you doom yourself over and over, as I did, pathetically. A really...novel...idea. ( )

Very entertaining Create Your Own Adventure ( )

Can one ever get enough of Jane Austen? Forget about the game aspects of the book, such as counting up the points and listing your failings and accomplishments. Just enjoy the ride! ( )

Literary award winner its not...but as long as you expect campy scenarios and poor writing then you can just sit back and enjoy playing the role of Elizabeth Bennett.

http://tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com/... ( )

I really wanted to like this book, since I was a huge fan of Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and I am a big JA reader. I'm sure it was a challenge to write, but I'm not sure the author did such a great job.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The "good plot/ending" basically follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice - the reader's task is simply to make the same decisions that Austen had her characters make. That's not really much fun. There is one twist "good" ending, but it is kind of silly... I won't give that one away.

If the reader wants, s/he can make decisions other than the "right" ones. Some of these decisions lead the reader into the plots of other Austen novels (I think all are represented - I've encountered only the Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma plotlines so far), making decisions about the marriage partners contained therein. Nearly all the "wrong" decisions end in the death of the reader/main character - this death is usually really ridiculous and melodramatic. This might be an accurate reflection of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, but I was hoping for something that seemed more realistic within JA's universe. I just can't see Elizabeth Bennet committing suicide, no matter what happened.

The author's style was also a little odd. It felt at times like she simply lifted Austen's words straight from the texts. Not a lot of original work on that front. I also did not like the illustrations. ( )

My local bookseller didn't have this book, so I special ordered it. When they saw it, they thought it was so cool they ordered more.

I liked it. I was really into the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. It was fun to choose different things and end up in different storylines again. One thing I didn't like was there was a lot of paraphrasing of Pride and Prejudice. I practically have Austen’s book memorized and I just wanted to get to the choices instead of wading through the story. Another criticism is the illustrations. They seemed kind of vulgar to me. Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who has read at least two Jane Austen novels. It comes in paperback and is worth buying. ( )