Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix

As a trans man, this book had me engulfed from page one. It brought me to tears several times, and it was wonderful to see myself in a book character. Something I'm so rarily able to do.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
0🌶 (YA)

This reimagined version of Pride & Prejudice features Oliver Bennet (born Elizabeth), a boy fighting to find ways to be himself in the restrictive world of Regency era England. We have a cast of characters you think you know, but with quite a few new twists and turns.

I've read and reviewed multiple novels by Gabe before, and once again he has a wonderful ability to bring the reader inside the mind of a character going through the extremely difficult battle of making who you are to the world match who you are inside. We ride the roller coaster of emotional turmoil with Oliver as he navigates the complexities of a society ruled by limiting expectations for women, and the struggle much closer to show more home of being accepted for who he is within the confines of his own family. I laughed and cried with Oliver, and loved being with him on this journey as he fought for a life where his happiness is rooted in just getting to be himself.

I have a hardcopy of this for my shelf, but bless the library for giving me the audio version so I could listen to this in one day. Highly recommend it, and all of Gabe's other novels.

On another note, I love the way this book took a story so many know well and turned it on it's head. It's such a great way to bring readers into a world they think they know, while introducing them to characters and concepts they might not otherwise be familiar with. I'll definitely have to check out more in this Remixed Classics series!

Bonus note (sort of spoiler): The dad in this reminds me of the dad in Call Me By Your Name and I love that vibe for him. show less

London, 1812 . Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he's forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society's expectations. The world―and the vast majority of his family and friends―think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone's wife.

But Oliver can't bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family's home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It's during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to "Elizabeth" at show more a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive.

As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man to be possible. But suitors are growing bolder―and even threatening―and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he's not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own show less

This book warmed my black soul so much!! It was delightful and sweet and just all around wonderful.

The familiar characters are still present, along with many of the more popular quotes. Of course, the major shift is in Oliver’s (Elizabeth) thoughts on his dysphoria and societal expectations. Even without the transgender aspect the societal expectations for women in this time period leave a lot to be desired. For instance, Charlotte in this book is in a romantic/sexual relationship with a woman, who’s husband is off fighting in the war therefore can visit Charlotte frequently. Yet, Charlotte still wants to be married, to settle for a life of domestication with a man. It offers her security. No matter your opinions on the Alphabet show more Mafia (but if you’re at my blog I’d hope they’d be positive), the fact that women had such few options and so little say in their futures was horrid.

The tension in the story is not Wickham going off with Lydia but actually finding out about Oliver and Elizabeth being the same person. Those few chapters/pages were horrific to read because of how Wickham acts. Obviously, we’re all used to Wickham being a villainous character. In this novel, it’s ratcheted up a few notches were Wickham’s focus on finding a wife and breeding her just makes you want to vomit (or at least it did for me).

The historical aspect was stretched quite a bit in the book. Did I really care? Nope! I want all the happily ever afters for my historically queer peoples/couples. However, I do want to point out that all of Oliver’s family was accepting of him and supportive, not just with him being a boy but his relationship with Darcy. There’s also some legalities at the end that could be argued their a bit far-fetched. Novoa does have an historical note commenting about why he wrote it this way. Plus, it’s supposed to be a YA romance novel. I didn’t read this to be historically accurate! show less

Delightful and real trans representation. I really connected with Oliver's experiences. The romance is sweet and the 'double identity' aspect was well done. Oliver's joy as he grows into himself and comes out to those around him was wonderful to witness. The ending was a good one and it gave me a feeling of hope for the future.
As someone who has seen and read many a Pride and Prejudice adaptation and remake this is by far one of my favorites. It manages to stay true to the original story while weaving in new elements and making it queer. The writing was lovely and you should definitely read it.

A very wholesome pride and prejudice queer retelling. It is the cutest romance! If you also love happy endings, then this book is for you. It was easy to connect with the characters and understand where they were coming from.

Only knocking one star off for the ending. The book builds up this serious plot line heeding that there will be serious consequences! But instead everything gets wrapped in a nice little bow and a kiss on the cheek once the time comes. Happy endings are awesome but it contradicted with the majority of what we were seeing in the plot.

teen fiction - Pride and Prejudice with Lizzie Bennett recast as gay trans boy Oliver, and Darcy's gayness is mostly what makes him initially snub Oliver-dressed-as-a-girl. Set in rainy/muddy London and nearish country estates, during the Regency Era (with girls wearing busks and needing horse carriages, etc.). Author is also trans and also provides interesting notes at the end about historical accuracy of queer people during that time frame.

This is a fun one. I've never really taken to P&P, but I can easily enjoy the romance between these two (necessarily closeted, in those days) baby queers. Oliver's gender is only known by very few people--his older sister Jane, neighboring cousin Charlotte, a random Uncle--so he is misgendered a show more LOT, and also suffers through a lot of body dysmorphia. show less