The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet by Natasha Farrant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Scholastic
Publication Date: October 25th 2016
Publisher: The Chicken House
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 11+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, Retellings
BLURB:
Lydia is the youngest of the five Bennet girls. She’s stubborn, never listens, and can’t seem to keep her mouth shut — not that she would want to anyway. She wishes her older sisters would pay her attention, or that something would happen in her boring country life.
Luckily, that something is right around the corner, and it’s the handsome Wickham, who arrives at Longbourn to sweep her off her feet. Lydia’s not going to let him know THAT, of course, especially since he only seems to be interested in friendship. But when they both decide to summer in the fasionable seaside town of Brighton, their paths inevitably become entangled again.
At the seaside, Lydia also finds exciting new ways of life and a pair of friends who offer her a future she would have never dreamed possible. Lydia finally understands what she really wants. But can she get it?
Oh Lydia, why must you be so clueless?
Lydia is one of those characters who you cannot fully love but neither can you fully hate. She is so very flawed but so very young and human also, and because of that, we can’t exactly blame her for everything.
In ‘‘The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet,’’ we get a behind the scenes of what happens to Lydia when she leaves for Brighton. Since it’s written in journal entries, we get every one of Lydia’s thoughts and adventurers—more like misadventures.
I definitely took pleasure in the writing style and narration. Lydia is a vivid character, therefore it is impossible for her to bore us. BUT, since she isn’t the most attentive of people and quite single-minded, she can get extremely annoying.
The problem is… the only things she thinks about are boys and marriage and becoming rich. Those are shallow thoughts, in my opinion, and it didn’t make the romance more romantic. In the contrary, since money is so important to her and the idea of ‘‘marrying up’’ keeps flooding her mind, it took away from the romanticism.
I’m a diehard fan of novels written in journal entries, which is why I was entertained and interested from the very beginning. The letters also contributed to that. BUT, I wouldn’t be so sure someone who is not a fan of those will enjoy this very much.
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This seem like an entertaining read and since it is three stars rating from you I can imagine I’d like it.
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The blurb looks promising! But I agree, some characters are just more difficult to love and relate with than others! I’m definitely checking this one out!
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I love Jane Austen and most of the retellings but I’m not a huge fan of journal entries for some reason so I don’t know if this will work for me or not. Thanks for the honest review!
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i do read every PP I find, so sure, but would I like it…who knows
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I don’t know whether to read this or not lol. I do want to know what she was thinking the whole time, but she might annoy me way too much.
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Have you read The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet yet? 🙂
I might give this a try since I love journal entries like you!
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No, I have not! But I desperately want to! 😀 I think you’ll enjoy this!
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I appreciate when books go a different route and do journal style or something different in general.
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