Review: The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet by Natasha Farrant

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

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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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