Reading Record DNF 2

 Ugh.

I should definitely stop buying books on a whim just because they sound good.

The book should have been good.

The concept was great:  a sapphic sequel to Pride and Prejudice (one of my all-time favorite books) featuring Mr. Darcy's sister and one of Elizabeth Bennet Darcy's sisters.

What could go wrong, right?

And yet, I struggled to finish the first chapter.

I was already unimpressed by the book's characterization of Georgiana Darcy and the way it took an "easy out" by claiming that she hadn't actually been trying to elope with Wickham, but that he had been blackmailing her after seeing her kissing a girl.  But I figured I could deal with it.  That it would surely pull me in after Miss Bennet arrived.

Then Georgiana referred to her brother by name.  But she didn't call him "Fitzwilliam" or any variation thereon.

She called him "Darcy."

I...

I...

How in the flying $@&@! does a sequel to Pride and Prejudice get published in which the author couldn't be bothered to get one of the main characters' names right?!?!?

Yes, I know "Fitzwilliam" feels like a very strange name to a modern reader.  And yes, I was disappointed to learn that was his name the first time I read Pride and Prejudice, as my little teenage heart had been quite smitten by Mr. Darcy, a definite first for a words-on-the-page-only character.  But I would still never write fanfic (and that is absolutely what this book was!) without getting his name right!

I spent a day agonizing about whether or not to force myself to keep reading.

I have decided against it.  There is just no reason to torture myself like that.

Hopefully the next book off my shelf will be better.  (Though everything on my to-read shelf at least has the advantage that it's not a lazy sequel to a piece of classic literature.  There is one that seems to be doing a riff on a piece of classic literature, but as I haven't actually read Water Margin, that's fine, because even if that riff is egregious in comparison, I won't know.  But that's not LGBTQIA+ (as far as I can tell) so it's for next month or later.)

(Thankfully, the two impulse buys I made last time I was at the bookstore are guaranteed to be better than this was, because I've read other books by that author, and quite enjoyed them.)

Original language:  English