Attempting Elizabeth by Jessica Grey
Publication date: January 24th 2013
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Source: ecopy from Author
Synopsis:
Kelsey Edmundson is a geek and proud of it. She makes no secret of her love for TV, movies, and, most especially, books. After a bad breakup, she retreats into her favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice, wishing she had some of the wit and spirit of Elizabeth Bennett.
One night at a party Kelsey meets handsome Australian bartender Mark Barnes. From then on, she always seems to run into him when she least expects it. No matter how Kelsey tries, she always seems to say the wrong thing.
After a particularly gaffe-filled evening around Mark, Kelsey is in desperate need of inspiration from Jane Austen. She falls asleep reading Darcy’s letter to Lizzy and awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar place that looks and sounds suspiciously like her favorite book. Has she somehow been transported into Pride and Prejudice, or is it just a dream?
As Kelsey tries to discover what’s happening to her, she must also discover her own heart. Is Mark Barnes destined to be her Mr. Darcy? In the end, she must decide whether attempting to become Elizabeth is worth the risk or if being Kelsey Edmundson is enough.
Attempting Elizabeth is a fun read. I love Pride and Prejudice and I know there are quite a few young adult stories that follow the same plot idea, but I am always a sucker for a new spin on the classic. Attempting Elizabeth kind of reminded me a little bit of Austentacious by Alyssa Goodnight, which I loved! It had kind of a magical feel to the story.
I liked Kelsey. I related to her love of book characters, and I connected with how she connected with Elizabeth herself. (if that makes any sense) I commonly find myself wishing I was more like the super witty, or sassy or totally kick butt heroines in my favorite books. At first, I was a little worried about Kelsey because I liked her as a character but I didn’t love her. I can’t really pinpoint a reason why. She didn’t annoy me, she wasn’t a mary jane, but for some reason I was just kind of meh about her. And then as the book went on, and I got more and more into the story, I realized that I was kind of meh about her because she didn’t even really know who she wanted to be yet. Attempting Elizabeth is completely about Kelsey finding herself and finding out who she really is as a person. This is her coming of age story. And that is really kind of beautiful.
I thought Kelsey going back and forth between the book and real life was a really cool plot idea. I loved the back and forth and I thought that Jessica Grey did an excellent job with that aspect of the story. And then of course she also did a great job with Mark. I loved Mark and his adorable accent. The romance is kind of slow going for a while in the book, but that was ok for me because this book was so much more about Kelsey’s personal journey. At least I thought so anyways. Attempting Elizabeth was the perfect lighthearted read for me right now. I think fans of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen will really appreciate and enjoy this book.
Jessica Grey is an author, fairytale believer, baseball lover, and recovering Star Wars fangirl. A life-long Californian, she now lives in Montana with her husband and two children where she spends her time writing, perfecting the fine art of preschooler-wrangling, and drinking way too much caffeine.
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Giselle
Wouldn’t it be awesome to go to and from our fictional worlds? 🙂 I’m not even sure which one I would decide to visit >.< It’s a cool concept though and it sounds like it gave an entertaining read as well! Glad you liked it, Michelle!
Britney Gulbrandsen
This looks like a cute, fun read! Thanks for the review.