I have a confession: I could’v blogged yesterday, but I actively chose not to 😬🤭

I knowwww, I know, it broke my blogging streak, but y’all I can’t express how TIRED I am these days. As much as I love my new job, and I love what I do, trying to get used to the schedule has proved a little more challenging, and it takes a little longer than I thought it would. So really, Sundays are truly my main days to relax, but in reality, I end up doing all the things I need to get done (or some of them), and not being able to actually sit down until close to 8pm.

ANYWAYS, you didn’t come here to read my excuses and explanations, you came here to read my review on the latest book I read: The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch.

background.

If you’re Pride and Prejudice fan, then you may just love this book! Those of us who know, know: Lydia, the youngest Bennet sister, is a major troublemaker; spoiled, flighty, and foolish! To the point in which we all basically hate her 😂 Melinda Taub writes the events of Jane Austen’s famous novel in Lydia’s perspective, adding that she is a witch. And her sister Kitty, whom she is extremely close with, is an actual barn cat. Wickham is just as evil as we all believed him to be, and the events of P&P transpired as they did because of some underlying magical events.

what I liked.

Really, I liked this book as a whole! I loved that while we still got bits of the P&P re-telling, it was mostly a whole new story simply fitting into Austen’s timeline. I didn’t know if anyone could make me actually be fond of Lydia Bennet, but Taub did a wonderful job, not only making Lydia relatable, but also explaining her immature actions so well to the point in which I kind of believed it happened that way, for real!

I love that Taub added a ‼️black character‼️, Miss Maria Lambe. Even though she was rude at first, the friendship that grows between Lydia and Maria is sweet. Plus, we didn’t get any black people in the OG P&P, so I love me some good representation! Especially when the black woman turns out to be extremely powerful!

what I didn’t like.

There wasn’t much that I didn’t like. I think the only thing I would’ve wanted to see would be more distinct breaks and/or headings to distinguish past and present. But really, Taub wrote this book the way we all probably would have imagined Lydia writing this account – in detail, going from present day to the past to explain her story, pausing to explain some things in depth, etc.

I also didn’t realize she was writing a letter the whole time…was that a spoiler? My bad…

favorite character?

This is actually quite tough because there was so much growth in every character! Well, not EVERY character…you’ll just have to read it to know what I mean.

least favorite character?

Mary King, or Harriet Forster. Either one of these ladies could get this award! Just nasty characters 😭

overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I joined GoodReads recently to keep track of my reading goals, and after reading other people’s reviews of books, I wonder if I’m being too generous with my reviews 😂 So many people don’t give out 5 stars for what they read, even if they really like it. Personally, I think that’s too critical; if you loved it, then give the book 5 stars, damn it! There’s no reason to be hindering an amazing review just because.

Any P&P fan should definitely read this. If you aren’t a P&P fan, well, I suggest you read the OG book, the watch the film with Kiera Knightley in it, then start reading the spin off versions of this story. Apparently the zombie version wasn’t that great (oof), but there are so many other versions to try, like this lovely one!

Mishy 🦋📖