Veronica BennettCritiques

3.5 stars.
I loved that it was set during a period of history very rarely visited in historical fiction. However, I found the causalness of some of the conversations quite jarring and probably quite inaccurate to how they would have spoken

a fictional, though fairly historically accurate, take on Mary Shelley's early life. Mary falls in love with titled, nearly penniless poet Percy Shelley, and runs away with him. They, and her step-sister Jane/Claire Clairemont, live lives full of poetry and squalid emotional scenes amidst a sea of dead babies, suicides, and affairs. Their lives were amazingly tragic, but Bennett mostly manages to keep the book on an even keel. My one problem with this book was the constant, heavy-handed foreshadowing. For fans of this book, I'd recommend reading [b:Death and the Maidens: The Death of Fanny Wollstonecraft|1166343|Death and the Maidens The Death of Fanny Wollstonecraft|Janet M. Todd|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ytPtKU+VL._SL75_.jpg|1154030], a non-fiction look at the same family.

This is an interesting young adult book on the life of Jane Austen. It's well-written and nicely explores the sister's relationship.

"Cassandra's Sister" is a really interesting story of Jane Austen. There are a lot of facts packed into this story, and for casual Jane Austen fans it might be an interesting read.

I did struggle with this book for a couple of reasons. While the character "Jenny" or Jane rightfully uses the friends around her as inspiration for her stories, it is much too obvious for my liking. I could easily pick out which characters were from "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility," etc. I wish it had been a much subtler approach. In addition, The book itself reads like it is trying to be an Austen novel, but falls short.

I also struggled with Jane's character. For the first part of the novel she came across as very childish, and I had assumed she was 12 or 13. When I discovered that she is in fact 18 when the novel starts, I was surprised and could not find the maturity in her that I wanted.

Still, the book had a lot of charm, and there were a lot of details about Jane Austen that were really fun to read in a novel form. This story might be more appropriate for a younger audience, or for very casual fans of Jane Austen.

This is the story of Mary Shelley (author of 'Frankenstein') and her romance & life with poet Percy Shelley. Talks of her losses & joys and how events led to her famous book.

This was a really good book. Neither thoroughly enjoyed nor disliked...just good. Up until I read this, I had no idea Frankenstein was written by a woman. I was filled with emotion on all Mary's despairing times in her life. Although the author lets us know at the end of this story that it is 'based' off real events and people it is purely fictional...it was believable. Not exactly my cup of tea but entertaining.

Sam Gilbourne is frustrated with his life with the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Not that he doesn't love the theater, but after having played second fiddle to the striking William Hughes for so long, he longs to play a lead role. Soon Sam finds that his unassuming steadfastness does, in fact, win him the affection of the beautiful Lucie Cheetham. But their love is surely doomed to failure, for the niece of Lord Essex will never be permitted to wed a mere player, and her uncle's reckless behavior is risking the Queen's displeasure - and is sure to bring calamity upon the entire family.

There were some aspects of the story that seemed quite fresh - I rarely come across a Shakespearean tale where the dismantling of The Theatre and its move to Southwark. I thought that was a nice bit of fun. As for the rest of the story - to me, it dragged. The action stretches over almost three years, and while that allows for some time for Sam's relationship with Lucie to develop some, it also introduces an awful lot of downtime where not terribly much happens. Sam acts in plays and pines for Lucie. Lucie is forbidden from seeing Sam and pines for him. Sam has some existential angst over whether Lucie will love him if he has another profession (and whether he can bear another profession when he loves this one so much).

While their relationship was sweetly steadfast, it also simply wasn't terribly interesting. He sees her, she sees him, they fall madly in love, never do they doubt one another. Now all they must do is overcome the adverse circumstances. I mean, it was nice not to have to deal with a love triangle, but Sam and Lucie were simply a bit dull. No one really seemed to be trying to pull them apart, there was no imminent threat to their relationship. I just wanted more than niceness out of the two of them. I wanted a glimpse of passion (not to be confused with lust) between the two of them. Simply put, I was bored with their love story. And since that was most of the book, I didn't find myself eager to return to its pages.½

Just couldn't get in to this one. Sex, drugs, suicide, (everything but rock & roll!), and bloody gruesome detail. I didn't like Frankenstein, and am not a fan of fictionalizing the lives of real people, so although historically speaking pieces of it are riveting, it wasn't my cup of tea.

While there is not much facutal information about Austen's life, historical fiction writers have full reign over what they can imagine her life to have been like. It closely parallels the characters in Pride and Prejudice, and high school readers who loved that will also enjoy reading this book. The author carefully notes the fact that much of the novel is fictional and not necessarily factual. However, it does stay faithful to the time period. This would also enhance studies on social conditions such as the role of women in 19th century England, as there is discussion about women's status. The author gently imitates the style of Austen's writing, as it is told from her point of view. This is very engaging novel and highly recommnended.

A charming imagination of what Jane Austen's young womanhood may have been like. Written in a style reminiscent of the immortal Miss Austen while still being accessible to young readers, the story covers Jane's life from the ages of 19 through 27. Opening with the arrival of Jane's cousin Eliza de Feuillide after the death of her husband in the Terror of the French Revolution, the book follows Jane and her family through thwarted romances, family deaths and a move to Bath. Throughout, Jane writes her novels, sharing the details with her sister Cassandra, and using ideas from her own life and that of her acquaintances as fodder for her pen.

For those familiar with the life of Miss Austen, this is a charming, gentle interpretation of what might have been in those early years. For those who are not, perhaps it will intrigue them to learn more about this remarkable woman who wrote some of the finest novels ever set down on paper.

Cassandra's Sisters is both the best young adult book and the best Jane Austen based book that I have read recently. Cassandra's Sister explores the life of Jane Austen for a period of nearly ten years from her late teens to late twenties. We read about Jane's home, family, and associates as we see her travel the countryside, attend balls, and sit in her room and write novels based on her experiences.

Bennett does such a good job of conveying a sense of time and place that I had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of fiction and that some events may not have happened at all or in the way that they are described. Bennett does not weigh us down with extraneous or voyeuristic details that inhabit so many historical novels, yet she still manages to transport her readers back to Jane's world. Bennett also did a superb job of showing the emotions Jane might have felt watching her opportunities for marriage slip by in world that so valued marriage but provided such a small window for women to embark on it.

Though this book is marketed for young adults, it is highly recommended for Jane lovers of all ages.½

Angelmonster is the story of Mary Shelley's life in the years prior to her writing Frankenstein. Veronica Bennett's book is fictional but she has taken few liberties. Mary's early life with Shelley is quite dramatic on its own. The only noticeable change was that Mary wrote Frankenstein much earlier than is depicted in this book. I have read at least one biography of Mary Shelley and this felt like a shorter, more lovingly produced biography. There is nothing frightening about Angelmonster but if you wondered a bit about the origin of the Frankenstein story this book is easily absorbed. If you only know Frankenstein in the Hollywood version you might want to read the book. It is considerably more complex and nuanced than most of the film versions. The notable exception is the DeNiro film which adheres to the original story.

I'm not sure how much teens would appreciate this book about Jane Austen as a young woman, but I liked it.

Oh, here we go. I thought. Another book about boys trying to do ballet.

But this one was different. Erik Shaw has been dancing for years, loves it, and wants to get into the Royal Ballet School more than anything. He drops football without a thought, changes teachers when his teacher falls ill, goes forth to compete when encouraged to.

So the story is no longer about 'just a boy' trying to be a ballet dancer, but about a gifted dancer, who hasn't really had the best training, trying to get to the audition without alienating the girl he's fallen for. This is a really great story, with an interesting look (on the side) at families and family abuse.