Customer Reviews

Relations Such As These

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You know, I would have given this probably a 4 1/2 to 5 star rating, as the plot itself was quite good...but, then, the author took a turn that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, when she started exploiting Darcy's and Elizabeth's sex life (before and after marriage!)....I guess there is a market for these types of books, but I wish the publishers would forewarn the public by putting notes or even rating the contents as they do the movies, so the unaware would be made aware before they make the purchase! This is just my opinion, but I know there are other readers, many other readers! who agree with me. The characters that Jane Austen created should not be exploited like they are by so many authors out there with sexual content...the sex doesn't make the story good, the originality and creativity of the plot is what makes the story good!

This story had some unique twists and turns compared to other Pride and Prejudice variations, and had real potential. However, the grammar, punctuation, spelling, paragraph delineations, and just plain use of words in the wrong way convinced me that: 1) The author is not a native English speaker; 2) The author did not read any of this after writing it; 3) NO proofreading or editing was done by ANYONE!!! There were multiple errors just in the two page Prologue, and it went downhill from there. All of these provided too many distractions that took away from the story. Sometimes it was just plain difficult to determine what the author was really trying to say. It was especially difficult to follow the dialogue, since the author has no concept of how to use quotation marks in conjunction with dialogue.

In addition, a couple of characters had their names changed during the course of the story. For example, in the early stages, Elizabeth receives a letter from her aunt, and it is signed "Mildred Gardiner". Later in the book her aunt is called Madeline.

I would not waste your money on this book. It was quite a bit more expensive than most other P&P variations, and definitely NOT worth the money!

I first read this story on a Jane Austen fan fiction website and liked it very much, so when I saw it had been published I ordered it immediately. If you like a good, solid romance about Darcy and Elizabeth, with quickly resolved angst, this book is for you. You won't be disappointed that you bought it.

The reason I gave it four stars instead of five had nothing to do with the story itself, but everything to do with the errors I found, especially the lack of proper punctuation and, at times, sentence structure. Ms. O'Brien is a very talented writer, but her story sorely needed a good editor.

The main premise of Relations Such As These shows good promise--the idea that Mr. Darcy's family is much worse than Elizabeth Bennet's uncles in trade and her silly mother. Lady Catherine, her nephew James Fitzwilliam (elder son of the Earl of ____), and Caroline Bingley all scheme to compromise Elizabeth and Jane Bennet and so to prevent their marriage to Darcy and to Bingley respectively. There seems little structure in the development of these plots, whose main purpose in the storyline seems to be to justify an early, secret marriage between the two couples. At least three secondary storylines dilute the main thrust of the plot--the business with the Fitzwilliam brothers and the pregnant mistress (seemingly included only to separate temporarily Darcy and Elizabeth), Lady Catherine's suppression of her father's will, and the longtime animosity between Richard and James, which is never explained.

The second main storyline is the developing sexual relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth. Its direction is indicated in Chapter 1, with Lizzy spying on Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Bingley skinny-dipping in a pond. No one doubts that Elizabeth and Darcy probably have a satisfying sex life after their marriage, but repeated detailed description of premarital sex, complete with sound effects ("Oooooooooooohhhh... do not stop... uuuuuuuuummmm..."), is too much information, as is the detailed depiction of Lizzy's labor to deliver the Darcy twins, again complete with sound effects. All three major couples--Darcy and Lizzy, Jane and Bingley, Caroline Bingley and James Fitzwilliam--anticipate their marriage vows. It isn't clear but what Jane is pregnant when married, since she and Bingley had been intimate several times while she was ill at Netherfield. These are not Jane Austen's characters.

Shifting point of view between Elizabeth, Darcy, Caroline Bingley, Lady Catherine, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and James Fitzwilliam makes it had to identify with any of them. There seems to have been no copy-editing on the book. It is full of errors that a grammar-check program should have caught: misuse of commas and apostophes; run-on sentences; use of dots to separate words; and problems with quotation marks and other punctuation in dialogue. Spell-check programs do not catch homophones. Editing problems are great enough to make it difficult to grasp what Ms. O'Brien is saying in several places. This reads like an unedited first draft, rather than a published novel.

There are many better Pride and Prejudice variations than this one. The story was okay but it was in need of much revision. The spelling, and punctuation was terrible. There were long conversations about nothing; every speech in the book was full of "...well..." over and over. The incidents themselves were repetitive or misplaced. For example, Darcy tells Colonel Fitzwilliam twice that he is engaged to Elizabeth, then tells the Colonel's brother about the engagement while the Colonel is in the room. The text says "Both brothers are surprised at the news." What is the Colonel surprised about? This is the third time he's heard it!

Pride & Prejudice variation, very good. On one of her walks, Elizabeth sees Darcy, Bingley, and Colonel Fitzwilliam swimming in one of the ponds. Colonel Fitzwilliam (Richard) ends up persuing Elizabeth first, but he leaves because he finds out he made his mistress pregnant. Darcy and Elizabeth then fall for each other. Richard's brother, James, is the villian in this book. Turns out James had the same mistress as Richard and it's his child. Miss Bingley and Lady Catherine are also really mean and scheme with James to try to stop Darcy from marrying Elizabeth. There are some good steamy scenes with Darcy and Elizabeth, and they end up very happy together. James ends up stuck marrying Miss Bingley as their scheming backfires. Richard marries Anne.

I hadn't read much about this book but since it was a P&P sequel I decided to buy it. I liked it very much. I was pleasantly surprised.
I love when the "lovers" have obstacles and overcome them and in this book they have many.
"The Library Scene" is great.
My biggest negative is sometimes I had to figure out who was talking. But that did not keep me from enjoying the book.

The story is ok, but the book is very poorly edited. I assume it is self-published. The author presents a story where Darcy is the one with relations that are questionable.

I really enjoyed this book! I am a great fan of the Austen Sequel genre and this is one of the best ones I have read. The only thing I would have liked to know before I read it is more about other books by the same author. She seems to have a through knowledge of the Austen style and period. The story is well written and true to the original.