Bre Indigo

This is a retelling of Northanger Abbey, only swap horror movies for gothic novels, and a summer job at a ranch for a season in Bath, and two cute partially-closeted teen gay boys for the central couple.

I will confess that I almost bailed in the early set-up for this book. It takes racism and homophobia head on, and our protagonist, Cade, does NOT want to take the summer ranch job, and once he does he is effectively trapped with no privacy, even sharing a bedroom with his stepdad who Cade is not out to and sometimes makes homophobic comments and THIS ALL FELT LIKE A LITTLE MUCH FOR A JANE AUSTEN RETELLING. But once Cade gets over the first week shock at his new job, the stress drops to a more tolerable level, and I think it does a good job balancing the Jane Austen vibes with the very real feelings of isolation and danger for queer kids in rural Texas. I'm glad I kept with it.… (mehr)

The first chapter is one-to-one, but the story develops into a conclusion that's fairly different but a good adaptation of Alcott's intentions. Lots of good details (the Marches are a blended family, Jo is gay, Amy likes video games and monster comics, Beth gets cancer and the girls shave their heads for her).

The language was a bit stilted. What teenager uses the word "deluded"? And why do we only refer to Mr. March as deployed to "the Middle East"? If we're avoiding naming a country for fear of the implications, I fear they're already there in his military service.

I also disagree with the characterization of Mrs. March. She was a more realistic mother figure in this, to the point that it no longer felt like Marmie at all. Absolutely do keep the exhaustion and frustrated moments, but she also needed more moments of wisdom and self-reflection. At one point, she finds out Amy was exploring some adult websites and her mother's response is to ground her. Why punish a child for being curious, especially since her curiosity means that Amy hadn't had a "talk" previously?… (mehr)