Mary B. is a wonderful addition to the world of Pride and Prejudice and focuses on middle sister Mary. Overall, I liked the idea of focusing on a character who is mostly known as just that---a sister (and boy, does she have a lot of sisters!).

One aspect of this novel that I particularly liked was how Mary finds comfort in reading---definitely something I can relate to.

Overall, this book was well written and held my interest, unlike so many Pride and Prejudice spin-offs. I highly recommend this novel.

I applauded Chen for her boldness and undoubtedly controversial version of what became of Mary Bennett. An ardent and impressive debut novel in my opinion. I must add Chen possesses a tight and seamless writing style which added to the narrative. Mary wasn’t the happiest, of course, who could blame her? Constantly reminded by all of her shortcomings concerning attractiveness, being the preverbal classic middle child she was virtually invisible and disregarded. Despite the constant negativity, Mary impressively held her own despite the uncomfortable and hurtful people and environment surrounding her. I found myself reading completely through Mary’s eyes while swallowing everyone and everything only made Chen’s retelling even more intense. I had no idea what to expect when I began reading but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed the story with certitude. I was pleasantly surprised and I will read more from Katherine Chen. Zero predictability, lots for the reader to ponder, and rebellious enough to stir readers which is always a fabulous indicator of original insight and gifted author.

This was a cute variation on a best loved Jane Austen novel. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it, though because, believe it or not, pride and prejudice is probably my third favorite behind sense and sensibility and northanger abbey. I do suggest that the reader have read P and P before tackling this book or he/she may be a tad lost and won’t enjoy the emphasis and exaggeration of character traits. I gratefully thank the publisher, author and NG for the free copy of this book for my review.

The book was okay. I don't read much of books like this but so far, I had a great time reading this.

If you like Jane Austen retellings and/or books inspired by Jane Austen's novels and characters then chances are you'd enjoy this one! It was better than the usual Janeite novels that come out. Good writing and inventive on this character with her own story to tell. I enjoyed it.

You know that feeling you got when you read anything from 50 Shades for the first time, and you thought ‘what a shame this was published over XYZ authors who have written really amazing stuff but didn’t get picked up by a publisher’? That’s how I felt reading this. This is pretty much the most Mary Sue of Austen works that has been mass-marketed recently.

In this story Mary Bennet is the better reader among her sisters, the most helpful in a home, the most sisterly in her family, the most enticing to every major male character that comes her way.

She’s Mary Bennet (Sue). Don’t get me wrong, I think Mary Bennet deserves some hopeful story, but this is too perfect. It reads as a fanfiction.net wish-fulfillment that just goes too far. Sure, in many people’s head-canon Collins is a good fit for Mary. But Mr. Darcy falling in love with Mary? Mary becoming an author? Lizzy being more concerned with parties and money? Mary having a fuck buddy outside of marriage?

There’s a whole lot going on here and after the first part of the book, when Collins marries Charlotte, I think the story didn’t need to go on, at least not in the way it did with Mary being a complete Mary Sue.

I read this book a while ago and apparently overlooked leaving a review. I give the author credit for the attempt at a continuation of Mary Bennett's life story, but I never felt the interest in her situation as I did Lizzie's and Jane's.

I absolutely loved this book and will highly and frequently recommend it to my customers! Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance copy!

Not captivated by this story, it just never caught my full attention or enough to hold me until the end.

You can tell how much Katherine loved Pride and Prejudice. Such an interesting idea for a debut novel!! I loved the first chapter -- it sets up the book so well and made me want to keep reading. I think anyone who loved the sisters will enjoy Katherine's take on their life.

I was curious to read about the quiet sister, Mary Bennet, in this reimagined tale of the Bennets. While the writing was solid, I was unable to commit to the characters as described in the novel; they lacked complexity and were fairly unlikeable. It is difficult for any author to rewrite a classic, and I feel this novel does not stand up to the original. That said, if the reader has not read Pride and Prejudice, it may be a light and interesting story.

I love Pride and Prejudice, so when I read the description of this book, I got really excited! Except, I forgot how boring Mary is, and unfortunately I found this book to be quite boring as well. I honestly just could not get into it and ended up DNFing about 1/3 of the way in.

So I love Pride and Prejudice and have enjoyed the various retellings, sequels, and other perspectives that have been rampant in the publishing world in the past few years. The idea of lesser Bennett sister, Mary, getting her own novel intrigued me.

Mary may be the most overlooked Bennett sister, but this gave her a sympathetic voice and a chance to tell her own story. Katherine Chen is able to make Mary almost as compelling as Elizabeth Bennett in in the original Pride & Prejudice. Truly an enjoyable novel and I would love to read more by Katherine Chen.

Thank you to Net Galley for the Advance Copy.

Did Not Finished. The writing felt forced and I didn't enjoy it. I think it is hard to take the most underdeveloped character that didn't really have any redeeming qualities and attempt to tell the Pride and Prejudice story from that perspective.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.

3.5 stars

In Mary B: A Novel, Katherine J. Chen offers a bold, distinctive take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, placing arguably the most forgettable of the Bennet sisters at the forefront of the story. In Chen’s hands, Mary Bennet is flawed, sympathetic, creative, astute, and occasionally clueless. This book forever changes how I’ll see Mary and her potential, and that’s what I love about a classic re-telling—how it encourages a reader to see an established character from another perspective, particularly if the characters are villainized or, in the case of Mary, on the periphery of the original.

As in Pride and Prejudice, in Mary B, Mary’s often isolated from her family—the target of their jokes and ignored by the father she wants to connect with—and mocked for being “plain” by both outsiders and loved ones. But in Chen’s version, where we see the world from Mary’s perspective, we’re also privy to the lovely depths of Mary’s character, her wit, her secret wishes and dreams, and how they become less “secret” as the book progresses.

Other characters from the original are also fleshed-out in this version; we learn more about why Mr. Collins is the way he is and another possible motivation for Lizzy’s turnaround when it comes to Darcy. And Chen also takes Austen’s characters into a future that Austen didn’t. In Chen’s book, though Mary suffers heartbreak, she also seems to be one of the happier of the Bennet sisters. Most troubling, for devotees of the classic, is how Chen writes Darcy and Lizzy and their marriage, which is not the HEA which most of us have likely envisioned.

Another thing that Chen’s version has to offer? The writing is elegant and the sentence construction sophisticated and yet warm. I loved slipping inside Mary B’s worldview—she’s a writer who doesn’t even realize it until well into the book.

Though I was proud of how Mary takes more agency within her life, the ending of the novel feels a bit odd to me: her relationship with Darcy is such a big part of the book and then, in the last pages, the stasis they’ve been in is about to be shaken up. I have a hard time seeing where their story will go next, which likely wouldn’t matter, except that in my reading of Chen’s book, their relationship is so integral to Mary’s own story. Indeed, Mary’s own story is told in relation to her experience with men throughout most of the novel.

On one hand, it’s exciting to imagine a future vision of Mary unmoored by the expectations and pressures and disappointments of her past; on the other, it’s a possibility that’s introduced in a rushed way, and with no final sense of how Darcy fits in. Perhaps he doesn’t—can’t—and that’s the point.

Overall, Mary B has much to offer readers—and a character often dismissed by Austen fans.

All beloved characters are subject to assassination. Mary Bennett is revisioned. Things that she said or did in P&P are tossed out the window. She longs to be beautiful and loved. She is envious and argumentative and unkind. Additionally she's plain, dirty and pimply. I feel this is written well. I had to finish to the end to see where it went. I like some of the ideas it contains, and I really like the main one of writing from Mary's perspective. But otherwise this is not worth reading. Unrealistic according to P&P canon. Basically it was as if Chen saw herself as Mary and then set about to destroy all those she felt had hurt or neglected her.

When it says a “new perspective on the classic”, I just need to walk away. I love Jane Austen, I want more Jane Austen, but I just have to admit it’s not possible, no matter how many takes on Pride and Prejudice I try to read. The charm and candor of the original was missing in this one.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I only got 30 pages in. I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and Pride Prejudice as well. I knew Mary may be a difficult to read about. However, I was not expecting to run into such a minefield of issues with Mary so quickly. But I did. I find her character loathsome from the beginning and just couldn't bring myself to read any further than I did. It really is unfortunate.

A tribute novel for Pride and Prejudice fans, this delves into the oft forgotten Mary and everything that makes her more interesting than she has historically been given credit for.

I did not finish - I have tried reading this book on multiple occasions and just could not get into it.