Told from the point of view of Darcy’s younger sister’s recovery from Wickham’s perfidious actions, the book positively sings with vibrancy and angst as she tries to regain her bearings. The men are younger than Austen’s, the setting is modern, and the context for shame differs, and gloriously, the power of strife lifts with the strength of Georgie’s intention to overcome. Highly recommend this skilled and glorious retelling of the Austen classic.

I love a good P&P retelling and this was just that. The twist of being in Georgiana Darcy's point of view as she navigates life in her elite present day high school, Pemberley — totally great! An enjoyable book and I would like to read the next in the series which is based on Northanger Abbey.

A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

Accomplished is a cute modernization of the tale of the Georgina Darcy character from Pride and Prejudice. Georgina is an out-of-touch wealthy heiress who finds herself implicated in a drug scandal at her posh private school, and only has her already overwhelmed college-aged brother Fitz for support and guidance.

Very cute story. Loved the audio narration.

This was a really cute book. I’m a big fan of Jane Austen and Jane Austen fan fiction, and this was another great P&P retelling that I’m happy to add to my collection. This book follows a modern version of Georgiana Darcy (Georgie, in this series) as she goes on a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance

I love that the title is a nod to the original Pride and Prejudice and hints at the idea of an “accomplished woman”. Though Jane Austens writing treats her ideas on accomplishments with sarcasm, it echoes the established regency expectations of well-bred women. The Regency era was a time when women were expected to fit within a very small box.

“Oh, certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and, besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved." -- on accomplishments, from the original text of Pride & Prejudice

So I love that this book turns this idea on its head, and modernizes the idea of what it means to be an accomplished woman in the 21st century.

This is a good YA fanfic for P&p, And Georgie’s thoughts and feelings and fears are very in-line with the YA genre. She is trying to better herself and make a comeback after a mistake shes made. It does start out very rich-girl trope, after the “Wickham incident”, where Georgie has lost all her friends and is kind of snobby and talks a lot about money, and I didn't really understand the secrecy behind it all. But her character arc showed a lot of growth by the end. She didn't really start doing anything until chapter 4, when the reason she was shunned by her school was finally revealed, and there was some unsatisfactory plot convenience

Darcy was my favorite character in this retelling, he gets all the caring overprotective big brother vibes. I loved him, but tbh he’s my all-time hero and I liked his character. I WAS surprised that I disliked Georgiana, but by the end, I was proud of her growth.

Must read if you like
-nyc setting
-band geeks
-jane Austen fanfic

This was a creative retelling! I enjoyed reading it. It felt light and fun to page through? And I liked the modern version of Georgiana Darcy.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars!

I love a story that is based on classic literature, and thought this was a fun take on Pride and Prejudice. The characters were detailed and complex, making it a great retelling.

Georgie is the black sheep of her family, a Junior who has just returned to school after being involved in a scandal involving Wickham Foster last year.

The audiobook was narrated by Deva Marie Gregory, a new narrator for me, who I really enjoyed listening to.

*many thanks to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio/Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I really wanted to love this one, but struggled to get into it. I think it just read a little younger than I had hoped and it wasn't resonating for me. I'm betting this will be a great read for younger readers though!

A phenomenal listen! This was a great listen, a breath of fresh air to what I typically read. I loved this contemporary, retelling of pride and prejudice! I love when classic books get a modern day twist! This will be my auto recommend for anyone!

Accomplished
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 7/26/22
Author: Amanda Quain
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrator: Deva Marie Gregory
GR: 3.69

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Georgiana Darcy may have escaped expulsion because of her family name, but she didn’t escape the scorn of the entire school. But she’s back for her junior year, and she needs to prove to everyone—Fitz, Wickham, her former friends, and maybe even herself—that she’s more. With the help of her fellow bandmate, Avery, matchmaking ideas lifted straight from her favorite fanfics. But when the weight of being the Perfect Darcy comes crashing down, Georgie will have to find her own way before she loses everything permanently—including the one guy who sees her for who she really is.

My Thoughts: The story starts a little slow but started to pick up around 25% into the story. Georgie is such an amazing character and the perfect heroine, it is not hard to connect to her, and root for her throughout the story. This is a fantastic spin on Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with a boarding school romance trope. The narrator does a really amazing job enhancing the character voices and creating emotion in the characters. The characters were developed well with depth, witty banter, charisma, and creatively explored. The author’s writing style was complex, endearing, funny, and kept me engaged for the entire story. Quain does an excellant job on expanding on a secondary character from Pride and Prejudice. If you are a fan of Austen’s work, or even if you aren’t not, I believe you would enjoy this fun contemporary YA book. It is already out!

Fun take on Pride and Prejudice! While the protagonist was not always my favorite, the cast of characters throughout picked up the slack. Bingley as a college student 100% hit the mark!

A fun update of Pride and Prejudice that brings fresh life to the story. Quain's story was original and gave Georgie Darcy an unexpected and entertaining story. I would happily read more stories in this universe.

Absolutely charmed by Georgie and this retelling of P+P. The characters were richly imagined, and the modern setting was well-thought-out. There were moments I wanted to live in forever, and moments I cringed so hard. Georgie grew so much and was pushed to become the best person she could. I cannot wait to see what's next from Amanda Quain.

DNF at 34%
I will always and forever love a retelling or spin off of a Jane Austen book. It could be my mood, it could be the book. Either way, I wasn't invested in Georgie. I wanted more of Fitz if anything and Wickham was completely slimey.
Deva Marie Gregory is well suited for a young voice and POV. I would be willing to try another audio featuring her narration.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I really liked this! Not necessarily a re-telling of Pride & Prejudice, it was a view of Georgiana Darcy's life set in modern times which I can't say I've read before. Georgie could get a little too typical teenage angsty for me at times but I did love her, and enjoyed seeing her grow into herself. The narrator was perfect for this!

Amanda Quain’s Accomplished is a modern retelling of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice from the first-person POV of Georgiana Darcy—Fitzwilliam Darcy’s younger sister. It explores Georgie and Wickham Foster’s relationship and its fallout if set in the present. Quain also explores Georgie’s relationship with Fitz. Georgie’s Pemberley Academy classmates believe she should have been expelled after The Incident with Wickham last year instead of him. But, while the family name helped her escape expulsion, Georgie cannot escape her big brother Fitz’s disappointment or her classmate’s scorn. And Georgie cannot break free of Wickham. So, Georgie starts her junior year wanting to prove she’s not an embarrassment to the Darcy family name by becoming the Perfect Darcy:

1. Rebuild her reputation with the marching band.
2. Forget about Wickham and his lies.
3. Distract Fitz by matchmaking him together with Lizzie Bennet.

To put her plan into action, Georgie needs the help of fellow bandmate and friend Avery, pancakes, and matchmaking ideas from fanfics written for her favorite tv show. But, first, Georgie must make peace with whom she is, finding her way when the weight of living up to the Darcy name and striving for perfection overwhelms her before she loses everything.

Gregory’s expressive and lively narration brings Quain’s retelling to life with distinct voices for the characters that capture their personalities, emotions, and moods. Her narration/voices perfectly capture Austen’s characters but with Quain’s added twist. Fitz sounds proper, judgmental, and stuffy—his affection for his younger sister still rings clear—but his voice reveals he’s softer and more open with his feelings and emotions. Wickham’s narration/voice matches the nature of a cruel, seductive, smooth liar who twists the knife with his words. Lastly, Georgie’s narration/voice perfectly captures how young, lost, confused, overwhelmed, and mired in guilt and shame she is while giving voice to her vulnerability and determination.

Surprisingly more angsty and intense than expected, Quain balances the novel with sweet, lighthearted, and humorous moments. Detailed with vivid description, emotion, and deft worldbuilding, her writing draws you into the characters’ lives and the story. Georgie skillfully develops fallible, relatable, and likable characters. Georgie Darcy’s NOT okay. Betrayed by her first “boyfriend,” she’s grieving losing her parents and adjusting to changes in her relationship with her brother. Watching Georgie tear herself/her life apart over Wickham and how she runs back to her feelings for him and that relationship for comfort is frustrating. But she’s unable to believe/see how much Fitz loves her and that he could never hate her. Georgie’s so frustrating! Her life’s a hot mess. Georgie can’t change it until she gets to the root of why/how it got that way, lets go of her guilt and shame and forgives herself.

Quain’s Wickham is even more loathsome than Austen’s. Georgianna and Wickham’s relationship exhibits the traits of an abusive/predatory relationship. Wickham takes advantage of Georgie’s vulnerability and desperate need for love, affection, and attention—he isolates her from her brother and friends, lies to her, uses her, and attacks her self-esteem.

Avery’s nothing like Wickham. He’s sweet, encouraging, forgiving, and not a user. Despite how Georgie treated and let him down last year, Avery remains her friend, telling her uncomfortable truths. Quain nicely captures Lizzie’s character. I love her interactions with Georgianna. On that note, I do like Fitz in this. Although Georgie tries to make it like he’s all cold and stiff upper lip. To me, he’s softer and more vulnerable in Accomplished than in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie and Fitz are amusing. Georgiana’s most likable in her scenes with Avery and Lizzie because she relaxes, letting herself be and live.

Angsty, original, sweet, funny, captivating, and poignant, Accomplished’s an entertaining exploration of Georgianna Darcy’s journey of self-discovery and belonging after the devastation inflicted by an abusive relationship with Wickham.

Advanced review copy provided by Macmillan Audio via Netgalley for review.

I won’t be adding this pride and prejudice retelling to our Austen retellings post anytime soon. It’s set in the modern era where Pemberly is a boarding school and Georgie Darcy is the narrator.

And I sort of hated her. She has low self-esteem, and spends the majority of the book moping around and generally being a moody teenager. It just grated on my nerves in the end and there was not nearly enough Lizzy and Fitz for my liking.

Accomplished is heartfelt and emotional! I love Georgie's relationships with her brother (Fitz), Elizabeth, and Avery. Georgie's and Avery's relationship was just so adorable and made me feel so giddy.

However, there were also aspects of the novel that put me off. Georgie was constantly pitying herself and all of her negative self-talk made me feel gloomy. The conflict with Wickham was almost nonsensical, I understand that you may not have known his antics from the start but the fact that you can't stay away from him makes no sense. Especially because Wickham showed no affection or care for her except for flashbacks of their relationship, making it hard for me to believe that he's 'irresistible'. While the ending conflict was necessary, I felt that it could've been handled better as it felt sudden and rushed. With that said, the bond between Fitz and Georgie was heartwarming. The fact that they cried in separate rooms broke me!

Fitz and Elizabeth's relationship seemed cute as well but I wished we got to see it develop more. It would've been fun to see Georgie and Avery meddle in their affairs while also developing their own relationship with one another.

In conclusion, Accomplished was an emotional experience and I'm glad I got to give it a try! Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Accomplished follows Georgie Darcy, younger sister, to the beloved Fitzwilliam Darcy. After a catastrophic incident with Wickham, Georgie must learn to rely on herself. Feeling lost and vulnerable she sets out to become the “perfect” Darcy and finds friendship, family, and love along the way. This book had social anxiety rep, Georgie always seems to not know what to say or how to have a “normal” conversation with those around her. She is dealing with abandonment and grief and has this need to have to deal with everything on her own until bandmate Avery comes along. The friendship between these two was sweet and seeing it blossom into more was the perfect reminder of young/first love. You also get Darcy and Elizabeth, with Jane and Charles in the background. This book was sweet and you definitely see the inspiration taken and portrayed from Pride and Prejudice. At times I did feel like Georgie was very young and stubborn but considering her age it made sense. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and I gave it 3.5 stars.

4ish stars

This was a fun YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of Georgiana Darcy, the book’s rich, troubled, and fanfic-obsessed protagonist. I love Darcy’s arc in the original story, but he’s a bit unbearable in this interpretation; I realize he’s dealing with his own trauma, but he’s also very good at taking his issues out on his teenage sister. Wickham is, unsurprisingly, the worst; he’s a creep who targets teen girls, and his actions actually feel worse in this modern context. What I really hate, though, is that Georgie, Darcy, and a lot of others seem to spend a lot of time blaming the victims (mainly Georgie) for falling for Wickham rather than blaming him for being a predatory weirdo. Not cool. I did mostly enjoy this story, even through some of its heavier moments, but the issues between Georgie and Wickham should’ve, in my opinion, been portrayed a bit differently.