Emma Woodhouse and her sister have been best friends with the Knightleys since she was a little kid. As she gets older and family dynamics change, so does her relationship with a specific Knightley.

Emma is my favorite Austen novel. This retelling was true enough to the original with some obvious changes due to the contemporary New York City setting. I enjoyed Emma's journey and her self-discovery of her actions and behaviors and loved the banter between her and Knightley. I thought this was a great updated version!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Emma of 83rd Street coming out May 23, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Beautiful, clever, and of course wealthy, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her close Upper East Side neighborhood with very little stress. However, her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and she suddenly finds herself downtown. Now, with her sister out of the house and her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school seemingly alone. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio native with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would leave her to her business.

Handsome, intelligent, and business-driven, the only thing that irritates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her indulgent shopping between classes or her unthinkable hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on the lessons of adulthood she’s so bent on ignoring. But despite his annoyance—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is suddenly a grown woman now…one who he suddenly can’t stop thinking about.

As Emma’s plans crash into everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly come to the realization that their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they find out that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

I haven’t read Jane Austen’s Emma yet, but I’ve seen all of the movies. It was hard to picture her with dark hair since she’s always been blond. But this was a fun contemporary take on Emma! It definitely felt like the Clueless version set in New York. I loved the characters and felt they were fleshed out. I think Emma had a fun personality. She can sometimes be portrayed as clueless, but I thought she was intelligent. As for George, I felt his personality was a little stiff at times. I get that he mostly tries to steer Emma towards adulthood and corrects her, but it didn’t seem like he had that hidden warmth under the cold exterior. I would’ve liked to see more of an apology from him during the big conflict scene before certain things happened. I just think more of a discussion needed to be had before that. At times it also seemed like he only noticed Emma for her beauty, saying things like she’s so hot, instead of noticing her for her personality. It seemed a little superficial at times and I don’t really picture him that way. But overall, I did love this book and it was a fun read!

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary romances inspired by Jane Austen and Clueless!

This book is Jane Austen’s Emma meets Gossip Girl and is so much fun! Emma has had a charmed life on the Upper East Side and is in her final year of grad school. She befriends Nadine, a midwestern transplant and gives her the ultimate Manhattan makeover and is determined to help her find love. However, Emma’s childhood friend and neighbor George Knightly keeps getting in the way with his judgmental thoughts. As time goes on, the two friends start to realize there might be more between them than they expected.

This was such a fun retelling! I loved that the characters were modernized, but still stayed true to the original story in many ways. I love stories set in the world of the Manhattan elite, and it worked so well here. Also, the spicy additions were very welcome. If you love a modernized retelling, this is a good one!

Thank you to Gallery Books and #BookClubFavorites for the gifted copy.

DNF. Maybe this one works better if you have a lot of fondness for Jane Austen’s Emma. I am not sure I ever read it but if I did it was a long time ago. I enjoyed Clueless at the time - but there’s a lot that doesn’t hold up for me now. And I felt the same way about Emma of 83rd Street.

The opening scene is Emma at her family’s holiday party and we immediately lead off with her father’s diet culture laden commenting on all the foods at the party - complaints about how much sugar is in the desserts, etc. Yuck. But I’ll push through.

Unfortunately I am finding Emma pretty unbearable - her constant shallow judgements of others based on what they are wearing just isn’t for me. I like Knightley but it’s not enough for me to stick with this. DNF at 15%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Nicely done fan fiction-and if you haven't read Jane Austen, well, this will still be a romp of a read. Emma Woodhouse's sister has married the boy across the back yard and she's casting about in her life for purpose when she lands on Nadine, who she makes over, Knightly, her neighbor and brother in law, likes to poke at Emma but that's only to hide his affection and, ahem, yearning for her, These are privileged people who live on the Upper East Side (can;'t imagine how much these houses cost) but then, the original characters were also very privileged, Don't term this tropey - it's playing off one of the novels that created the situations we now think of that way The characters are good, the dialogue zippy, and it's a good update, Thanks to netgalley for the ARC, Fun,

Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the ARC in in exchange for my honest review. If you loved the original Emma by Jane Austen and are looking for the perfect summer read, this one is for you. This one is set in present day Manhattan with the Woodhouses living on 83rd Street. Emma is an art student who has graduated from college, Knightly is a finance guy with his own successful business (and lives behind the Woodhouses) and Emma's new friend Nadine has recently moved to NY and who she's trying to "improve". But instead of a nanny, Emma has a sister and Knightly has a brother. Emma and Knightly's bedrooms look across their backyards which makes for a nice storytelling element. I enjoyed this read and definitely recommend it.

There are times when a Jane Austen adaptation goes really, really wrong. And there are times when an Austen adaptation goes really, really right. Emma of 83rd Street is an example of the latter. Co-authors Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding have found the perfect balance between homage and ingenuity as they bring Emma Woodhouse’s story into the 21st century.

As a reader, I could tell that both authors venerated the source material, yet made it modern and fresh for a new generation of readers. Even those who haven’t read the original will find themselves swept up in this tale, and those who love the original will appreciate the tweaks and surprises that Bellezza and Harding have made to the narrative to fit this new setting and time.

And, since this is a more modern love story, we get the benefit of a dual POV and some spicy scenes that just may have slightly scandalized readers back in Austen’s day. I’m here for all of it.

This book was an absolute joy to read, and just might bring attract a new group of readers to Austen’s work. And that’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Thank you to Galley Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I read a negative review for this one early on and then put off reading this one. I recently read a lovely review and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did!

Now I honestly do not know the story of Emma from Jane Austen. I know that there is one, and that's about it. So I definitely missed all the parallels and such.

I loved the finding love in your own backyard line. I love that both sisters did actually. This was a slow burn so many years in the making and when they finally realized what was going on in their hearts it took off from there. I love that they didn't truly have a third act break up. There was a little friendship fight which I guess was accounting for that. I love when Emma told Knightly that he was her best friend, melted. This was sweet, a little spicy, and just overall such an amazing read!

I absolutely loved this story from beginning to end. In the current resurgence of period pieces this was the perfect modern day adaption of Jane Austin’s Emma with unique storylines intertwined throughout the book. Even though I could tell the correlation of the two stories it didn’t stop me from wanting to see how the story would end.

An Austen retelling for those who always wanted to know what Knightly was thinking. A fun, unique, and wise remix!

This is a good, fluffy romance but also a finding yourself and growing up novel. Emma is twenty-three and has decided she wants to get her Masters Degree and a job at the Met (under her own merit without using her father's name). Everyone tends to not take her seriously as she has a bit of a track record. She takes a girl, Nadine, from her class under her wing and helps her develop a NY style to move on from her life in Ohio. Her neighbor, George, is kind of a thorn in her side but is her best friend. Her sister, Margo, wants to hook her up with her husband's business partner. Emma is a bit much and can come across as superficial but like the main character in Shopaholic, she really has people's best intentions in mind. She just doesn't always approach them in the best way. I think this is a good story.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for free copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an e-ARC of this book!

I wish there was a good analogy for my reading experience whilst reading this book. The most fitting one would be a rollercoaster. There were moments of strong intrigue and desire to continue going, but there were also moments of feeling like I was just forcing myself to push through to get to the end. I hated those moments of forcing myself because I had been really excited to read this book.

When it comes down to it, I thought that there needed to be more. In general, in the characters, in the plot, in the character dynamics. Just everything felt like I was missing something. Perhaps it was due to the length, perhaps I wasn't in the mood to read this when I did, but when I hit that final page, I just felt almost let down. Emma and Knightley didn't feel like they had changed or learned any lessons or really grown from their romance journey. There was the constant mention of Emma becoming an adult, acting like an adult, and as a 24-year-old myself, I didn't see that maturity or growth from her during this story.

Additionally, the story just seemingly ends. There's no typical third act conflict or breakup (which I don't mind that part), but there's that somewhat formulaic plot missing. When it comes down to it, I went into this book with the intention of enjoying and when I closed my kindle, I felt like I wasn't sure what I had read.

This book was a severe let down. Emma is my favorite classic and I love the way it was adapted to a modern setting in the movie Clueless, but this attempt fell quite flat. The characters who jump off the page in Austen’s novel have no dimension in this novel.

I read 60% of this book and felt such dread in my heart over picking it up again only to have my beloved Emma absolutely mangled by this “retelling” so I chose to put it down for good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Gallery Books, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!! I will not be posting this review on my Goodreads, as I did not finish it, however I will be eventually sharing my thoughts in a vlog on my youtube channel which you can find in my profile.

This got better as it went along but I still found the retelling of some of the characters such as Emma's father to be rather fatuous. I liked Knightley immensely and the portrayal of Emma was probably accurate even if she seemed a big nascent at times. The ending was great and even the last few chapters went a long way to making this a really sweet romance. Would be a fun summer read for sure!

Emma of 83rd Street comes out next week on May 23, 2023 and you can purchase HERE.

"Because the person you decide to be with will know what he wants too."

"And what will he want?"

"You. All of you."

She swallowed, her lips parted slightly as she stared at him. "What does that mean?"

"He'll want all of it. To take you home and sleep with you, yes. But make love to you, too. Wake up next to you. Go out for brunch. Argue over what color to pain the bathroom and who should load the dishwasher. You'll know what he wants because he'll tell you. And he'll know what you want because you'll tell him that's what you expect."

𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢 𝘖𝘧 83𝘳𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 follows Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley who've always been in each other's orbits since they were kids but along the way their feelings shift to the freefalling in love sort and the story unfolds as they grapple with these new revelations.

- ~ -

To put it very plainly, I don't really know why Emma lives Knightley or why Knightley loves Emma.

But aside from that, it's a pretty great book! I lived for the 'Messing with her gives me pleasure' aspect of childhood frenemies/friends and this book had it in spades. Knightley even let out smiles when he enraged Emma enough.

Emma also showed good character development and the relationships between the main characters and secondary ones was great. I hope the author's write a book for Will Darcy.

- ~ -

3.89 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I could not finish enough of this book to be able to leave a comprehensive review, but I hope it finds its audience and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

*4.5

This was such an adorable emma retelling. Emma and Knightley were so cute and I loved watching them slowly realize that they are in love with each other. Best friends to lovers will always be an elite trope.I always love a good confession/kiss during an argument.
I received an arc through netgalley.

This was a modern friends/lovers spin on Austen’s “Emma” and reminded me a lot of the movie version as well as the Clueless version.

Wealthy Manhattanite Emma Woodhouse and her sister Margo grew up and were bffs with their backyard neighbors George and Ben Knightley. When Ben and Margo fall in love and marry, Emma “adopts” Nadine, a girl from her college class that she considers a bit scattered to “makeover” and matchmake as a way to occupy herself.

As Emma and Knightley continue their sarcastic bickering (on Nadine’s makeover and on every other subject), they eventually realize that their bff love has morphed into something much more. But will admitting their feelings make their friendship too awkward?

I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the story more than the end, and I’m not exactly sure why because it’s a pretty standard ending. But somehow as Emma and Knightley become more deeply involved, it felt a little icky to me? She’s 23 and he’s 31, and I know it’s not a huge age difference, but he remembers her from her birth…and I felt a little anxious about that…especially as they became more intimate with some fairly explicit love scenes. But that’s my own personal experience with it…others I’m sure will not have the same reaction.

But overall, it’s cute and sweet and enjoyable.

My sincere thanks to the authors, NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing the free early arc of Emma of 83rd Street for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Emma has always been my very favorite Jane Austen book, and this re-telling was so much fun and so wonderful to read!

Emma and George Knightly have been friends since she was born, their families close for years, and her sister and his brother have just been married. Lately things have become difficult between the two of them. Emma is trying to make her own way in life, while Knightly has become critical of her and her youthful optimism.

My favorite part of re-tellings is to see the subtle differences in the book while comparing it to the original and to other re-tellings (yes, I'm also a big Clueless fan so I really enjoyed comparing this book to the movie as well). Audrey does an amazing job of making Emma a likable character while also flawed. She is the epitome of the sunshine character, always helpful and caring for everyone around her with a smile.

I read this entire book with a smile on my face, and enjoyed it immensely both on it's own and as a homage to one of my favorite stories ever.

Thank you to Gallery Books and to Goodreads for providing me with an ARC of this book.

For me, I was excited about this book and boy did it live up to it. I loved everything about Emma. She is relatable, funny, and driven. This is a good book to get someone back into reading.