The Remixed Classics series (Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, Teach the Torches to Burn, e.g.) is laudable in its efforts to provide queer teens a chance to see themselves in some of the our most revered white cishet classics, but judged on its literary merits alone, "Most Ardently" falls short. The dialogue veers awkwardly between 21st century ally-ship and snippets of Austen's original prose. A romance between a gay Darcy and a transmasc Elizabeth/Oliver is an interesting choice, but most of the 19th century gender dynamics wittily dissected by Austen are lost in translation. The characters are inconsistent; Mrs. Bennett hews closely to her Austen behavior for 95% of the book, only to undergo a complete personality transformation at the story's climactic scene. If you want to read a cute historical romance between two boys, this isn't a bad novel, but in its well-intentioned efforts to provide a queer experience, it sacrifices most of the meaningful themes of the original.

This was cute! I found it a little odd to have all the characters aged down and the story felt a touch rushed, but overall this was well done. A trans Pride & Prejudice retelling that incorporates the most memorable parts of the original with a new storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

Such a sweet story and really romantic. However, it was all okay for me.

In this Pride and Prejudice retelling, the second eldest Bennett is a trans boy who's not yet out to his family or society. It's less enemies to lovers since Oliver is immediately taken with Darcy when he's dressed as himself, but Darcy's rudeness to him when he wears dresses complicates and is presented as "Elizabeth" complicates their relationship. Especially since Oliver doesn't want him to realize those two people are the same. The writing and dialogue are a bit modern, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Most Ardently is a queer P&P retelling where the second eldest Bennet child is a trans boy and Darcy is gay.

Oliver’s journey carries this book. It’s sweet, but the rushed ending left me wanting more. Some of the parallels from Austen are good, like Charlotte and Lu, but the original scenes didn’t remind me of Austen’s characters. Change the names and there’s nothing of a witty Lizzy Bennet and proud Mr. Darcy.

There’s not much nuance and characterization to anyone other than Oliver, not even Darcy, which is too bad given the importance of female friendships in Oliver’s life. The made-up geography boggled my mind and aging down these characters to 14-18 and calling them girls and boys made the canon-compliant push to get married uncomfortable to read.

While this doesn’t fit the mold as an Austen retelling, I want more queer historicals and queer JAFF. Plus, that cover!

Content note: Oliver isn’t out for most of the book and is often deadnamed, although not in the narrative.

As a self-proclaimed super fan of the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice I was super excited to dive into this reimagining— a YA take featuring a trans MC. This was so fun and heartwarming and despite the challenges and harder topics like transphobia, sexism and class differences the story was overall one of hope and romance. Taking on a Jane Austen classic is no easy feat and I really admire the author for doing a great job with it. Some of the characterisations didn’t feel *quite* like the original in my opinion, though I fully take responsibility for that as someone who’s extremely opinionated about the original! I thought the romance was sweet and loved how it developed, and overall I’d highly recommend Most Ardently for Jane Austen fans looking for a fun and quick remix on a beloved classic!

An excellent remix of Pride and Prejudice in which Elizabeth Bennet is a trans boy called Oliver. I very much enjoyed this story. The ending was a little saccharine but I loved watching Oliver and Darcy come together - differently, but still the same in a lot of ways. The descriptions of Oliver's gender dysphoria were also spot on and gave me the shivers. Overall this was an excellent book.

The last thing Oliver Bennet wants is to become someone's wife. But as a 17 year old trans boy in 1812 London (and one who most people don't know is a boy) that's exactly what the people around him are pushing him to become. His only temporary escape is to tell his family he's going to his friend Charlotte's house, where he has boy's clothes stashed, and then venture out from there as his true self. But when Fitzwilliam Darcy comes to town, things get complicated. When Oliver was presenting as a girl, Darcy was rude to him; but when they meet again with Oliver openly being a boy, Darcy is pleasant, and the two of them strike up what could even be considered a friendship. But Darcy doesn't know that the two people he's met are the same person, and Oliver lives in constant terror of being found out, even as he longs to openly live as himself--the Bennet son.

Most Ardently follows Pride and Prejudice fairly closely, which I found fun. It's set in the same time period, with the same characters--the biggest changes made are ones involving Oliver's gender, and anything that might impact. It's everything I love about Pride and Prejudice, plus a lot more. Most Ardently is very well done, and I will definitely be thinking about this book for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I gave this book a 3.7 ⭐️ I was really looking forward to this book because I’ve been wanting to read more lgbtq+ stories and main characters. The story of Oliver Bennet was very intriguing but I felt myself just aimlessly reading the story. I didn’t have any emotional attachment to the characters and the storyline.

I did like how the author added their own twists like the Collins and Wickham scheme.

Overall I would def recommend this read! Just because I had a few issues doesn’t mean anyone else will!

my interest for this book was sparked by the beautiful cover! thank you for to netgalley and the publisher for this arc! this book was very cute! i liked the romance but the plot itself was a bit slow for me. i recommend this book to lovers of P&P!

I'm a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice and love reading retellings and reimaginings of the story. Most Ardently is an incredible entry into this set of novels.

There is incredible nuance put into the character of Oliver. Novoa detailing the hard parts of Oliver living as he is. I thought he did a fantastic job of putting this story into the context of the time.

I find Darcy to be a more open character in this novel than the original, and it allows Darcy & Oliver to progress more quickly.

Overall I thought the book was much more fast paced than the original, but I was in the mood for something like that and I thought it still worked well, although we didn't get a lot of time to spend with other side characters.

I enjoyed the changes that were made while still being true to those iconic plot points. I highly recommend this book as an inclusive homage to the original.

Oliver Bennet is tired of living two lives. When Bingley and Darcy come to town the whole Bennet household into chaos. Oliver and Darcy get along famously but Darcy doesn’t seem to like Elizabeth. Oliver is trying to find a way to live as his authentic self while finding a way to love. I wanted to love this. The plot was fine, but the writing was very staccato. The story would jump between story beats and it was a bit jarring. I still loved Oliver’s journey, it was a sweet tale.

I enjoyed this adaptation of P&P with a trans main character- Oliver is a well-realized boy living in a time when he would have been expected to conform to a lot of gender expressions that would not suit him.

I like that Oliver is true to himself, and unfliching about his needs and his future. I think the queer indentities reflected in the world of the novel feel true and real. I also love that Oliver's relationships with his father and Jane remain close and loving in this retelling. Sexism is also not addressed in a lot of places as being bad for its own sake, but rather bad as directed at Oliver, since he's actually a boy. I do think most of the women in this story are woefully underwritten, and there are times one might forget Oliver even has more than one sister.

The plot is where things fall a bit flat for me. I like the Darcy romance, and I wouldn't change it in the slightest. I do think that the Collins and Wickham plot felt overthought and underproofed. Why would Wickham want to marry him? Oliver has no great inheritance, and he would probably not be a very good wife. Collins has no reason to believe that Oliver could inherit the house, even though he is a boy, the law has no prescedent for a trans boy to inherit his father's property. I do like that Oliver gets to inherit his father's property, but Collins scheming over it feels weird and unnecessary,

This has the bones and basic structure of the original story, with a new and fun remix of sorts! I loved seeing the queer representation in this regency society, and this was a lovely interpretation of the characters.

Thank you Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I am loving these reimagined classics! Oliver has spent his life pretending to be someone he is not. Each day it becomes harder to do so especially as there are so few people who know the truth. And his mother is obsessed with finding him the fight gentleman suitor. It’s at a party that he, pretending to be a girl named Elizabeth, meets Darcy. Darcy doesn’t seem to like him very much. A few days later at a festival he runs into Darcy as himself and the two get along superbly. But as Oliver’s feelings begin to grow could Darcy be feeling the same way? And how will he tell his mother that she has a son and 4 daughters, not five daughters? I think if these classics had been written with diversity in them I would have devoured them! I loved reading about Oliver, his experiences were real and I think so many people could relate! It’s heartwarming, sweet, and charming! It put me in my feels! Can’t wait to read it again.

I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. I've had lot of luck with the Remixed Classics series, and I was looking forward to this one, as I am not the hugest fan of the original. - I enjoyed it, sure, but not as much as I feel a lot of other people did. I'm of the opinion that most stories would be better if they were queer.

My main complaint was that everything happened so easily. Listen, I NEVER want trans characters to suffer. I never want queer characters to suffer. I love happy endings, especially in historical books where in actuality queers didn't necessarily get the ending they wished for, due to laws, society, and just everything in general. Yes, there was conflict in this book. Wickham and Collins and Lady Catherine are terrible (just like in the original). Secrets are told and blackmail happens and inner turmoil happens, because of course it does. But everything was resolved so ... quickly? I felt like there could've been more to the story - more about the Molly houses, more about Oliver's sapphic friend and her partner, more about Oliver & Darcy's story, even! There was conflict, there was happiness, and then it was over. It just felt too formulaic and quick. Perhaps because it was YA?

BUT, I do want to say, I'm glad this story exists. It wasn't exactly the book for me - perhaps the fact that I don't love P&P had something to do with it - but it's so important for queer people to see themselves in history, in the present, and in the future. I know this book will find its audience.

A wonderful and sweet story of self acceptance and love. This book stays true to the bones of the original story while also updating it in very clever and beautiful ways. I am very thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for getting to read this book early. The story does not stray away from the hardships Oliver faces, both from within and outside, but still finds a path to hope and happiness by the end. Also endlessly sweet and heartfelt throughout. This book can definitely be enjoyed by lovers of the original story and those new to it.

This book was one of my most anticipated reads in a while and it absolutely did not disappoint. This was my second classics remix book and I do think that part of why I liked this more is that I like the source material more. As someone who has read a number of published and unpublished pride and prejudice fanfictions or "remixes" I feel qualified to say that this is a very good one. I think that Gabe Cole Novoa didn't just make the bare minimum changes to the story to do his remix but made a number of thoughtful changes to the setting and circumstances of the Bennet family that keep the core of the story and lets this versions of the characters really shine.

I think one of the greatest strengths of this books is the way which Gabe Cole Novoa makes a huge change in making Elizabeth into Oliver but manages to make all of the characters truly recognizable as them selves from the source material. While this book having shifted down to a YA audience is a shorter more streamlined, idealistic, and modern version of the classic its very good and I would absolutely recommend it.

First, thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC.

As a lover of all things Jane Austen, I was drawn in by the cover and title. This is my first experience with the Remix series featuring other classic novels. Our main character is Oliver Bennet, the second child in the Bennet family and our narrator. Novoa did a wonderful job fleshing out Oliver's struggles as a trans person struggling to come out to their loved ones. This new layer in the classic story was a fascinating premise to explore. My one complaint about the book is that the story moved too quickly; we were racing from scene to scene but not focusing on the characters' relationships, which is a main component of the original. Overall, this was a decent retelling, but moved too quickly, and as a result, the characters' development suffered.

A worthy addition to the Remixed series. Perfect for queer lovers of Mr. Darcy and the infamous hand flex scene.