I cannot wait for you g queer kids to grow up with this book. Although you could argue all day about the “historical accuracy” and the “convenience” of most of the plot points in this book, the impact of a truly joyful tale about a trans boy and gay boy falling in love that ends happily and is without violence, trauma, and queer pain- is too strong to ignore. The only criticism I really have about this book is the speediness of the romance and the development of a few side characters. I wanted more examples of kindness and care from the mother so that a -certain event- near the end did not appear as so painfully underdeveloped. I also wish that the romance between Darcy and Oliver was more of a slow burn and we could have seen more actual scenes between the two. In the end, though, I read this in only a few sittings and cannot wait for it to be in the world.

This. Book.

Bursting with the joy from a familiar story but an amazing twist, I could truly not contain my smile while reading this book. It takes a story beloved by many and makes it queer and lovely and so sweet. This book is an AMAZING read!

I’ve read and adored one other novel from the “remix” collection, and Most Ardently has absolutely lived up to the hype I built for it in my mind.

Was the ending perhaps a little too perfect? Did it all go a little too well? Sure, but that’s rather the point. There is so much queer and trans joy in this book that I’m almost sick with it.

Oliver and Darcy are so lucky to have each other and reading about them had me grinning like lunatic at my screen; they are everything to me!!!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC and please, please pick up Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix as soon as physically possible!!!

This was such a great retelling of Pride & Prejudice. I loved all the queer rep throughout the book. This is a must read for everyone..

Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa is a very enjoyable take on a classic! I’m a big Pride and Prejudice fan and also a fan of classics retellings. This one kept quite a few of the pivotal scenes and lines from the original with it’s own twist which I definitely appreciated.

We follow Oliver Bennet, a gay trans teenager, who is known to most of the world as ‘Elizabeth’. Only a trusted few know his true self, so he is expected to wear dresses, attend dances and eventually marry and become someone’s wife. He meets Darcy first at a ball where he sees how poorly Darcy treats ‘Elizabeth’, but then later meets Darcy again as himself, and gets to see a different side of Darcy.

I’ve been following along with the classics remixed series, and this one is probably my favorite so far. I enjoy Oliver as the main character and his interactions with not only Darcy, but his family and friends ring true to the character of Elizabeth Bennet from the original series. I thought the story started out a little bit slow but once I reach the halfway point, I couldn’t put it down. My only other issue with the book is that the ending seem to wrap up a little too neatly and quickly. I wish there was a little more time spent on wrapping everything up.

Overall, I definitely recommend checking out Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix if you liked the original or are a fan of queer regency stories. Make sure you check the trigger warnings as there’s a lot of deadnaming, homophobia and transphobia throughout the book. I like that the author also includes a warning in the author’s note before the story starts.

I have a confession to make, I have never read Pride & Prejudice or seen any of the movies based off it.

That being said, I really enjoyed this book. The author did a wonderful job helping the reader understand the difficulties Oliver faced. The comfort Oliver felt when getting to be his true self came through well.

I agree the misogyny in the story did take me out of on occasion and that all the unfairness Oliver felt when pretending to Elizabeth just didn't exist anymore because they were actually male. I realize it was a lot of story to get into a shorter book, but it might have been nice to see Oliver stand up for the women in his life.

I enjoyed the interactions between Darcy and Oliver and their growing relationship. I'm glad Oliver had friends in their corner who could be honest with him and I loved Oliver's relationship with their dad.

This was a fast and enjoyable read, I've already recommended it to multiple people.

Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an ADORABLE gay retelling of Pride and Prejudice that leaves me wanting some more action in the mix. Alot of points it dragged on and I wish there was a bit more chemistry between the two love interests.

When I found out about this book, it was clear to me I had to read it as soon as I could possibly get my hands on it. I've read Pride & Prejudice before and also watched the movie several times, and I have to admit I am a huge fan of the original.

So naturally, I was drawn to this queer remix of the story written more than 200 years ago and had very high expectations, which weren't let down in the slightest.

The story evolves about Oliver - the trans son of the Bennets - who tries to find a way to be himself in a society that doesn't tolerate homosexuality or gender identities not aligning with the one assigned at birth.
He is pressured into wearing dresses every day, accentuating everything he hates about his body, has to introduce himself as "Elizabeth" although the name is wrong, and has to make friendly conversation and dance with "possible suitors" he isn't interested in.
He then meets Mr. Darcy, who is rude to "Elizabeth" but not to Oliver when he meets him while being himself, and they get to know each other.

Generally speaking, the story is closer to the original than I had anticipated after reading the summary, which pleasantly surprised me.
Every character's personality matched the ones I knew them from the original perfectly - Mrs. Bennet's hysterical, noisy way of going about everyhing, Mr. Bennet's firm, but silent way of dealing with his difficult wife and several of his daughters, while being closer to Oliver, Darcy's silent, grumpy and haughty behaviour that also tries to hide his social anxiety, Bingley's golden retriever energy, etc. etc.

Oliver's struggles with his forced pretending to be someone he is not were not only believable, but deeply understandable and made me feel with him at all times, although I myself do not experience such intense dysphoria.
I never had a moment where I felt like his decisions, behaviour or thoughts were foolish or in any way not understandable. He was an amazing character to follow through the story, and he instantly found a way into my heart.

I also loved how we got more insight into what Darcy was thinking and feeling. This is because he was more honest with Oliver than with "Elizabeth". It made sense as well, seeing that he is expected to talk to women only very formally, in formal situations, while he could relax in the company of only men. I could depict him perfectly in every situation, he never felt out of character or unpleasant to read about.

Both the characters had imperfections as every real person would, and much like they had in the original.

Within the book were several turns of events I hadn't foreseen, and a few of the good kind made me cry a few happy tears for Oliver. (I am a very invested reader at times). The pacing was perfect, I was never bored or skipped over pages, and although i didn't feel like the story was cut short, i feel like it could've been a bit longer.

I didn't think it was possible to make this book so healing with the difficult topic of handling dysphoria (which there is a lot of!) and not being able to be oneself openly - but it turned out to be one of the best books I read this year.

I also enjoyed the chosen ending, although it surprised me a little, it felt like one of the best possible options to end the book. It still felt believable for the time frame given.

To sum it up, I can totally recommend the book to everyone enjoying Jane Austen but wishing for more diversity. <3

PS.: the cover is gorgeous and is one of the best non-special edition cover designs I have ever seen!

I often struggle with Jane Austen retellings because, while they may reproduce events from the original classics, they rarely *feel* the way Austen books do, full of family and love and longing and a desperation for happiness in an imperfect world. For all that it is a YA version of Austen's tale, centered on different issues with different historical context, Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa FEELS right. The novel makes readers understand the trans experience from gender dysphoria to gender euphoria while perfectly mapping that onto one of Pride and Prejudice's themes: wanting to find love, no matter how hard that is and how much society might agree with you and your idea of it.

No, this is not a page-to-page Jane Austen retelling, but it never claimed to be. It is a remix of a classic story to work with modern problems that resonate with youth today who want their stories told AND want to know that they are not alone in their struggles. Well done and thank you, Gabe Cole Novoa.

Just for clarity's sake Lizzy-P&P Oliver-MA

I wanted to like this. I wanted it to be the queer pride and prejudice retelling of my dreams. But this was like a different historical romance wearing pride and prejudices skin. Notably, there was no pride or prejudices on Oliver or Darcys part. Lizzy is proud and sure of herself and full of fight and Oliver just isn't, his interactions with Lady Catherine left so much of the fight in Lizzy out of it. The eloquence and charm of the orginal novel are just missing here, and while I found myself smiling it was for the parts that were the most detached from Austen, Oliver being accepted by his family, he and Darcy in the Molly House. I think a part of the idea fails, at no fault of the author, because the love in P&P is hard earned, because Darcy sucks and Lizzy is as stubborn as a mule. They become better off of each other. Collins also was not nearly enough of a weasel until the end, and the conspiring plot felt incredibly out of place. I didn't dislike this book on its own, I just wish pride and prejudice had been left out of it because I think it would be considerably more enjoyable if it wasn't so easy to do a side by side to one of the greatest romances of all time.

Most Ardently was such a fun twist on the classic Pride and prejudice book. Being able to see Oliver’s euphoria of discovering himself truly brought tears to my eyes. It was such a heartfelt story that was woven throughout the story. For all the Pride and Prejudice fans out there I highly recommend this story. The biggest problem that I had with this story is that I felt like we were just trying to get to certain “ check points” through the story and the women characters didn’t seem fleshed out. I would’ve preferred more moments between Oliver and Darcy together

That was delightful. P&P is my favorite classic novel and I often find I struggle to enjoy adaptations or retellings due to overly focusing on where it deviates from the original novel, but I didn't run into that with Most Ardently. P&P is Elizabeth's story and Most Ardently is Oliver's, so of course they're not going to line up. They have totally different lived experiences. I was so excited when I came across Most Ardently on Gabe Cole Novoa's TikTok and requested an arc on Netgalley immediately. I love that we're seeing an increase in reimaginings of classic romances with queer characters where those characters can be their true selves and get their happily ever afters. Most Ardently was full of so much trans joy and it was wonderful to read from Oliver's perspective.

Oliver Bennet is the second eldest Bennet child and is a gay trans man. At the start of the story, Oliver is out to 5 people who are all supportive and help facilitate him expressing his true self by helping provide men's clothing and safe spaces to change into his men's attire so that he is not forced to come out to the entire Bennet family until he is ready to. This does however mean that whenever Oliver is with his whole family - both at home and in public - he is forced to pretend that he is a woman. Due to seeing Oliver in society with his family as well as on his own, we see how Darcy interacts differently with Oliver vs how he treats him when Darcy thinks he's a woman.

I think essentially, Darcy's behavior when amongst society and the Bennets is very much like his behavior in P&P at the beginning of the book and Darcy's behavior with Oliver on his own is similar to the personable Darcy we see in P&P post the initial proposal. While I did like seeing behind the scenes that Darcy's varying behaviors were due to his discomfort with societies expectations that he identify a woman to settle down with (BTW Darcy is gay), I did think that the story was very condensed. I understand why it felt that way - the additions of Oliver being out in the world as himself increased the amount of time dedicated to the front half of the story and I think that was time well spent, but it did cause the wrap up for the story to feel a bit rushed. I would have liked it to continue a bit past where the story ended and be a bit more filled out.

Even with how quickly and neatly the story tied itself together in the end, I had moments of giddiness as well as a few tears while reading this book and I'm so glad that this book exists.

Definitely here for a trans and queer Pride and Prejudice remix. Here for the support from Mr. Bennett and just a really lovely love story. Where I think Novoa falls a smidge short is where Austen falls short, namely, making the side characters have personalities and meaning. If you're remixing it, give Jane and Bingley an actual love story with some nuance.

A trans retelling of Pride and Prejudice that hews closely to the original, with twists that enhance the story. Purists may cringe at details like the compressed timelines and the relocation to London, but the central change feels natural and tells a fascinating story. Oliver Bennet is the second child, and only son, of the Bennet family - unfortunately, he was mistaken for a girl at birth and given the name Elizabeth. With pressure on him to marry and the confining nature of his life weighing on him, the last thing Oliver needs is to fall for the shy but handsome Mr. Darcy, no matter how badly he longs for love. Mr. Bennet's loving support of Oliver is wonderful, as is the glimpse into the lifestyle of queer and trans people in Regency England. The explicit consideration of financial survival makes text what Austen would have assumed everyone knew, which is all to the good, even if some of the simplified language grates slightly. Novoa does an excellent tribute to the original, including a Darcy-in.-the-rain scene perfect for BBC fans. Another win for Macmillan's Remix series.

<i>I received this title as an ARC on Net-galley in exchange for a honest review. Thank you Feiwel & Friends for the copy!</i>

<b>The Good</b>
I am a Pride and Prejudice fan who loves retellings, variations, and remixes so I was so excited to read this book!
I loved Oliver. His character was different enough from the original Elizabeth to be unique and his own person but similar enough that it felt like the character we all know and love. I really enjoyed his journey and his willingness not to settle for what he is being told he has to do but to dream of a different future. I loved how the discussion of marriage had a lot more weight to it in this story. While in the original it was about Elizabeth's general happiness and future, in this story it was about Oliver's ability to be himself at all. There were also a lot of great discussions about queerness and having to try to survive society at this time. Overall, I really enjoyed the plot changes and the direction it went in. I'm positive other Pride and Prejudice variation fans will love this book as well.

<b>The Bad</b>
If you know Charlotte's plot-line from the original, there was a change in this book I really enjoyed that added interesting depth to certain conversations but ultimately it made her fate more depressing than it is in the original.

<b>Format:</b>
Ebook — Netgalley

<b>The Rating</b>
I give this book a <b>5/5🌟 rating.</b> I loved this retelling a lot! I devoured it in two days and I'm so excited to get a physical copy once it releases!

Check out my socials <a href="https://beacons.ai/buffyreads"> here</a> for more reviews!

An adorable remix on the classic PRIDE AND PREJUDICE filled with intense yearning, heartbreak, and most importantly: hope

Thank you NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for this ARC to review!

I really loved this book! I really appreciate the author’s dedication about writing this book because trans people deserve romances that sweep them off their feet too! I love this book so much for the simple fact that I cannot imagine how difficult and daunting the task must be of rewriting Austen and making it lovely representation for the trans and queer community, but THANK YOU! As a queer reader, I cannot overstate how pleasant it was to read a romance that despite the trials faced, of course, by the main character for being trans and gay in the early 1800s, things still worked out. And things went well! Often! It wasn’t torture!

My only critique really is that the ending felt a little rushed. I wouldn’t have minded last half/last quarter of the book being more fleshed out, things fell into place really quickly and it felt like a lot just happened all at once. But to reiterate, I am glad that things went well and worked out for our main character.

More trans joy and trans romance written by trans authors!!!

Thank you netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First I would like to thank Gabe for bringing trans joy into my life through his books this year. Reading trans literature written by trans authors has brought so much joy into my life.

I was already obsessed with this from the cover and the concept. My friends and I are huge Pride & Prejudice fans and have disagreements on whether the movie or mini series is better (I am team mini series). Then seeing it was written by Gabe who gave me the joy that was The Wicked Bargain, I knew I was in for a treat.

I think some reviews try to compare it too directly to the original, forgetting that the goal of this isn't to be "better" than the original. The goal of these remixed classics is so that people who already love these stories can finally see themselves reflected in them. With that goal in mind, Gabe absolutely nailed it.

Not all books need to be groundbreakingly original to be good. Sometimes having a familiar story with characters that you see yourself in is more than enough. Reading this was such a joy. I am so excited for other trans kids who love pride and prejudice to love it in a whole new way.

Favorite changes besides the obvious queerness:

1. The Wickham/Lydia plot line was scrapped. I know it goes to demonstrate the horrid nature of his character, but I think the attempted black mail and forced outting does a great job of showing how despicable he is. I hate that plot line in the source material, because in the end, Lydia ends up married to a horrible man.

The only things that left me unsatisfied were the following:

1. We don't actually get to meet Georgiana and I think seeing how Darcy interacts with his younger sister is one of the best moments.

2. The whole bit where Collins was in on forcing Oliver to marry Wickham was weird. Not because I don't believe he would do it in how he is usually portrayed. But with Charlotte seemingly enjoying his company and being satisfied with marrying him it feels off. Like he is just told to leave, but as far as we know he remains married to Oliver's best friend and I don't feel like that's right. I think highlighting Oliver and Charlotte's different approaches to existing as queer people in that world is great and does a much better job than the source material at explaining why Charlotte would marry such a man. Yet Charlotte remaining married to this man after he treated her best friend that way is unfathomable. It isn't ever concretely said that she stays with him, so mostly I just wanted have a bit of closure there

As someone who is slowly coming to terms with their trans-ness and their relationships with those around them, this was a masterpiece. I love Pride & Prejudice on its own but as soon as I heard about this remix I knew I had to read it.

I cried reading this book and I have so many thoughts about how this book affected me, but I can’t put it in to words how much this story means to me and will mean to other trans folk.

I want to begin by saying that while I didn’t particularly enjoy that book, I don’t think it’s a bad book. I just didn’t enjoy it all that much

Featuring:
☆ A trans Bennett in regency era England
☆ a gay Mr. Darcy
☆ and a number of accomplices in all manner of rules-breaking

Most Ardently is a fantastically written book. I want to begin with that. The pacing, the writing, all of the technical aspects of this novel are done incredibly well. Novoa clearly has a love for writing, and a love for Pride & Prejudice, and it shows in their writing style. I found the novel incredibly easy to read, and fairly engaging. It’s clear that Novoa had a story to tell, and I think they did a fantastic job of telling it. It’s a delightful romance set in regency-era England, and, like his other books, is incredibly trans and doesn’t shy away from it.

However, where this book ultimately fell flat for me were in the characterizations, romance, and just some missing 3rd element. The characters have personalities, undoubtedly, and distinct ones at that, but they nevertheless feel one dimension, like shadow puppets of people, with perhaps one defining trait at most. The romance, while cute, was paced oddly, and more of a backdrop to our main characters emotional journey, over the center of the story, which doesn’t really work for a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Finally, while cute, the story just didn’t grab me. I can’t really say much more to it than that, but whatever certain novels have that compel you to keep reading, I’m afraid Most Ardently doesn’t have that. So while I ultimately enjoyed reading this, I don’t think I’ll remember it going forward.

Final Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆ (6/10)