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)

5 out of 5 stars

Rep: Gay trans main character, gay love interest, bi side characters, mentioned queer, trans, and non-binary background characters

Content Warnings: Misgendering, dysphoria, deadnaming, internalized homophobia and transphobia, misogyny, forced outing, blackmail, friendship troubles, cisheteropatriarchy, emotionally immature (bordering on abusive) parent

Love the dedication, love the nod to the original opening of the book, love all the reworked quotes. It's clear that Novoa knows his Austen! So many scenes were unexpectedly emotional, which was a delight. Despite the heavy topics handled, "Most Ardently" is also full of queer and trans joy. So far this is my favorite "remixed classic" and I very much hope that this leads to even more trans and gay Regency-era books.
I think it's important to note that while this is based on "Pride and Prejudice," it's not a direct retelling, nor does it claim to be. A few early reviewers noted their disappointment that Novoa left out and/or changed a few scenes. And that's valid if that's what you went in expecting! This is more along the lines of "Bridget Jones's Diary" or "Death Comes to Pemberley" -- it's heavily inspired by Austen's work, but isn't a direct parallel. In fact, I might even dare to say I like it better than the original.

**HUGE thank you to Feiwel & Friends for granting me an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!**

The Remixed Classics series is such a delightful idea and I was very excited to get started on these promising retellings. As a classic Pride and Prejudice fan, I am 100% here for any variants on the theme!

This book had a lot of positives. As a YA novel with a queer spin, this book shines. It hews close enough to the original for fans to enjoy, but does liven it up for a younger/new audience. The queer longing is Grade A. While some liberties are clearly taken to make the premise work in terms of historical accuracy, this will scratch the historical romance itch. As a teen/tween book with the goal of take P&P but make it gay, this is a five-star read.

I, granted as an adult reader of material not aimed at me, have a few quibbles that kept this from being a full on perfect read. The issue that stands out is the pacing. Some plot felt rushed to get the HEA and the rate at which scenes changed sometimes felt abrupt to the point of being hard to follow. A secondary note is that for a retelling of a book written by a woman about women, the femme-identifying characters are nearly non-existent/underdeveloped. While I get that the point is to center the story on Oliver's experience, the framing of the misogyny being a problem only because it misgenders him (and not because the patriarchy hurts everyone who is not cis/het/male/white) makes the core tenet of the original dim a bit. That said, it is OK if there is material that centers trans boys without catering to cis women, but fans of classic P&P may find this loses a little in translation.

Altogether though, I adored this book and can't wait to purchase copies for all the YA readers in my life.

I will start this review by being open and honest that I inexplicably LOVE Pride and Prejudice reboots and that I am aware that this is sometimes perceived as Basic and that I absolutely do not care. I've consumed many, in a variety of mediums. This one particular, a queer retelling ft a closeted trans man as the protagonist Oliver (dead name Elizabeth Bennet). Full of queer pining, which I am also a a sucker for. I thought this was really cute and diverting and I binged it quickly. A fun read if you're into it, would recommend

I was so thrilled by the potential of this concept: a P&P adaptation in which the second Bennet child is not a woman named Elizabeth but a trans-man named Oliver. My actual experience was... multivalent. I've found it very hard to quantify my response, and if I had not read an ARC (thank you, Netgalley), I would abstain from a star rating. But having read an ARC, I feel obligated to try to quantify my response. Let's break some things down, though.

First, let's talk about the Remixed Classics project and what Most Ardently is doing as a novel, because I think that's important to bear in mind in evaluating it. The goal of Remixed Classics is to reimagine the classic canon in a less cis-het-white-male way. (Obviously, not all of the texts involved were already all of those things; P&P is written by a great female novelist about important issues facing women--but there is room to play around and see how that text can be explored to include other perspectives and other concerns.) Remixed Classics are also specifically targeted to a YA audience, meaning some classics are aged up (e.g., The Secret Garden) and some are aged down (e.g., P&P).

As a YA about a trans teen (Oliver is 17 vs. Elizabeth's 20 in the original text) in vague 19th C. London who has a romance with a shy-to-the-point-of-seeming-rude teen boy (Darcy's age isn't specified; he seems to be 18 or 19), this book is delightful, and I couldn't put it down. There were gripping descriptions of both gender dysphoria and euphoria, moments of acceptance, and the romance itself is very sweet (very low heat, a couple of kisses without graphic detail).

As a Regency, it is... frustrating. Largely due to the YA audience, many historical/cultural/legal details are either inaccurate or hazy. This is likely helpful to the target audience (unless they are already avid Regency readers), so I will not count it as a strike against the book in my rating, but to any adults who have familiarity with the Regency through literature, history, etc., it is very distracting (you may find yourself asking questions like, wait, what do you mean Darcy reached legal majority at 18? but where in London do they live? why are all these young cis-men not off at university, and why do marriage-minded mamas think they are husband material for their daughters? wait, is Longbourn an estate or a townhouse, those are not interchangeable words? you keep saying Mr. Bennet is up late working--what work does he do? but won't Oliver have to take that hat off?).

As a P&P adaptation, it reads like an AU fanfiction, and a rather odd one--one that is, at times, extremely satisfying. Any scene featuring Darcy had my full approval. Some characters were so altered to fit the plot that they were almost entirely unrecognizable (Wickham). At first, I was enjoying seeing the different direction that Wickham's plot was going in, but the less and less he seemed to act like the same character, the less interested I became. One of the changes made to accommodate the plot (as far as I can tell, the main reason is to bring in molly houses, which--hooray for bringing in that important bit of queer history) is that the Bennets live in London, and the Gardiners live in the country, instead. This in and of itself was fine, except that it led to a great many of the cultural-historical simplifications/elisions that were frustrating (Longbourn being alternately referred to as an estate and a townhouse, Mr. Bennet ambiguously described as working but never identified as having a specific profession).

Ultimately, this novel does not have the complexity of Austen's. It is not digging as deeply into the multi-faceted commentary on gender and class that Austen's novel is. It's also not trying to. There are some nods to the financial dependence and limited options of most women in Charlotte's plot, but Novoa's novel is primarily concerned with Oliver's experience of transness, and that is done well, although with some casualties to Austen's characters and plot (even characters and plot points that remain do occasionally fall flat because they aren't given enough attention--apart from her role as Oliver's biggest affirmer, Jane is not well-fleshed out, e.g.). But again, Oliver's dysphoria and euphoria, his fear of his family's rejection, his moments of vulnerability, his growing feelings for Darcy, are all lovely, and it was because of those moments that I couldn't resist picking the book up any time I had a moment to read.

seeing a queer remix of pride & prejudice was so exciting to see, especially as a HUGE. pride & prejudice fan. the cover is gorgeous and obviously this being a queer story had me excited and anxious to get my hands on it, but once I finally read this one I realized it fell a bit flat. the set up of the story was (as expected) close to the original, but the pacing felt to be even faster and seemed as if we were being rushed through the story to get the happy ending. at one point, I'd be in the middle of a fantastic scene but then the next I'd be thrown into something else entirely without enough time to fully digest what I had just read, it just moved too fast for me. BUT as a whole, this story was still such a delight to read and I loved the characters all throughout this book. seeing such a classic and important story to so many people turned into a queer story, especially knowing so many queer people who love P&P, it was an amazing read to experience. despite it falling a bit short in some aspects, I can't wait to tell everyone about this closer to its release date!

Most Ardently is a decent attempt at reimagining Jane Austen's classic, with a great premise and medium execution. The handling of sexism was flawed, female characters lacked depth, and the rushed ending felt forced. Despite these flaws, the book is an enjoyable and quick read with a fun twist on Darcy's character and romance. Overall, a good retelling with some room for improvement. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

I loved this book. I thought that it did a wonderful job of paying homage to the original story, while breathing diversity and acceptance into the new one. It was adorable. I loved Mr. Bennet's reaction to his son. It was tender, and it I thought it fit well into the plot that this book had. While some may argue that it was not 'historically accurate' I would suggest that all fiction requires an air of disbelief, and also, I am sure that there were closeted individuals at that time. I thought it did a wonderful job of providing a story to those that don't see themselves in fiction as much and creating a story that will make you smile and sit with a cup of tea. It was well thought out and delivered in the most wonderful way.

I really love the idea of these remixed classics. Seeing a classic story expanded to include other underrepresented groups of people is great. However, I feel like this fell a bit flat for me. I absolutely loved seeing Oliver come into his own identity. Also, blanket acceptance from most of the people around him is something that I appreciated. My biggest problem, however, is that the pacing felt largely off. The story was far too condensed and seemed to rely on reader knowledge of the classic in question to do the heavy lifting in regards to characterization. The relationship between Oliver and Darcy, too, felt largely rushed and didn't seem to carry that tinge of yearning that so encapsulates Pride & Prejudice as a whole. I would've liked to see the story stretched out just a bit longer to better focus Oliver's journey and his relationship with the people around him.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgally for this ARC in return for an honest review.
This is a 3.5 star read for me. For context I'm a 2005 Pride and Prejudice diehard movie girlie so I had all those visuals in my head while trying to read this.

I understand that the author had to narrow the focus to tell their story but I missed certain elements from the original book and felt other elements where unnecessarily thrown in just to say they were in there. I did like the story of Oliver and I love the retold Darcy, I think I fell in love with Darcy again in this book. I'm a Darcy girl no matter the iteration it appears. Same goes for Mr Bennett, I will never not love that man.

I felt the pacing was pretty good for most of the book, but the last 20% it sped up significantly and we got a lot thrown at us to try and quickly resolve the story. I felt like certain scenes could have been lengthened to make the tension feel more real, I didn't really feel anything for the climax of the story.

This was a quick, easy, and fun read over all. I did enjoy the story of Oliver Bennett but wished somethings had been better fleshed out.

I enjoyed this one! I think rewriting Pride & Prejudice is an impressive undertaking and Novoa handled it well. I thought Oliver and Darcy's relationship was cute, and I especially enjoyed Oliver's bonds with Jane and Mr. Bennet. It was nice to see them accept Oliver so completely and unwaveringly.

There were a few elements of this book that fell a little flat for me, though they didn't stop me from enjoying it. The first is that Oliver and Darcy hit it off pretty much instantaneously, there is none of the slowburn build-up that I would expect of any iteration of Pride and Prejudice. While this makes their relationship cute and unique, I would have liked to see more of that slowburn, "will they-won't they" that gave the original P&P its appeal. I think part of the problem here was that the book was pretty short, so the story felt a little compressed, which of course is not Novoa's fault; I just would have liked it if the book was a little longer so these storylines and relationships could be more fully fleshed out.

I also agree with some of the other reviewers that Mrs. Bennet's reaction to Oliver's identity felt a little anticlimactic. Mrs. Bennet is callous and uncaring of Oliver's feelings throughout the novel, so her sudden 180 at the end felt a little forced. I liked that she was so accepting, but I might have liked it more if Mrs. Bennet had some more gradual growth throughout the novel, so that her reaction at the end felt more natural.

I LOVED it!
The story itself moves swiftly but the character development and Oliver’s thoughts and emotions are clear and so well explored throughout the events.
I’ve read a few of the remix classics and loved them all but I think this goes right to the top of the list. Oliver is just as cantankerous as the original Elizabeth Bennet which made for such an enjoyable protagonist.
The conclusion of this novel is filled with so much hope, euphoria and trans joy in a way I never imagined I’d see in a piece of historical fiction!

*****5 Stars!


“I can’t imagine,” Darcy said, “that you could ever be unextraordinary.”

First I would like to thank Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this amazing book! I am honored to be given the chance to read it and give it an honest review.

Most Ardently follows a young man named Oliver Bennet who feels trapped, not by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he’s forced to wear daily, but also by society’s expectations. The world and the vast majority of his family and friends think him to be a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing pretty dresses, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife. Oliver cannot bear the thought of such a fate.

He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It is during one of these excursions Oliver becomes acquainted with the aloof and sulky Mr. Darcy, a young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. Oliver soon comes to find that Darcy is actually a rather sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart.

As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares to hope that his dream of love and life as a man could be possible. As suitors grow bolder--and even threatening--and his mother growing desperate to see him settled, Oliver will have to make a choice: Settle for safety, security and a life of misery pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.

I was so excited when I first heard about this book. I'm a huge Jane Austen nerd and I love anything having to do with Pride and Prejudice. So, when I saw this book I knew I just had to read it! I cannot express enough how much I adored this book; it was such unique and diverse retelling that warmed the heart and was just an overall delight to read! The moment I started this book I couldn’t seem to put it down and couldn’t help but devour it.

I adored Oliver, he was such an honest and relatable character. I really enjoyed reading from his POV and being able to experience this story through his eyes. It broke my heart to see how he was forced to live as someone he was not and dealing with the anxiety and crippling dysphoria that came along with it. I really admired his strength and how he was able to stand up for himself and not settle for anything less than happiness. His relationship with Darcy was absolutely perfect! I adored the instant connection they formed with each other and how they could be so open and not afraid to be themselves around each other. Their relationship was so genuine and so heartwarming! I was very glad that both of them were able to find happiness!

Mr. Bennet and Jane were other characters that I absolutely adored; they were both so supportive and loving characters and I really enjoyed seeing their relationship with Oliver. I was glad that he had such a solid support system while navigating through society and trying to find his way out of the box society tried to force him into.

This is a book I worldly highly recommend if you’re a fan of Pride and Prejudice and are looking for a unique, emotional and completely heartwarming retelling! I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

I’m a sucker for an inclusive remake of a classic.

This was such an enjoyable read and I’m sure it will become many of the new generation’s introduction into classic stories. I believe that this retelling is going to become very special to a lot of the people that it will inevitably touch.

I would have loved more development of the relationship, but I also understand that remixing a Jane Austen novel is not an easy feat and there’s only so much that one can fit.

Overall this was a great retelling.

This was such a fun twist on Pride & Prejudice. Super cute, funny, and heartfelt. I loved the queer take and I think I love this version more than the original. Such a great read.

Thank you to Macmillan for the ARC! This was fantastic - delightful to see the familiar story of Pride and Prejudice reimagined with such a fresh take. I loved Oliver and while reading about his struggle to live as himself was heartwrenching, it made the happily-ever-after so much more sweet in the end.

This is technically YA but was very well done. Kisses only, though.