Novoa does Austen proud in this queer take on Pride and Prejudice. Oliver Bennet is a delightful rendition of our beloved Lizzie, albeit more sentimental and not quite so sharp tongued. Darcy is as Darcy ever was- confused about feelings and struggling to exist in society. Their romance is a bit less fraught in this adaptation, but no less exciting and interesting. There are a few minor changes to the overall story, but none of them are unpleasant. Mostly the changes are omissions in service of creating a more compact story. This one isn’t nearly as long as its source material. I do wish some of the scenes had been a little longer, the last quarter of the book felt a little rushed. Overall, a delightful queer retelling of a legendary classic.

Pride and Prejudice retellings are my weakness and this ranks as one of the best. It is so beautifully written and reading Oliver’s journey was pure joy. The romance had me swooning and I was absolutely sobbing at the end.

While the romance aspect was the focus, I was most impressed with how Oliver’s family reacted to and supported his true self. Shoutout to Mr. Bennet for being the parent I strive to be.

Gabe Cole Novoa is steadily becoming one of my favorite authors. The Wicked Bargain was my top YA read of 2022 and I cannot physically wait to read The Diablo’s Curse.

Thank you so much to Macmillan, Feiwel & Friends, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Book 6 of 2024 - ✅ ! Thank you to NetGalley, Gabe Cole Novoa, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends for an ARC of Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book in the Remixed Classics series that I have read (the first was Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore,) and Most Ardently was such a delight. For those who don’t know, the Remixed Classics series by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group is, in their words, “[where] authors from marginalized backgrounds reinterpret classic works through their own cultural lens to subvert the overwhelming cishet, white, and male canon.”

In this retelling of Pride & Prejudice, the 2nd eldest Bennett sibling is a trans boy named Oliver, and Darcy is gay — many of the supporting characters are also queer, and there are a number of allies in the mix as well. This is the first of Novoa’s books that I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Admittedly, I haven’t reread Pride & Prejudice since I initially read it in high school, but I’ve revisited movies, retellings & homages (hello, Bridget Jones’ Diary & that scene in Bridgerton where Anthony pulls a Darcy climbing out of the water after he falls in), so many times, as P&P permeates through romance & rom-com culture. Novoa’s writing is so vivid and drew me in immediately. I feel like even the most staunch of P&P fans would enjoy this retelling, as it’s so well done. I also appreciated the historical context bit at the end that Novoa provided - I always enjoy learning as I’m reading, and this was perfect to include in the book.

This is a young adult book - the characters kiss, but in terms of steam, a spice rating isn’t relevant here. 4.5/5 ⭐️ overall! The book was released yesterday, 1/16/24! 🎩 💕 📕 #NetGalley #mostardently

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! I appreciated how they author made a queer and trans story fit into the time period in a way that felt genuine. The care for the historical setting but also for the queer and trans readers of today was very clear, and I appreciated the author's note providing context. I also really enjoyed the beginning note emphasizing that while other characters would misgender Oliver, the narrative never would. This was a refreshing remix to a classic story. I found myself smiling on more than one occasion.

Do you ever re-read Pride and Prejudice for the millionth time and find yourself thinking, "man, I wish this was more queer"? Because I always think that, and this book absolutely scratches that itch. I knew coming in that I was going to love this book, as Gabe Cole Novoa's The Wicked Bargain as one of my favorite reads of 2023. As a trans nonbinary/transmasc person, I felt all of the discomfort that Oliver experiences in this novel so intensely. For me, it might have been slightly too much of that discomfort, even if it is a bit cathartic to have those experiences shared and validated by a character that I love. Oliver and Darcy feel so heartwarming and perfect and I could not imagine loving them more, and the change of Charlotte in particular to a queer character made her feel so much better and more well-developed than the original. There is so many more levels and nuance into the idea of marriage and its politicization at the time, especially as viewed through a queer lens, as that was something that, though present in the original, gets so much more depth.
One weird moment for me, personally, was realizing that some of the characters (specifically Oliver and Darcy) were aged down for this novel in order to make it fit better into the young adult age range. For me, reading Oliver as a transboy rather than a transman threw me slightly out of the story for a moment, but that is probably just a me concern. That said, this is still a story that I adore, and I loved the remix. I would hope that a non-queer reader could enjoy and potentially learn from this story as well.

This book was ABSOLUTELY LOVELY. There's almost no other word to describe it than lovely. I ADORE this retelling and think Novoa did an incredible job re-imagining this story as a trans and queer love story. I think it would be incredible to have students read this alongside the original and evaluate each telling of the story. I think it would be a great addition to every kind of library. As a student I struggled with classics because they felt so irrelevant and unreachable. This is a book so many kids will see themselves in even if they are not trans or queer. For me the struggle for authentic happiness and following your heart was so compelling. I appreciated that there were actual reasons for Darcy's unpleasantness and surly behavior in this retelling. I thought the MC's friends Charlotte and Lou were great foils to the MC and I loved seeing them all navigate the times they lived in and the choices they had to make; this made it seem more realistic. I appreciated the author's note on historical accuracy at the end. I loved that I learned more about queer history during this time. I'm so excited to read the other books in this series after reading this and Self-Made Boys which is also incredible. Highly recommend!

I have read several P&P retellings, so was excited when this was announced, and it did it justice. Some aspects of the story were updated - Longbourne is just outside London now, and Wickham’s misdeeds were more personal - but they made sense for the development.
As a transboy, Oliver is feeling trapped in the societal expectations for him to find a husband and be a good wife. In the beginning, only Jane and Charlotte know who he truly is and support him, and as the story progresses he finds the courage to come out to more. I love the support his father gave him, definitely in character for Mr. Bennet. I also liked how Darcy’s first proposal was done, and how they were able to work it out in the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was a fast read and gave me more insight as to the inner feelings and struggles of trans people. This is a YA novel, so the characters were aged down a bit, but then it felt a little odd to still be proposing so much while referring to everyone as boys/girls, even though that was the age they would be getting married historically. I found myself wishing there was a little more to the relationship at the end, a peek into their time at Pemberly.

If I’m going to be honest, I was a bit nervous about this remix. I have read a few from the series in the past and while I love the different tales spun by the talented authors some just don’t quite work. This was absolutely wonderful! First of all the cover? One of the best I’ve ever seen and I cannot stop staring at it, I will be buying a physical copy for sure. Jane Austen is a giant of literature and a large inspiration for the historical romance genre and I was pleasantly surprised with how the author made changes but still stuck to the bones of the story. Darcy and Oliver were truly * chef’s kiss*. Do you like Austen but wish it was much more queer? This is definitely the book for you!

Gabe Cole Novoa quickly became one of my favorite new authors last year with the release of his book, The Wicked Bargain, and I'm super excited for the followup coming out later this year! So, of course, I was hyped to see that he was getting a book in the Remixed Classics series.

First, a confession: I don't know Pride and Prejudice, either the book or any of the movies, though I suppose that's something that I should remedy at some point. I have a passable familiarity with the basics of the story. In this case, I don't think I was missing a lot of context by not being familiar with the original, though I can imagine it would be interesting to see how Novoa plays off of that story.
Oliver Bennet, second oldest child of the Bennet family, is living a double life: the life of Elizabeth that most of the world expects and believes him to be, a girl who should love dresses and balls and be preparing to marry a man for the betterment of the family, and the Oliver that he knows himself to be: a young man who loves to explore the city and read books. During one of these hated balls, he meets Darcy, who immediately seems to hate his very existence. And yet, when he encounters Darcy again as Oliver a few days later and isn't recognized, they get along amazingly - and Darcy turns out to be sweet, gentle, well-read, and interested. But pressures are growing for "Elizabeth" to get married and settled down from all sides, and Oliver is starting to crack under the pressure of his double life and hiding his secret from Darcy.

Oh the trans joy! That's what radiates more than anything through this book, just like in Novoa's previous writing. While there are certainly people who are unaccepting of Oliver's transness, everyone who matters is so accepting of him. Oliver finds so much acceptance in his life and it's beautiful to read and experience. The relationship with his father is particularly beautiful and brought me to tears more than once.
The romance between Oliver and Darcy was also lovely, though I'll admit I wouldn't have minded a few more detours of just the two of them together! While their romance was believable and very sweet, I would never turn down more.

Overall, this is just a sweet well done remix to add to the series and I'm super happy to have another one to add to my classroom shelves!

✨ Review ✨ Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa; Narrated by Harrison Knights

This is a trans remix on Pride and Prejudice with Oliver, a trans boy, who falls for Darcy. I was totally captivated by this book, and even though I knew how it would end, I stayed up late to finish because I was just so drawn in.

The book shows Oliver having to dress up as a girl around her family and in social situations, frustrated at the dysmorphia this public life he must hold. But then, he frequently escapes in his boy clothes his uncle helped him procure and befriends Darcy as Oliver. This juggling of multiple realities with Darcy added a compelling twist to the story!

I was left wanting a little more Darcy and Oliver and saw space for the story to deviate a bit more from the traditional narrative, but with that said, I think this was a brilliant rewrite. The author really smoothly found the space to make a trans / queer story within the shape of the P&P we know and love.

The audio narration is fantastic -- full of emotion and feeling! Kudos to another great remix in this series!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: m/m historical romance, trans representation
Setting: London / rural UK
Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
Reminds me of: Alexis Hall's historical romances like A Lady for a Duke
Pub Date: Jan 16, 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ queer / trans rewrites of classics
⭕️ all things Jane Austin
⭕️ the idea of Charlotte as a lesbian

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Remixed Classics has been a series that has given me a lot of joy so I was extremely excited for the new interpretation of Pride and Prejudice. While I did ultimately enjoy it, it did not quite live up to what I wanted it to be.

The romance between Oliver and Darcy was the best part of the book. The way in which they meet both when Oliver is himself and when having to live as Elizabeth really helps to further their romance in a way that is very enjoyable. Since Oliver is able to speak to Darcy as a man, he is able to get to know him better than a woman would during the time period so it does feel like they genuinely like each other and have a bond.

I did not like Darcy's infamous proposal scene. I did not feel as though it made sense as there is no mention of the issues Darcy discusses in the original proposal such as how the Bennett family is lower class than his and embarrassing and the Bennetts have connections in trade. I do not want to provide too much detail as it would be spoiling some of the details. Nevertheless, this scene really took me out of the whole plot.

Beyond that, the pacing felt somewhat off and the ending felt rushed due to this.

Regardless, I liked the romance and Oliver's journey to be able to be himself in an extremely gender-based society, even if the story itself and pacing were not quite what I wanted.

Oliver Bennet's story was such a great addition to a classic. I loved the crises from Mr. Darcy as well as the exploration of other elements of queer culture. The "main" romance did lose a bit of its oomph but the queer plot more than made up for it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Most Ardently is the next installment in Macmillan's Remixed Classics collection, and is a remix of Pride and Prejudice in which Elizabeth Bennet is a trans boy named Oliver, who must navigate society in a body he does not feel at home in. When he begins to grow closer to newcomer Darcy as his true self, his feelings and his future become tangled.

I LOVED this book! Gabe Cole Novoa is such a creative storyteller, and Most Ardently is no exception. Oliver had such richness of character, felt so nuanced and so tied to a modern truth, I am so excited for the YA readers who will be able to see themselves in his journey.

More than that, though this took plenty of liberties with the Pride and Prejudice story, something about this book made me feel the same kind of breathless, heart-wrenching magic that its inspiration does, and I think that is what really set this read apart for me. It genuinely was such a unique, refreshing, and heartfelt retelling of a story I hold dear.

I really enjoyed this retelling of Pride & Prejudice. I thought it was fun and well-written. I also thought that the LGBTQIA+ spin would make it appeal to our teen audiences.

More Austen adaptations forever. A motto I live by, and am so pleased to see happening more and more in the world. So, of course, I am thrilled that Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa exists.

More than that, I’ve now read it (yes, I’m jumping back into Austen and adjacent reviews!) and want to share a little more about the book for other fans who might want to read it.

Oliver is just trying to navigate a complicated world of trying to support his sister Jane, avoid his mother (Mrs. Bennet) constantly pushing cringe-gender roles and terms on him AND avoid Mr. Darcy, who is an ass. All this while trying to find time to be himself, leaving the Empire-dresses at home and going out into the world in lovely trousers and cravats and waistcoats. (And also not get caught because he hasn’t told many people at all about who he really is.)

We loosely follow the main beats of Pride and Prejudice, but there are wonderful moments of Oliver striking out on his own (and deviating from the main P&P plot) that I felt were actually the strongest. There’s a superb author’s note at the end that goes into detail about Regency history and attitudes that I highly recommend reading and delving deeper into. Because of this real history, we get to follow Oliver to Molly Houses! And on one such trip he happens to run into Darcy (the ass!) who does not recognize him. Tension ensues! And plot!

I felt this book was all tenderness and concern for Oliver. As a reader, it was heartbreaking to hear Oliver be misgendered and then subjected to sexist treatment. For folks going through their own journey, or who are triggered by this, please read the author’s full warning before checking out this book. Take care of yourself.

This was an exceedingly clever and charming reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. I love that these books are considered a "remix" rather than retelling or even reimagining because ultimately they really are their separate thing. Using the bones of Pride and Prejudice to tell Oliver's story was extremely smart and immediately ingratiated me to the character and his journey as the book went on. I know the beats of P&P like the back of my hand so I was on Oliver's side from page one and so interested to see how his story would unfold among the confines of the familiar story I love and the restraints of Regency England.

Some of the side parts of the story do fall by the wayside and I think the book is more interested in Oliver's journey as a trans man than the romance, but it is still fascinating and compelling and although I'm still deeply in love with all the intricacies of the original story, this remix does such a good job of focusing on Oliver. I do wish maybe we got a little more with his relationship with Darcy and more romance, but the most pleasing part of this version of the story is the way Oliver is able to carve out a place for himself rather than at the hands of matrimony to a powerful man.

The ending was maybe my favorite part - the way Novoa wrapped up the story in an interesting and cool way, using the laws of inheritance and gender to wrap everything up and it was unexpected but also genius.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I very much enjoyed the story, particularly Oliver’s relationship with his father. If you are looking for a good hearted, queer, historical “remix” this is definitely a book to check out!

~ 3.5 Stars ~

Gabe Cole Novoa’s Most Ardently pays homage to the source material while introducing its own themes and representation in Oliver Bennet, the teenage boy who is unseen and unheard in a society that would not accept him for who he truly is.

Though Oliver is not without a handful of allies, he is known to most as the second eldest “daughter” in the Bennet family, one of the five children whom Mrs. Bennet is desperate to marry off to wealthy and well-connected suitors for reasons which don’t need to be spelled out given the setting and time in which the story is told. Every hero needs a nemesis and in Oliver’s case, while Darcy would be expected as the prime candidate, Mrs. Bennet herself serves in that role too, giving Oliver multiple fronts on which to fight the stereotypes, sexism, genderism, and expectations he faces. The moment of redemption Mrs. Bennet gets in the end is effortless and without much in the way of contrition, which discounted the extremes to which she went, but when the time comes to stand up for her family alongside Mr. Bennet, who has already lovingly accepted Oliver as his son, Mrs. Bennet steps in to protect her own.

Most Ardently is a definitive enemies-to friends-to more story. Darcy behaves as Darcy does to “Elizabeth”; though when Oliver finds the opportunity to sneak out of the house as his true self, he gets to know a different Darcy, a softer and kinder Darcy—a boy who loves books and enjoys the company of other boys rather than the girls he is expected to woo, as he is, as the original poses, in possession of a good fortune and therefore must be in want of a wife. It’s clear that Darcy can be charming and sweet, that he is enamored of Oliver, and that interest is reciprocated. But there are those who would wish to smear Darcy’s character. Oliver grapples a bit with those rumors while connecting them to both the off-putting Darcy he’d first encountered and the Darcy he comes to know.

Gabe Cole Novoa’s adaptation of this classic story reads as personal and intimate, resonant with the voice of lived experience and offering queer teens the opportunity to see some of their own cares and concerns on the page. The story is told with an abundance of heart, Oliver’s strife and struggles both internal and external, and while I do feel there could have been a deeper dive into the characterizations—Most Ardently relies on the reader being at least somewhat familiar with P&P—and its conflict was wrapped up too handily, it reaches the sweet and uncomplicated happy ending Oliver and Darcy deserved.

Thank you to Macmillian and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Gabe Cole Novoa book and it did not disappoint! I read this book in one sitting, it was so good. The transmasc retelling was a perfect addition to the classic and it honestly just made sense with the story as a whole. Novoa's retelling made me fall in love with Pride and Prejudice all over again.

I am really loving this remix series. This one is so so good. It’s very similar to the original Pride and Prejudice but adapts and changes perfectly. Really well done! The relationship between and Oliver and his parents, beginning with his father and later on his mother, is just lovely. I was very emotional during their scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.