Helpful Score: 3
This is a fun read for Austen fans who are drawn to the mood and social nuance of Austen's work. 'The Third Sister' is the continuation of 'Sense and Sensibility.' We get glimpses into how Eleanor and Marriane are doing in their new lives and marriages, but the true focus of the story is Margaret Dashwood, the youngest sister, who has now grown into a beautiful young woman. Margaret, it seems, took Marianne's traumatic lessons in love much more to heart than any of the others. She's girded herself against flirtacious rogues like Willoughby, and is prepared to resist their wiles staunchly. 'The Third Sister' is the tale of Margaret's coming of age, her adventures in romance, and her mastery of both sense and sensiblity.
This book is well-written in faux-Austenesque prose, and the story is engaging. But, it's a case of so close, and yet so far for me. I found it difficult to overlook the repeated un-Austen-like moments, which kept grounding me in the counterfeit nature of the work. Plus, the story itself, while very like an Austen tale in so many ways, wasn't nearly as gripping, or tension-filled, as Austen's own novels.
Margaret's character, and that of Lady Clara, was well-developed. But her romantic interests were not given the same amount of attention and motivation, which left their relationships with Margaret rather pale and unsubstantial.
This book is well-written in faux-Austenesque prose, and the story is engaging. But, it's a case of so close, and yet so far for me. I found it difficult to overlook the repeated un-Austen-like moments, which kept grounding me in the counterfeit nature of the work. Plus, the story itself, while very like an Austen tale in so many ways, wasn't nearly as gripping, or tension-filled, as Austen's own novels.
Margaret's character, and that of Lady Clara, was well-developed. But her romantic interests were not given the same amount of attention and motivation, which left their relationships with Margaret rather pale and unsubstantial.
Helpful Score: 2
This book is very, very much written in the style of Jane Austen, including the formal English and backwards or inside-out sentence structure (compared to modern day). It doesn't have any steamy sex scenes and it's big on character development. But it was quite fun to revisit the family of Sense & Sensibility, to see how the older sisters lives were going and to finally find out just what happened to the youngest, Margaret. I highly recommend this book for true Austen fans.
Helpful Score: 2
Sense and Sensibility wasn't one of my favorite Austen novels but not my least favorite either. I loved this book by Julia Barrett. The way she portrays Margaret's character is inciteful and very special. I would recommend this to anyone that liked jane austen's sense and sensibility. I enjoyed how it wasn't just her life but her interactions with all the familiar characters. The twist of her two beaus is very exciting as well. A play on a couple other familiar Austen novels.
Helpful Score: 1
Good book. Enjoyable!!!
Helpful Score: 1
Enjoyable story about Margaret... the 3rd sister from Jane Austens Sense and sensability. We get to see a bit of her 2 older sisters as well and see how they are doing in their newly married states.
Helpful Score: 1
An enjoyable continuation of "Sense and Sensibility" following the fortunes of Margaret Dashwood.
This book was a nice light read. It was consistent with the storylines in Sense and Sensibility and I was interested to see what this author thought would happen next in the lives of those characters. I did like the way that Margaret was so determined not to make the mistakes of Marianne that she ended up making her own mistakes. I also liked the insights as to what happened next to Elinor and Marianne. In my opinion, the biggest flaw in this book was that the author tried too hard to emulate the style of Jane Austen. This caused word choices and sentence structure that made me "fall out of" the story while I figured out what was meant. Then I had to get back into the story to continue. On the whole, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to those who liked Sense and Sensibilty and wonder about what might have happened next.
