I’ve GOT to talk about this book !!! I’ve decided not to frame this post as a review because I’m honestly just going to be rambling here.. anyways, let’s get to the point. There may be spoilers in this post, though I haven’t typed far enough to know yet. Seriously just typing along as I go here, folks.
This was my fourth book finished this month and out of all four I think this one and Hell Followed With Us were the two I couldn’t put down. I mean I was having to resist the urge to read this at work. Work! The brainrot is far too real. That being said, the book was fabulous. It was fairly short and incredibly enticing read. Most Ardently is a book reimagining Elizabeth Bennett as Oliver Bennett, a trans man in the Regency era. All of the social expectations of the time make for plenty of hurdles to jump, and it made for a very satisfying climax and conclusion. Hell, all of it was satisfying. I enjoyed every minute of this book and it definitely didn’t over stay its welcome. In fact, I would have easily eaten up another fifty or one hundred pages if that had been in the cards for this book. Seriously, it was that great.
Most Ardently was flavorful. The descriptions of the environments, clothes and even the sounds surrounding Oliver was just a delight to read. I could easily picture everything described. Everything was vivid. And I just love picturing the fashion and cities of that time period. The architecture! It’s all just really fascinating to me and I devoured every little description given to me like I was starving. Which, I was. I need more books that fit into this little niche of lgbtq folk in the past that I’m so ravenous about.
I felt Oliver’s emotions on such a strong level. His joy at finally being able to express himself in a way that feels natural to him is something that I can certainly relate to and it was really refreshing to read about those moments. I felt! Emotions! The happiness I felt for him at the conclusion of this novel was just so good.
Things turned out okay- amazing, even. I was so so overjoyed to read a story that involved a trans person coming out who received acceptance from both parents when everything was revealed. It was refreshing for me.
Also, real talk, I’m not as intimately familiar with the original source material as most people are. I’m officially putting the Pride and Prejudice on my TBR after finishing this one. I’m only now just getting back to reading and I’ve already got this huge pile of books to read beginning to grow. I love it though, and I’m definitely enjoying returning back to reading. Most Ardently has only served to make me more enthusiastic about continuing to read, and for that, I thank it. I’ll definitely be returning to this one sooner rather than later.
A little something for my TCG collection account.. plus something to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th! I wish I had more of these cards but the packs are hard to get your hands on ( ;´ - `;)