blue-and-cass-read

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 24, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

the way Darcy acts when Elizabeth gets the letter is pretty good even though he’s very reserved

it really strikes me how young Lydia is and the fact that Wickham is trying to basically make her un-marketable for his own selfish desires and that the “good” resolution is literally her being stuck with him for the rest of her life is so awful

Wickham getting his ass handed to him by Lizzie through just like shutting him down is great

The way that Darcy and Bingley come together to check on the women they love is just…bromance goals? idk it’s very cute to think about though

Jane really is the purest most trusting person - she’s also people pleasing personified 

i love that Lizzie internally is like I knew it, i called it, i didn’t tell you so but i knew it about Jane 

“You may ask questions I may not choose to answer” - Lizzie handing Lady Catherine sass is great - also i want to steal this comback tbh

“the wish of giving happiness to you” Darcy shouldn’t be allowed to say things like this okay - the way he’s doing things to have the chance to make her happy? ouch

one word will silence him forever destroyed me

for the second walk together at Lizzie’s house - Bingley is a great wingman and Mrs Bennett is oblivious and it’s hilarious

Elizabeth and Darcy living in domestic bliss full of debates and teasing and reading is the goal

also Georgiana and Elizabeth friendship is so sweet and i love that they’re all settled together

overall: this book is 4 stars for me! it for sure held up pretty well compared to what i remembered. the main detraction is the slow pace. i am impressed by how much of the conflict is internal and that it manages to not get too bogged down compared to how boring that can feel. 

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 23, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

I can't help but think that Darcy's love language is quality time and that he is like super curious when it comes to people who interest him and so he's spending all this time with Lizzie is just related to him wanting to be with her because she makes him feel in a way that he hasn't before

when Darcy is like “I can't go on not telling you that I love you and I admire you greatly” and I completely feel the like “despite trying so hard not to” in a way that I never used to it when i was younger

when Darcy has given the letter and Elizabeth is reading it It was so annoyingly hot the way Darcy said if “I was wrong about your sister‘s intention/feelings then you’re right to be mad at me” something about his admitting there that she could be right when it would go against his interests is just *chef’s kiss*

when Lizzie said she needed to “console herself for the present, and prepare for another disappointment” that hit really hard

overall thoughts: pride and prejudice is some of the og miscommunication trope via jane and bingley, being in your 20s really seems to transcend time and era in the slight melancholy of coming into adulthood mixed with the excitement for the future

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 20, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

notes: this ended up being a much weirder month than expected for me so apologies my posts are all coming out at once and a few days late!

so i did read this in high school and remember quite enjoying it and i was really interested to see if it still held up for me

notes while reading

the first line of this book is for some reason engrained in my mind in the best way and the conversation that follows really sets up the dynamic between the bennet parents right away

i for sure can’t imagine talking about hypothetical kids the way the bennets talk about theirs though and it’s honestly sad to think of people needing to view their children this way to secure them a good future

i never particularly liked bingley at the start of this book and that for sure still stands - we know he’s rich and likes to dance and i need more to be invested (this is of course part of the point)

also thinking about everyone hating darcy so knowing the end was surprisingly funny to me

i forgot how early on it became apart that darcy likes elizabeth

It's interesting how Elizabeth sees Darcy staring at her as him clearly hating her so much I love that

Lizzie telling Mr. Collins she wants to be seen as a rational creature is some thing I both greatly understand and I'm sad that she couldn't expect from a suitor

I think Charlotte Lucas really proves that theory that men just want a therapist like literally all she does is listen to him for five seconds and he's like I'm in love Mr. Collins is needing a therapist not a wife

when i first read this book i thought Lizzie was brave and Charlotte was stupid, but now i really view it as them both being brave in very different ways - and honestly from a survival standpoint, Lizzie being a bit foolish (though i agree with her still)

overall thoughts: i so far still really like the book and relate a lot to Lizzie - something that keeps striking me is how close I am in age to Lizzie and Jane and how crazy that is to me that they’re considered on the late side of getting married

[blue-and-cass-read]

read dates: march 18, 2022 - march 22, 2022

WARNING:  under the cut, there will be spoilers for last night at the telegraph club, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

(all my ratings are out of 5 stars)

plot rating: ★★★ character rating: ★★★★ pacing rating:  ★★★★★ style rating:  ★★★★ “je ne sais quoi” rating:  ★★★★ overall rating:  ★★★★

favorite moments: lily’s first night at the telegraph club; the little moments between kath and lily at school; lily finding the sapphic book at the drug store; the flashbacks to lily’s parents, grace and joseph, and aunt judy; when lily interacts with her new queer friends after she tells her mother; aunt judy taking her in; the reunion  favorite character(s): lily hu, judy motherfucking fong least favorite character(s): shirley lum

general thoughts: this book is wonderful to read and interact with, i don’t quite know where to begin. as much as i dislike bittersweet endings simply because there’s definitely a possibility to do a full-on happy ending in most cases, i really did enjoy how this book ended. it made sense and it showed the audience a side to some characters that we had not yet seen. but i’m getting ahead of myself. let’s talk about lily and her journey of self-discovery. i love getting to read stories about people discovering themselves because it reminds me of when i started questioning my sexuality. it wasn’t a particularly pleasant time in my life, but i do enjoy getting to see how far i’ve come. lily hu is a high school student and the daughter of chinese immigrants living in san francisco during the red scare. there are so many parts of her life that could implode at a moment’s notice and this brave, brave girl still has the guts to figure out why she’s felt different her whole life. i saw a lot of myself in lily, particularly in finding that drug store novel about two women. my first introduction to queerness was by books and seeing that happen in the 50s was so great; the phrase “history repeats itself” doesn’t just apply to big, world-changing events. when she and kath make their journeys to the telegraph club and grow closer to each other, i was a little apprehensive since the telegraph club was a bar and they’re teenagers but i digress. i also really love seeing characters build their support systems and when you’re a baby gay, nothing is more important than having mentors and friends who will listen to you, guide you in the right direction, and grow with you. it’s also an important part of growing up in general to find the people who are going to stick with you no matter what. sometimes you outgrow your best friends and sometimes people turn on you. as much as i disliked shirley, she was still a good lesson for lily. as always, i love learning about other cultures from an everyday lens and this book was no different. last night at the telegraph club shows us a very interesting look at life for asian people during a time when communism was every “patriotic american”’s worst fear. i didn’t know that cops took people’s immigration papers as a scare tactic but honestly that seems like the most likely thing to happen. seeing both lily’s shame and pride in being chinese-american and her and her peers’ desire to fit in is something a lot of children and grandchildren of immigrants feel. this book was lovely. every single bit. even when lily’s parents seemed against her, they still loved her and i love to see it. malinda lo is so talented and i can’t wait to see what else she has in store. until next time!

-blue

[blue-and-cass-read]

dates read: march 12, 2022  - march 13, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for loveboat, taipei, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

(all my ratings are out of 5 stars)

plot rating: ★★★★ character rating: ★★★★★ pacing rating: ★★★★ style rating: ★★★★ “je ne sais quoi” rating: ★★★★★ overall rating: ★★★★⅖

favorite moments: snake blood sake; all of rick’s little touches and every. single. time. he caught ever falling; ever forgiving sophie because i’m so tired of girls being pitted against each other in fiction; the trip to sophie and rick’s aunt’s; the talent show; ever standing up for herself favorite character(s): ever wong, rick woo, mei-hwa pan least favorite character(s): honestly, there weren’t any characters i straight up hated scratch that: fuck xander’s dad

general thoughts: i’m always a slut for coming-of-age stories and this one did not disappoint. loveboat, taipei is set to the backdrop of high school graduate ever wong being sent to taiwan to learn mandarin and chinese culture at a special summer school before going off to medical school in the fall. the only issue being that ever doesn’t want to be a doctor (she gets nauseous at the sight of blood), she wants to be a dancer. i’m also a slut for stories that have a character ending generational trauma and ever did so beautifully. i think this may be one of the only books with a love triangle (love angle? rick and xander weren’t involved romantically with one another) that i didn’t find monotonous and overly-tropey. while there was certainly a correct answer for ever to choose (rick and ever 4ever), never once did i feel like i was being dragged through her interactions with xander (looking at you katniss and gale). in fact, it was quite the opposite; xander is made out to be the bad boy and through his interactions with ever, we get to see his deep, artistic, troubled side but without her being his only character development. i wasn’t in love with him stealing kisses from ever without her permission, but i did love the open communication which we so little see. now, the star of the show: ever coming into herself and standing up for her dreams. as the grandchild of immigrants, i know firsthand the expectations of success placed on kids, especially oldest daughters, at a young age. seeing ever go from outright rebellion for the sake of defying her parents to taking her own strides and eventually telling her parents that she loves them and understands where they’re coming from, but that they should support her dreams even if they’re not her parents’ was amazing. i am also, also always a slut for “i wasn’t doing it for myself and now i am” story arcs, so it was lovely all around. rick woo and sophie ha, my favorite cousins. i love their interactions with each other and with ever. sophie starts out as this messiah for ever, a confidant person to emulate and be friends with. ever starts to see her for who she really is and the tables turn where ever is the one consoling and uplifting sophie until they can do it for each other. we love to see girls winning and supporting other girls. and rick, my love, the way he treats not only ever, but his ex-girlfriend and his family is just *chef’s kiss* i love him. please read this book, y’all. it’s so lovely and there was never a dull moment. loveboat, taipei has enemies-to-friends-lovers, mutual pining, the whole nine yards. plus the aesthetics and culture are so rich and wonderful. promise, you’re gonna love this. not to mention it’s being adapted into a film that i’m sure is going to be amazing as well. until next time!

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 10, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

(all my ratings are out of 5 stars)

plot rating: ★★★★ character rating: ★★★★ pacing rating: ★★★ style rating: ★★ “je ne sais quoi” rating: ★★★★★ overall rating: ★★★⅗

favorite moments so far: the fact that after mr. gardiner finds lydia and mr. wickham, it’s implied that he *ahem* persuaded mr. wickham into accepting a less than favorable dowry after being a complete dummy; those few days between lydia’s reappearance and darcy’s proposal where darcy and bingley kinda just hang around longbourn like “hey... it’s been a minute but i still love you;” when mrs. bennet calls jane mrs. bingley and elizabeth mrs. darcy!!!!!!!! favorite character(s) so far: elizabeth bennet, fitzwilliam darcy, mrs. gardiner least favorite character(s) so far: mrs. bennet, lady catherine de bourgh, george wickham

general thoughts: i’m always a sucker for several things, two of which are enemies to lovers and a tidy ending to the misunderstanding trope. this book delivers both so well. i love how in this final part of the book, we see this lovestruck side of many characters and what it does to different people. for lydia, it was running away to elope. elizabeth starts to doubt herself which is such a complete 180 from where we were before this. darcy thinks of others before himself. jane is even happier. i love when we get “naturally occurring,” so to speak, character studies that compare and contrast how different people react to the same situation. i remember when i read pride and prejudice the first time and was mostly confused by the whole lydia-wickham thing but also semi supportive? like why shouldn’t she be able to elope with someone she loves? i should note that lydia was the same age as me at the time. all that to say that it’s interesting to have these different lenses to look through when reading. because now i’m mostly just angry that wickham took advantage of not one, but two much younger girls and because he’s a man he gets nothing more than a slap on the wrist and his debts paid off. mr. bennet even goes so far as to say he’s his favorite son-in-law because he’s appropriately subordinate, a character who has thus far been a voice of reason and levelheadedness. ugh, men! also, did anyone else not catch bingley’s and darcy’s proposals the first time around? i had to reread both sections where it was implied(?) rather than stated that jane and elizabeth were engaged, which was so weird to me considering the two quite lengthy previous proposals. it was more so later that both jane and lizzy announced to each other they were engaged that i got it. did i miss some victorian code word for engagement? anyway... i love the little moment at the end where elizabeth is teasing darcy about falling in love with her. i think it’s very on-brand for them because it devolves into this kinda serious conversation about the many, many, many misunderstandings that paved the way to their current situation. plus, i just love when plots get wrapped up nicely with a little bow, especially if there’s no sequel or follow up, so that alone gets the book brownie points from me. i very much enjoyed getting to read pride and prejudice from a more grown-up point of view to add onto my (limited) understanding of the first read. am i gonna rewatch the movie again? yeah, probably. until next time!

-blue

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 8, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

(all my ratings are out of 5 stars)

plot rating: ★★★★ character rating: ★★★★ pacing rating: ★★★ style rating: ★★★ “je ne sais quoi” rating: ★★★★ overall rating: ★★★⅗

favorite moments so far: elizabeth trying to put some perspective on jane’s whole situation and jane still wanting to see the best in everyone until caroline decides to show her true colors; i enjoyed seeing the bennets, especially lizzy, interact with their extended family; mr. darcy’s letter and elizabeth’s reaction thereafter; really, elizabeth’s whole stay at rosings and hunsford; elizabeth’s clap back to wickham where he realizes she knows what actually happened between him and the darcys *chef’s kiss*;  favorite character(s) so far: elizabeth bennet, fitzwilliam darcy least favorite character(s) so far: george wickham, lady catherine de bourgh

general thoughts: while volume 1 and volume 2 had nearly the same page count, i do feel like less happened though the pacing remained mostly the same. we did, however, get some big revelations in this part. let’s start with the way elizabeth’s aunts seem to really have her back. they’re older and are more knowledgeable about some of the things that lizzy is caught up in, particularly the way that mrs. gardiner knows something fishy is going on with the whole wickham-darcy situation. speaking of, i have many thoughts on darcy’s initial proposal and the letter he writes to lizzy. we, as the audience, know a few things going into it: 1) wickham’s story paints him in a favorable light and makes darcy seem like a prideful asshole, 2) the netherfield party seemingly disappeared without a trace or even a note, 3) lizzy suspects mr. bingley’s sisters have something to do with it, 4) elizabeth’s aunt seems to think that wickham may have not told the entire truth, and 5) darcy has feelings for lizzy that are not quite so platonic as they once were. when elizabeth finds out darcy’s side of the story, i think it’s really interesting how she reacts. she realizes then that one or the other is true, but not both, and both accounts she’s heard are conjecture. except that darcy’s cousin can corroborate. lizzy takes this hard because she prides *cough cough* herself on being an excellent judge of character and fair to boot. now that her whole sense of that has been upended, i’ll be interested to see where she goes emotionally. on the other hand, mr. fitzwilliam darcy, i have a bone to pick with you. you who claim to have only separated bingley and jane because she didn’t obviously return his affection and he thought it to be a strategic ploy for an advantageous marriage. you who then turned around and proposed to her sister. what happens when bingley inevitably finds out? we know jane and lizzy talk and if darcy intends on fixing things, jane will likely tell bingley, one of your closest friends. it blows my mind a little seeing just how far this potent mixture of love and the audacity takes darcy into hypocrite land. i do enjoy seeing side of both him and elizabeth we haven’t had a chance to see until now. they both are headstrong and resilient people but now we see them when their emotions and personalities get the best of them. overall, very interested to see how this plays out in the book. until next time!

-blue

[blue-and-cass-read]

date finished: march 4, 2022

WARNING: under the cut, there will be spoilers for pride and prejudice, so read/listen/etc. first and then come join me here if you want to avoid them!

(all my ratings are out of 5 stars)

plot rating: ★★★½ character rating: ★★★★ pacing rating: ★★★ style rating: ★★★ “je ne sais quoi” rating: ★★★ overall rating: ★★★⅓

favorite moments so far: there are a lot of little moments in the first volume where elizabeth and mr. bingley interact that really show off their character when they’re with someone they like but are not romantically attracted to; i really enjoyed every moment where caroline bingley is trying to win mr. darcy’s attention or affection and every time, without fail, he either just doesn’t pick up on it, ignores it, or dismisses it; when mr. darcy has several realizations that he might not dislike elizabeth as much as previously thought and especially when he goes so far as to as to say spending time with and around her is “dangerous��� favorite character(s) so far: elizabeth bennet, charles bingley least favorite character(s) so far: mrs. bennet, caroline bingley

general thoughts: now, like most american teenagers, i had to read pride and prejudice in high school, but i was 15 year old at most and didn’t appreciate it like i do now. even though i have (and had) a fondness for shakespeare, somehow that didn’t translate well to understanding societal rules and speech patterns of the victorian era apparently. in the same vein, i completely forgot just how much happens in the first third of this book! if you’re familiar with the 2005 movie, the first hour (half of the whole film!) encapsulates what happens in the first 100 or so pages of the book. the pacing was very fast and there’s a lot of information to retain. i’m afraid, then, that it will translate to a dragging sensation in the latter two-thirds of the book. i also, in high school, recognized that elizabeth was the odd one out and how it made her badass, but i didn’t realize that the way other female characters act directly correlates to what behaviors were valued in women and how society at large has an impact on that. characters like jane and elizabeth bennet who want to marry for love? that was not the norm. charlotte lucas probably exemplifies the standard best: marry for station and hopefully be amiable with your spouse. in my early feminist stages, i didn’t see this strategy for what it was. i believed it the sign of poor character rather than a play at protection since when a woman’s father died, if she had no brothers, she couldn’t own property and take over the family estate, make her own money, or a plethora of other things we favored by capitalism take advantage of. i also am picking up more on the themes of pride and prejudice this read through. by the end of the novel, i hope to have a definition for each main characters’ “flavors” of pride/prejudice so that me and cass can compare our thoughts. overall, i’m really enjoying being able to read pride and prejudice with a little background but also with a more mature mind (save for being better equipped to recognize the sex jokes) and i can’t wait to continue!

-blue

[blue-and-cass-read]

We’re reading Pride and Prejudice this March!

Join us by reading along, following our reactions as we go, and/or checking in on our monthly recap the last week of March!

We’ll each be posting our reactions as we reach the following benchmarks:

❊ chapter 23/end of volume 1

❊ chapter 42/end of volume 2

❊ end of the book/end of volume 3

❊ joint monthly recap and final thoughts

you can follow anything we post about pride and prejudice with our pride and prejudice tag and everything blue has to say with their blue reacts to pride and prejudice tag.