I would say for about ninety percent of this book I thought it was excellent. Perfect execution, I liked the characters, I was involved in the revenge trope, and things were good. The other ten percent sent me up in flames with an angry face because of the super secret reason behind the revenge trope. Spoilers ahead...
Apparently the hero's sister was willingly involved with the heroine's father at the age of fifteen. The hero has always thought it was rape but near the end after a conversation with his sister he learns that no it wasn't rape and that the sister basically forced it to happen because she wanted to be with the older man... which makes it totally okay and now the hero's sorry about his revenge plot towards the heroine.
Um... wtf? Pardon my cussing.
I don't know Australian laws, but I'm pretty certain fifteen is underage (of legal consent) and therefore even if she slipped into the father's bed and wiggled herself onto him, the fact that he continued or participated knowingly is grounds for statutory rape. So no, it's not okay. Hero doesn't have to be sorry for wanting to see father of heroine dead. Hero is wrong for almost doing the same thing to the heroine that her father did to his sister.
I know I have a lot of issues with the use of rape in a romance novel. Just look at the category and read all the reviews of books which contained the situation. I think my problem is that I feel the way it's handled afterward is sub-par. I'm not convinced and I'm not sure many readers would be with how everything plays out. How do you feel reading about rape in a romance novel - whether it's side characters or the main characters?
Back to the review... other than that whole fiasco I would have rated this novel much higher, because the rest of it was fun and engaging.
Rating: 4.5 stars before rape arc.
Rating: 3 stars after rape arc.
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Originally posted 2009-02-07 16:08:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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What I love best is seeing multiple perspectives on books that I'm reading, have read, or intend to read. When Sasha sent me this guest review, I was pleasantly surprised. Without knowing it, we were reading the same book trilogy within days of each other! Check out my review of An Assembly Such as This and Sasha's below!
By: Sasha Muradali, guest blogger
This is not your typical romance novel, nor would I classify it as romance per se because An Assembly Such As This (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentlemen) by Pamela Aidan is the author's take, from the point-of-view of Fitzwilliam Darcy, on Pride and Prejudice, a classic novel, by Jane Austen. However, well-acknowledged, Pride and Prejudice is a love story.
An Assembly Such as This is the first part of a trilogy (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentlemen) that takes us through the all too familiar journey so many of us have come to love. The other two novels are called Duty and Desire and These Three Remain. This specific volume ventures into the first third of Pride and Prejudice up until when Darcy and the Bingley family leave Hertfordshire for London after the fiasco at the Netherfield Park Ball.
You cannot truly appreciate or understand the depths of this novel without having had read Pride and Prejudice previously. There is a lot that the author takes for chance that you already know.
While, many of us have had our assumptions on that Darcy feels, we've never really seen it in writing before. And as someone who is very skeptical about anything that interprets Pride and Prejudice, this first novel of Aidan's trilogy is nothing short of absolutely fantastic.
The author takes her readers through Darcy's first meeting with Elizabeth, why he behaves they way that he does, and how often, what was once seen as him being tough and perhaps cruel, was his natural decorum, or way of flirting holding on to that very decorum.
Specifically, Aidan is able to add some of her own little quirks into the story - consistent letters between Georgiana and Darcy, a look into Darcy's private life as male head of house. This is actually one of the most unique aspects, and what I enjoyed reading the most, because as a reader you get to see an illustration of how Georgiana was really feeling post-Mr. Wickham. These letters also serve as a means to understand how truly and deeply Darcy cares for Georgiana - they also show how often he really puts others before himself.
This fact helps the reader understand further his decision to separate Bingley from Jane Bennett; in An Assembly Such as This, Darcy is working together selflessly with Caroline to protect Charles, not harm him. It would be important to remember that in the original Pride and Prejudice, the ball at Netherfield Park turned into somewhat of a fiasco between the younger Bennett girls running wild with the officers, Mrs. Bennett running her mouth off and, the Bennett's cousin, Mr. Collins, becoming a public laughing stock. These circumstances are part of what fuels Darcy's opinion of country manners being 'savage.'
If you are looking to laugh, gain a near flawless interpretation of Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of Fitzwilliam Darcy, try your eyes on An Assembly Such As This.
Here on Love Passion Romance we will be featuring reviews on the other two in the trilogy shortly. So stay tuned and don't forget to remember the tag 'Fitzwilliam Darcy Gentlemen.'
4.5 of 5 stars.
Buy: An Assembly Such as This
Find and buy more Pamela Aidan novels at great prices.
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