Happy Wednesday friends!! Sorry I haven’t posted in a little while, honestly I am still dealing with my wisdom teeth saga and have been having to go to an appointment everyday, so I haven’t had the chance to really sit down for a couple of hours and write. But the goal this week is to do this post, as well as another one hopefully this weekend!
As you can tell, this post is a little different than my normal format. That is because I wanted to dedicate a post to this story/book to really talk about my thoughts in a manner that was a tad more rambly than was is deemed acceptable on instagram. I will however say that my post title is not as fun as it usually is, because it actually makes sense. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, my titles for each blog posts are just words from the books I have read in some sort of order) I also try to contain most spoilers, but be warned there are a few sprinkled throughout this post! Anyways random tangent aside, lets get into it!
Just a side note, I am usually someone that has to read the books before the show/movie but this time I did it in reverse order, which meant that for at least 100 pages, I was really struggling trying to separate the tv show from the book. Not to say that the book was bad at all, but for me I personally almost have to read the book first. For two reasons, the first is because I honestly prefer to read the story the way the author originally envisioned it. The second reason is because I am a very detail oriented- which just means that specifically when it comes to comparing a book to a movie or a tv show, I spend almost the whole time preoccupied while reading the book looking for the missing details from the show, but if I do it the other way around I find that it doesn’t take too much away from the experience. (I don’t know if that makes any sense of it anyone else is like that😅)But once I was able to get past that and just accept that they were different, I did really enjoy it.
I remember seeing posts about this television show everywhere. My mom and I really enjoy Pride and Prejudice, and people were describing this as the Pride and Prejudice, meets gossip girl. Knowing that I enjoy both of those, I decided to try this out. The next day when I approached my mom excited because I thought she would really enjoy this show, she let me know that she had already watched the whole show. Mind you, this was when it just came out. So I decided to play it in the background while I was cleaning, and then later we decided to rewatch it on New Years Eve…. and am almost 100% certain my mom has since watched it again. I am glad I watched it a second time, just because I feel like I was able to pick up on details, that were missed the first time. I also think that the first time it took me a few episodes to really get into, whereas the second time I watched I already knew I liked it so I felt like my overall approach to the show was more relaxed, and I was able to just enjoy it and was not so distracted by trying to determine if the show was for me.
I will say that there were aspects to the show that I found to be a bit surprising the first time I watched it, as honestly the first time I watched it and “Thank you next” started playing, I was a bit like.. is this a parody? But then I remembered who produced this show and it honestly just made sense, that there would be a mixture of pop culture, scandal and dramatic flare. I also want to mention this here, and just get it out of the way. I found it refreshing that there were people of color playing main characters in this show. While I agree that it is different from the book, and it may not be the most historically accurate depiction, I will say that in a year that was so filled with divide, it was nice to just see talented actors book roles they deserved, no matter the color of their skin. I also think that this goes back to who produced the show, and her vision for the show/characters, and honestly I think she made a great decision in terms of casting.
Along the lines of casting- I just wanted to say how well I think each of the characters were cast. While they might not perfectly match the physical description, I do think that they did an amazing job of bringing the characters alive. I will say however that the inclusion of Marina, while I thought was entertaining in the show, in my opinion didn’t need to be included. But I suppose in some ways it made part of the motivations behind Lady Whistledown make sense.I also liked the storyline they added in regards to Lord Featherington as I think as a whole it made not only him more complex, but it also brought more attention to his family as a whole, which in the show had one less daughter than the book. I also really liked the addition of Siena, and do wish that she had also been a character in the book, but I think that is largely due to the fact that I just enjoyed her as a character. Lady Danbury also played a larger part in the show than the book, which I was a bit disappointed about. Not because I didn’t want her in the show, but more so because I thought that she had such a large role in helping Simon, that I just wished that had also been a part of the book. However I will say that, that can also be seen as an example of how creative liberties producers take when making an adaptation of a book, can sometimes showcase characters in a new way that make their characters overall more important. There also wasn’t a Genevieve, or even Will who was the boxer in the book. But again I do not exactly think that is a negative, I just think that with these characters addition to the show, in turn it overall made the storyline more complex. There was also the addition of the Queen and King’s storyline, but I think that just was an attempt to make the prince’s storyline in the show make sense. The addition of this storyline I don’t think I am very opinionated about one way or the other, as while I do not think the book was exactly missing out, I also enjoyed the addition in the show.
The characters themselves I think were fairly similar to the way they were portrayed in the book. I do however think that in the book you felt a bit more sorry for Nigel, while in the show you were sort of rooting for him to get a taste of his own medicine. Violet, was also toned down ever so slightly in the sense that she was a tad less pushy, and didn’t have as many one liners as she had in the book that showcased her humor.If you have ever been annoyed by the mother in Pride and Prejudice, you might find Violet refreshing, I personally adored her. Daphne was slightly less concerned with a love match, and just seemed as though in the beginning she was willing to settle for at least someone who was nice. You did not get as much of Bennedict’s storyline in the book, but I also think that was because the first book was meant to be Daphnes story. There are other differences and inconsistencies in comparing the book but I think that I covered most of the major ones.
I think that it is important to note that the identity of Lady Whistledown is not revealed in the first book, but that the first book does go into the future of some of the characters and reveals who they end up with and part of their stories, which the show just didn’t do as they want more than one season. There is also far less sex, so if that bothered you in the show, you might enjoy the book a bit more as it is slightly less in your face with the matter.
I feel like I could continue to go on and on, but I also can recognize when I am rambling uncontrollably 🙈 So I am going to leave you with some quotes that I really liked!
Quotes that stood out to me:
“Bachelors are a challenge spinsters are merely pathetic.” (33)
“She was, it occurred to him in a rather bizarre moment of clarity, the sort of person he’d probably call a friend if she were a man.”(66)
“Then her relief turned into something a little more precious-joy. Because she had been the one to chase the shadows from his eyes. She wanted to banish them forever she realized.”(190)
“Whispers if left unchecked, could quickly grow into roars.”(212)
“When had friends become enemies and flirtations grow to lust?”(236)
“Really if people weren’t so intent of keeping young women completely ignorant of the realities of marriage, scenes like this could be avoided.”(274)
“And in that moment, as he slowly closed the distance between them, he became her entire world.”(277)
“To say that all men can be bullheaded would be insulting to the bull.”(315)
“If only he could escape from himself with the same ease.”(342)
“It wasn’t so much like he’d run away, if he could go back so easily.”(360)
⚠️There is a portion that some may find disturbing in both the show and the book. In the book it is a few pages, and in the show it is probably around five minutes. If you have seen the show you might know what I am talking about, but if you don’t feel free to message me, and I will go into further detail!⚠️
I also attached a video that I made to the bottom of this post, that gives you a taste of what the book was like. (Or at least how I envisioned it while reading) I hope you enjoy!!🖤
As always feel free to message me (it truly makes my day) or leave any comments/suggestions. I plan to hopefully have another post this weekend that will be back to the normal format. But until then you can find me on instagram @ReadandRamble! Hope you all have an amazing rest of your week, and I will be reading until the next ramble🥰
Read and Ramble 