Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa
☀️☀️🌤️

A sweet but ultimately shallow interpretation of a classic novel, which technically serves its purpose just fine but suffers from the necessary comparison to literary greatness.

There was a lot of potential for a fantastic “remix” here, but for me it fell short in the simplicity of the narrative. The success of Pride and Prejudice lies in its social commentary, of which we get next to nothing here. The examination of transness in a historical time period was done well enough, but I’ve read better interpretations that also more successfully align with historical accuracy and lean harder into the emotional ramifications.  

Oliver was, naturally, the most interesting character in the novel. Novoa did a great job of writing internal monologues explaining in explicit detail why living as your authentic self is so important. However, many other characters who are complex and interesting in the original were watered down to one-dimensional figures, often portrayed with no subtlety or nuance. Manufacturing villains felt unnecessary. The sexism displayed by Darcy and his half-assed redemption arc made him undesirable, defeating the purpose of the novel overall, particularly when combined with the insta-love from Oliver. Oliver’s parents' reactions to his coming out felt too neat and uncomplicated in the scheme of his concern. 

As an entry into the narrative I’m sure lots of young adults would love this novel. For me personally I was hoping for something with more depth and complexity, which is probably asking for a lot with the page count, but I was unfortunately left wanting more when I finished this. I still praise Novoa for the work done here - it feels like an impossible task to remix such brilliance - but I can’t say I was swept away like I’d hoped to be.