The complete novels of Jane Austen Book

I read all six of Jane Austen's books this year for the Austen Anonymous Readalong and in general I enjoyed every single one for very different reasons.

Since this is a bind up, I'm not entirely sure how I want to do this, but I think I'll just break it down generally for each book.

In January, I read Northanger Abbey. This was my first time reading it and I enjoyed it, but after reading all of Austen's novels, I can say it's not my favorite. For Austen's first novel it was fun, but compared to some of her other works, it's not her strongest. This is a parody/satire on gothic romance novels and I really loved that aspect of the plot. I found Catherine to be a delightful protagonist, despite her naivete. I loved her arc throughout the novel and the romance was fun to read about. All in all a solid Austen book, but not my favorite.

In February, I read Sense and Sensibility. Once again this was my first time reading this novel and I loved it so much. Marianne and Elinor were delightful protagonists and I loved their dynamic so much. Willoughby is forever the worst and I hate him. He's just absolutely despicable. I loved how adorably awkward Edward was and I really liked Colonel Brandon. I just found everything about this book to be delightful and honestly relatable.

In March, I read (or I should say reread) Pride and Prejudice and of course I loved it. This was only my second time rereading it, but it's a story I've come to know really well. Lizzie and Darcy are iconic and I absolutely adore them. Always. I still can't stand Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet got on my nerves a bit too. This time around I found myself really focusing on Jane and Bingley's storyline more. In a way the novel really is all about them. And it's interesting to me that people say P&P is super romantic, but really that's not what the novel is about. Still I loved and will always love P&P and I had a lovely time rereading it this time.

In April, I read Mansfield Park for the first time and it's definitely not my favorite of the lot. I literally hated every single character except for Fanny. I honestly just wanted her to be happy. I liked the play aspect quite a bit though. I found the ending to be frustrating and rushed in a way. But I really did love Fanny and found her to be relatable in a way. So while it wasn't my favorite, it was interesting nonetheless.

In May, I read (or I should say reread) Emma. Emma is the one that was the freshest in my mind since I read it for the first time at the end of last year. Emma is such a frustrating character, but I always find the dynamic between her and Harriet to be very interesting. I also love Mr. Knightley. He's definitely one of my absolute favorite Austen heroes. I do really enjoy watching Emma's growth throughout the novel though and it's fun to see all the trouble she gets into, even if it's also insanely frustrating. This time I noticed the mentions of the age gap between Emma and Knightley a lot more and I just didn't like that much. I love the ending of Emma a lot and getting to see her and Knightley post-engagement is just a delight. Definitely one I have mixed feelings on, but so enjoyable to read regardless.

Finally, in June, I read (reread) Persuasion and I think it's safe to say that for now, it's taken my top spot for favorite Austen novel. I love Anne so much and understood her motivations completely. She's got a subtle snark to her that I love and the PINING ANGST is just delightful! I also adore Captain Wentworth and I also understand where he's coming from. I loved watching his interactions with everyone around him and the jealousy was also delightful for me to read as well. I didn't really hate anyone in this novel, I really understood where most of them were coming from. That's not to say they didn't get grating at times, they absolutely did, but I just loved everything about it. And the ending of this book always destroys me. It's SO GOOD. Definitely one of my favorites and one I'll reread in the future.

So to recap briefly. My ranking as of June 2020 is as follows:
1.) Persuasion
2.) Pride and Prejudice
3.) Sense and Sensibility
4.) Emma
5.) Northanger Abbey
6.) Mansfield Park

My Hero Rankings are:
1.) Darcy (I'm basic)
2.) Wentworth
3.) Knightley
4.) Edward
5.) Henry
5.) Edmund

Heroine ranking varies.

All in all I really enjoyed my read/reareads of all of these and if you haven't picked up any Jane Austen before, I strongly urge you to as her works are timeless and still relevant to today in all kinds of ways.

TW/CW for the novels generally: mentions of slavery, derogatory words for different groups (Romani is an example of one group), loss of family members, depictions of illness and severe injury, mention of nonconsensual relationship, parental abandonment, mentions of underage preganancy. (If anyone wants specifics as to which books any of these belong to, let me know.).