Emmett

3.5 stars. I confess that I never read Jane Austen's [b:Emma 6969 Emma Jane Austen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373627931l/6969.SY75.jpg 3360164], but I have seen the movie Clueless approximately 387 times, so my basis for comparison of this queer YA adaptation is a bunch of rich, entitled California 90's teens. (“As If!”) Actually, there's not much difference in settings between the movie and Emmett, except the book is a lot more queer, and the titular character's mom has died more recently. Handsome, rich, popular nice guy Emmett has declared that he will not date until age 25, because his brain won't be fully developed until then. That doesn't mean he can't have sex, of course. When his current f*ck buddy, Harrison, tells Emmett he wants a boyfriend, Emmett has the brilliant idea of finding the perfect partner for him. If you've seen the movie (or read the book), you know that things go a bit haywire from here. Rosen has a lot of fun with his adaptation. The Elton equivalent is a perfect himbo who's all about social media followers, Tai/Harriet (RIP Brittany Murphy) is sweet but nerdy, and Murray & Dionne's male/transfeminine counterparts (who aren't really in Austin's novel) are annoyingly affectionate. The book effectively explores how Emmett's unresolved grief over his mother's death has resulted in his insistence on making everyone around him happy (even if his meddling is disastrous) while avoiding the pain that he would likely experience if he had a boyfriend. It's also a celebration of queer relationships, and the freedom of not having to conform to heteronormative standards. Unfortunately, Emmett's relationship with the guy he won't admit to liking (Josh/George Knightley) is antagonistic for so long that the mutual confession of feelings in the last ten pages of the book doesn't feel genuine. (Maybe if Emmett's crush looked more like Paul Rudd...). Tl,dr: Emmett is a well-written, clever adaptation of a classic, got me in the feelz for everything but the romance plot, would definitely read more by Lev A.C. Rosen.

This had some humor to it but ultimately wasn't really my cup of tea. By nature retellings of classics are going to be sort of predictable so the job is to make the new twists interesting enough or to make the characters compelling enough that you are happy to be along for the ride even when you know the final destination. And IMO this didn't quite hit the mark. May appeal more to younger readers especially ones hungry for queer romance.