Meet the Benedettos
Ratings5
Average rating3.3
The Kardashians meets Pride and Prejudice in this charming comical follow-up to Birds of California, in which an A-list movie star moves to Los Angeles—and next door to a family of five eligible sisters.
Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality show skyrocketed them to pop culture fame, the five twenty-something sisters are living together in their parent’s crumbling McMansion, almost broke and teetering toward rock bottom. Their fortunes brighten when Charlie Bingley, the dashing star of Captain Fantastic, moves into the neighborhood with Will Darcy, his best friend from Juilliard, in tow. Charlie immediately falls for warm and lovely June, the oldest Benedetto sister. While the Benedetto’s flighty matriarch, Cinta, brashly encourages the potential match, there are plenty of others determined to steer Charlie away from this ridiculous family of reality show has-beens.
Lilly Benedetto, the sensible second oldest sister, is all too aware that her family is viewed as a spectacle. She usually doesn’t care what the world thinks because she faces deeper sorrows. And she most certainly does not have the patience for the likes of Will Darcy, a man plagued by his own private demons. Lilly finds Will to be stuck-up, arrogant, and judgmental. Will thinks Lilly is loud, brash, and defensive. But while the two clash at every turn, they can’t seem to stay away from each other.
Katie Cotugno brings a big, boisterous cast of characters to life in this deliciously sprawling Los Angeles story—a thoroughly fresh and modern tale about a family that’s “famous for being famous,” the ways that preconceived notions make fools of us all, and how unexpected romance can bloom despite the odds.
Series
Featured Series
2 primary booksBirds of California
Birds of California is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2022 with contributions by Katie Cotugno.
Reviews
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Reviews with the most likes.
Hits enough Pride and Prejudice beats to be good but not predictable.
Needs an epilogue or one more scene to stick the landing.
CW: Discussion of previous suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization3.5 stars for this clever [b:Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320399351l/1885.SY75.jpg 3060926] update. Jane Austen's Bennetts were family of modest means with an embarrassing fortune-hunting mother; Cotugno's Benedettos are former stars of a Kardashian-like television show whose every action is still gossip-worthy. Will Darcy, a Broadway actor starring in his first movie, is horrified when he learns that Lilly Benedetto, whom he just kissed, is a “reality show trash bag.” For her part, Lilly considers Will; his friend and action movie megastar Charlie Bingley; and his no-strings fuck buddy/agent Caroline Bingley, to be snobby “horrifying garbage monsters.” Will and Lilly alternately banter and glower at each other, as the rest of the familiar story unfolds. June/Jane doesn't catch a cold in this version; she faints doing burpees at Netherfield Place due to an undisclosed eating disorder. Mr. Collins is a self-centered screenwriter who unctuously fawns over his director, Caitriona de Bourgh. And so on. The updates are inspired, the satire of social media fame is on target, and the scenes between Lilly and Will sizzle with a combination of hate-fuck energy and finding-your-soulmate sweetness.Unfortunately, however, the book is a little too ambitious for its scale. The narrative is multiple first person POV, so we learn more about Will Darcy's interior life. Scenes recalling his abrupt exodus from New York to Hollywood after a short-term hospitalization for a suicidal attempt, and detailing his troubled relationship with his sister Georgia are well-written. But they crowd out most of the June and Charlie subplot and rush the Olivia (Lydia) and Nick (Wickham) episode. An unexpected Girl Power twist involving a secondary character solves the Bendettos' financial problems, but the abrupt ending, with a vaguely HFN for Lilly and Will, left me with a “wait, what?” feeling of frustration.
