I had nearly constant deja vu while reading LC Rosen's new novel, "Emmett."

It's not that the book was remixed from the classic Jane Austen novel, nor that it has obvious similarities to Alicia Silverstone's iconic Emma-inspired 90s teen classic "Clueless."

But something about a queer, sex-positive matchmaker who seems completely oblivious to his own feelings made me do a second take.

Still, this salacious YA romp was highly readable and ultimately satisfying.

Emmett is the queer, genderbent, inclusive modern adaptation of my teenage dreams. In the era of Heartstopper, we need more wholesome stories that represent everyone across the LGBTQIAP spectrum. As for this update? Our gay MC Emmett is B-L-E-S-S-E-D so obviously he tries to give back in the ways he knows how- tutoring the less fortunate in many different subjects- wink, wink- and playing matchmaker to boot. I really enjoyed this prep school take on the classic. A high note was the Emmett and Miles (Emma/Knightley) storyline which was well played out. Additionally, Emmett's health obsessed father was a hilarious take on history's most loved hypochondriac (green tea smoothie anyone?).

Emma isn't always easy to adapt- she's vain but sweet, she thinks she's not self-centered when she really is, but she also acknowledges her faults and deeply cares for those around her. It's a careful balancing act that Rosen has accomplished with this titular character. Overall, it was a fun read and a great way to introduce a newer generation to our beloved Austen, but I would have liked a little more depth.

I read and loved all of Lev AC Rosen’s books, from the YA contemporary Camp to his adult detective series Andy Mills and his YA Indiana Jones-like series Tennessee Russo. And, of course, I also love Emmett, based on Jane Austen’s Emma.

In Emmett, Lev is back where he began with Jack of Hearts and Camp. Like the other books, this story is messy, informative without being too educational, and witty. Even though Emmett is a terrible meddler, he also has a soft side. He’s sweet, caring, and charming. His anxious dad became hypochondriac after Emmett’s mom died of cancer and is terrified of losing Emmett too, and in a way, Emmett is the same. He doesn’t want a relationship because of the chance of breaking his heart and the pain that comes with it. He wraps it in the excuse that, according to his dead mom, his brains have only finished growing when he’s twenty-five.

So, this story is about grief and acknowledging the pain that comes with life. It’s about wanting security even though life is full of insecurities. It’s about taking the jump and seeing what happens. It’s about looking behind masks and facades and being willing to see more. It’s about growing all your life, even when your body and brain have stopped growing a long time ago. And in the end, it’s about believing and letting go and enjoying the moment.

Don’t expect this story to be sad and hard-hitting because it isn’t. A smile danced on my face so many times. Lev always manages to tell a funny, fairly light story with a serious undertone, and that’s a gift!

Even though I loved the story, there are a few things I liked a little less, and those things made me deduct a star, maybe even 1.5 stars.

I found the draws of Emmett’s blood weird. I understand Lev wanted to follow the original story (Emma by Jane Austen), but a dad who constantly draws his son's blood? I didn’t understand that part until suddenly, out of the blue, it came late in the story that Emmett’s dad has a nursing degree, and again I thought, huh?

Furthermore, I cringed when I read two scenes about staying sober because Miles and Emmett were the designated drivers after a party. Both times were a little blurry because the boys said they wouldn’t drink, then drank alcohol and said they would wait until they were sober enough to drive home … Sober enough? When do you know you’re sober enough? These moments just didn’t sit well with me, especially because everything was so nice in this story. It almost felt like Lev wanted to make Emmett a little less perfect, but for me, it was the wrong kind of less perfect.

The last thing is the ending. In my opinion, it was underdeveloped and a bit rushed. I wished there was a bit more time around the love declaration and a more satisfying epilogue.

4.5 stars

I've never been a fan of classics but I thought that maybe reading a more modern and queer version by an author I love would help me enjoy it. I did in fact enjoy it! I will be honest and say that I have not actually read Emma so I don't know how accurate of a retelling it is.

In the beginning, especially during the first chapter, Emmett annoyed me A LOT! But I grew to love him and his flawed cocky self. I also loved almost all of the side characters, there was one side character that was just a dick but he was a well-written dick. My favorite character was Miles! He was perfect! There were a lot of cute moments throughout the book, but I wish there were even more and that they had just a little more to them. There was one moment that I especially wanted more to come from it, but I won't get into specifics.

If you're looking for an Emma and/or Bridgerton style story with childhood best friends-to-lovers, then you will love this book.

content warning: grief, blood/needles, hypochondriac, mental health, cancer

thank you to netgalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Emma by Jane Austen is a favorite of mine. Hearing the description "a modern-day gay YA Emma, with the spikey social critique of Austen plus the lush over-the-top romance of Brigerton," I was completely sold. Then I started to read it...

I tried. I really did try. I was on a plane and tried to push through, and I made it to like 21% when I finally closed my Kindle. I could not stand Emmett Woodhouse. I always give characters the benefit of the doubt when I first meet them. I don't mind being in the head of an unlikable character for a book. But Emmett is in a category all his own. It wasn't even like a Cher Horowitz "Oh, the world is all about me" type of thinking. He was just not a good person. I realize *most* characters have to have their arc be bad to be better, but I couldn't even find any way to like him enough to root for him. The part that officially made me stop reading was when he started to fantasize about being 18, so it would be okay to hook up with someone older because he knew they wanted him, and age was what was stopping them. It just gave me an ick factor.

The writing was well done. I could see the Emma influence in the story. But up to where I read, I did not feel any Bridgerton romance, but I might not have gotten there yet. I wish I could have liked Emmett more or at all. I think this will have a place for people. I'm sad I didn't connect with it because it is my type of book.

"What matters is that you can grow together. Like flowers that are planted next to each other, and they wrap around each other as they grow."

Appropriately billed as a "modern-day gay YA Emma,"
Emmett Woodhouse IS Austen's title character. Even more, Emmett screams of Cher from Clueless (also based on Austen, fyi). Overty privileged and always "nice," Emmett decides to play matchmaker for his friends all while overlooking his judgemental best friend, Miles, who's a perfect match for Emmett. Misunderstandings and hilarity ensue. It was a sweet read, and had lots of diversity, but cool gender-twist aside, it didn't bring anything extraordinarily different to the original tale. It was a fun read, though.

*******
I received this eARC from Netgalley @netgalley and publisher Little, Brown Books for Young Readers @littlebrownbookgroup_uk in exchange for an honest review.
#netgalley #emmett

What is it about Austen heroines that lend themselves so well to gender-swapped or LGBTQ reimaginings? This is one of the more deftly-written ones, so any fans of the original Emma will enjoy the cleverness of the conversion. In a typical move for Austen translations, the estate or village has now become an elite academy. In this case, wealthy, popular Emmett Woodhouse attends Highbury Academy, and after some initial success at matchmaking for his best friend Taylor and her new boyfriend West, has decided he will be the resident matchmaker of the school. After all, Emmett knows best. This is why he is waiting until he is 25 and his pre-frontal cortex is fully developed before he allows himself to catch any feelings for anyone. Well, with one notable exception, family/childhood friend Miles manages to get under Emmett's skin by being the only person with the guts to call Emmett out when he's being extra. If you've read Emma, you know where this is going. The fun with this book is not only re-experiencing a beloved story, but also being surprised by how the author manages to update the narrative. Mr. Woodhouse's health food obsession and ocd intrusive thoughts are particularly well done. I'm not a big fan of the cover of this book though, so don't judge it by its cover. There's rather more going on in the book.

I've never been a one for reading Jane Austen, but I adore many of the modern-day retellings, and Emmett is no different!

I enjoyed Emmett so much that I'd gladly read any other story Rosen chooses to undertake, adaptation or not.

It is entirely possible that something is missed from not being familiar with 'Emma', as in my case. 'Emmett' comes across as not-quite YA Contemporary all on its own.

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

I requested this ARC because I (a) love Austen; (b) like Emma Woodhouse least of all Austen's protagonists; (c) wanted to know what a writer whose other YA books I've enjoyed would do with an overconfident teenage matchmaker.

The short answer is that Rosen changes the focus, and successfully.

Emma's mother has died before the book opens, but the loss happened early in Emma's childhood; she doesn't remember her mother well and she's no longer grieving. Emmet, on the other hand, lost his mother only a few years ago, remembers her well, and labors under a vast unacknowledged grief: he's "blessed," he says more than once, and of course he's fine. Absolutely fine! He just wants to control everything, especially and above all else his own emotions.

As for Rosen's Mr. Woodhouse, he's anxious and hypochondriacal like the original; but unlike the original, he slipped deeper into his anxieties because with his wife he lost a crucial support, & then deeper yet since her best friend has been gone for a year, serving with Doctors Without Borders. He focuses those anxieties on his son, taking regular blood samples and warning him about the Terrible Dangers of Sex.

Austen's characters appear in the guise of Emmet's friends and acquaintances, with changes appropriate to their ages and 21st-century US diversity, plus some new faces such as the f/f couple who live across the street and are parents to Emmet's friend Miles. The Elton character is a narcissistic social media influencer named Clarke, OTT and deliciously entertaining. They all have money, with the exception of the Harriet Smith stand-in, Harrison, who (gasp) only has a Mini Cooper. (Clarke has a Jaguar, of course. Speaking of which, all these kids need to get off my lawn, because in the 1970s, when I was a working-class teenager in an upper-middle-class suburb, it was a big deal if someone's parents gave them a used car for their seventeenth birthday.)

I found some of the politics a little heavy-handed (do teenagers typically write essays about insidious colonialism in art?) but on the other hand also interesting (before reading Emmet, I had not been aware of how a landscape might be framed so as to imply that it belonged to the artist's nation rather than to the people who lived there), so not unwelcome. A couple of YA-typical psychological homilies also struck me as a bit much -- though again, probably welcome for the right audience.

I rolled my eyes much harder at the characterization of Mr. Woodhouse's blood draws as "abuse"; not only does Emmet refuse them more than once in the book, but also it was hard to see them as more harmful than any other overanxious parental behavior. Emmet seems to find the needle sticks no more than annoying; if he had a phobia of needles I would feel differently, but as it is I landed firmly in "Oh, come on" territory. For my money, to call the blood draws abuse cheapens the word.

As often with YA books, I judge Emmet one way for myself, another way for teenage readers. So: 3 stars for me, 4 for a YA audience.

Thanks to Little, Brown and NetGalley for the ARC.

L. C. Rosen does a great job in creating a modern-day retelling of Emma, it worked well in what I was looking for in this type of book. I could read the Emma elements and still see it as it’s own thing. The characters were what I was hoping for and were written well, it had a great realistic plot and I’m glad I read this.

Thanks Little Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Emmett is absolutely wonderful! Emmett has a rule that he’ll have no boyfriends until he’s 25, that’s when the brain stops developing. So when his casual hook up and friend, Harrison, wants a boyfriend, Emmett is on a mission to find him the perfect guy (that’s not him). Of course hijinks ensue, and it doesn’t help that his exish best friend and neighbor, Miles, thinks it’s a bad idea and is not afraid to tell Emmett that. And Miles does it with so much condescension. Can Emmett find the perfect guy for Harrison? Does he really want a boyfriend? How will he deal with the insufferable Miles? I enjoyed the back and forth quips between Emmett and Miles! I love that Emmett is sweet, caring, lovable, and nice! I also love that he’s a little condescending, judgmental, has a need for things to be perfect, thinks he knows what perfect is! A good reminder for readers that we’re all well rounded people and that there’s good and not so good parts of us all! Always room for growth! It’s sweet, charming, funny, and heartwarming! I also just want to hold Emmett’s dad throughout! I can’t wait to read this one again!

It's been a good year for YA Austen retellings: "Ghosted" by Amanda Quain ("Northhanger Abbey"), "Lola at Last" by J.C. Peterson ("Pride and Prejudice" inspired), and now "Emmett"—which is, of course, an "Emma" retelling. Queer Emma! I'm here for it.

Emmett is blessed: he has the money, the looks, the grades, the friends. He tries to pay it forward by being nice—by volunteering and serving as his friends' sounding board and tutoring...or "tutoring". Ahem. (If some of this also benefits Emmett—increases his popularity, boosts his college applications, whatever—oh well! Nothing he can do about that.) Emmett doesn't want a boyfriend, not until he's 25 and his brain has stopped growing, but when his (*ahem*) tutoring client *does* want a boyfriend, well, Emmett is perfectly poised to do the nice thing and set him up with the perfect guy...whoever that might happen to be.

The book is appropriately tongue in cheek—think of Mr. Woodhouse and his obsession with eating thin gruel (itself a tongue-in-cheek characterisation—when "Emma" was written, gruel was purported to be healthy in any manner of situations, including when the eater had VD), and shift that to the 21st century and you get a man obsessed with green tea and cauliflower-crust pizza, and who tests his son's blood at every opportunity. Just in case. It's on point, though if anything I wanted Emmett to be a bit snarkier or a bit more...oblivious? Imagine him captioning his social media posts with #blessed, for example. He's more likeable for being a little more earnest and a little less over the top, but...I don't mind a little over-the-topness for Emma.

It may be time for me to go back and read the original, because it occurred to me at some point that I was thinking more of "Clueless" for context than of "Emma". (I burn with shame.) In any case, nice to see another YA take that deviates from the more common retellings.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

This queer, present-day Emma retelling, set in California and centered around an elite private school, is a delight.

It is a well-done retelling. While Emmett does come across like Emma does (as far as entitlement and things appearing to be centered around him), he’s more relatable and it’s easier to be empathetic and sympathetic to him. His motivations and how he treats others are clearer here, and I appreciate the discussions and portrayals of mental health, identity, orientation, and sexuality.

It retains the humor from Austen’s original, too, which is nice.

For fans of Emma, or remakes like Clueless, it’s fun to match up Emmett’s characters and events with those from earlier versions of the story.

And Rosen includes fun touches of magical realism along the way.

I received an advance copy of the book from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

I am going to be honest that I did not read the description for this book before I picked it up because I was lucky enough to find this book in the Read Now section one day, so I did not realize that it was a retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. I saw the beautiful cover and I just went for it!!! I am so glad that I did though because this book was fantastic.

While I think that I would have loved this book even more if I had read Emma previously I still adored this book. It actually made me want to go and pick up a copy of Emma because I enjoyed this book so much. I am definitely going to read Emma by the time this book is released in November and then when my physical copy gets here I will re-read this book to see all of the references that I definitely missed.

I do think that this book can definitely be read and loved without reading Emma first though because that is exactly what I did.

This book is being marketed as "a modern-day gay YA Emma" with hints of romance similar to Bridgerton so I knew that I had to read this book as soon as possible. This book did not disappoint.

I thought that Emmett was a really fun main character and I loved to read all about his life. I do wish that we got to see a little bit more of the main relationship develop because it did seem a little rushed at the end. That is sometimes an issue that I have with stand-alone books. However, that is a me problem and is in no way a negative reflection of this book. I just would have personally liked to see a little more of the after when the relationship was established. The ending was really cute though so I still really enjoyed it.

This book is also really diverse which I thought was great. I also really loved all of Emmett's friends. I know that the author has other books published and I can't wait to read them!

4.5 stars which I will be rounding up to 5 stars on Goodreads and here!!!

Emmett by L. C. Rosen was such a beautiful, big, warm, queer hug. The characters are so relatable and well fleshed-out, and the lessons learned by them are so incredibly valuable no matter who you are or what stage of life you occupy. I absolutely adored everything about this book!
The plot and pacing of this book is phenomenal.
This was such a great read. Full of laughs and amazing characters, I couldn't put it down.
This was a book that I just needed to finish and I am so glad that I got to read and review.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A modern gay YA Emma. Emmett is trying to fix his friends' romances and messing things up just like Emma.

Emmett is a charming character. Love the social commentary. Enjoy the biting satire and humor as well. Laughed out loud so many times. A fun take on Austen. An interesting read.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing this ARC!

Emmett is an exceedingly charming queer YA take on Jane Austen’s classic Emma starring a California high school senior who is committed to perfection in all areas of life—and to remaining unattached until age twenty-five. Although the story follows the contours of the original novel (Emmett tries to play matchmaker and finds himself out of his depth), the novel explores problems of grief, mental health, and queer communities and relationships in a way that both honors the source material and more than proves itself as a contemporary retelling. Our main control freak was so endearing, even when he was being kind of narcissistic, and the demographic-appropriate life lessons were balanced with humor and heart. The ending did seem to move more quickly than the rest of the story, but overall the book (and the romance!) was a true delight. Some of the best of what YA can be: honest, genuinely profound, quite funny, and deeply satisfying.

This was so much more than just an Emma retelling. Of course, the book contained all the elements of the original. I loved Emmett, his friends, and the romance. Emmett was a better person than I expected, making him more of a likeable character. He was certainly not perfect but he had strong development and good qualities. His relationships were also so wholesome, even the more messy ones. I did think the love interest could have had more development and more major conflicts with Emmett. But overall I adored everyone. Rosen also brought his own nuances to the story. Specifically, I loved the way he wrote about queer relationships and grief. He does an amazing job showing all forms of queer love, relationships, identity, and community. Rosen also shone a light on grief in the Woodhouse family, using it to shape the development Emmett's character and his relationship with his father. It was these elements that made the book stand out to me, and make me highly recommend it to others.