Absolutely loved this book and am sorry that it took me so long to give feedback. Such a clever reimagining of Emma - up there with clueless

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Truthfully I don’t remember what drew me to this book, I think at the time I was looking for something a bit fun and light hearted.

So I’m going to admit I didn’t realise that this was an Emma retelling, you’re probably thinking but it’s got Emma in the title you dope but again I didn’t make the connection until I started reading it.

I usually do enjoy a Jane Austen retelling but this one fell a little bit flat for me. Maybe it’s because my favourite retelling of Emma is the nineties movie Clueless and the subsequent TV series or maybe it’s because Emma is my least favourite of all of Austen’s books, I can’t exactly pinpoint it.

Overall not my cup of tea but I think if you enjoyed the original Austen novel then you may like this a bit more than I did.

I thought I would enjoy this because it's based off of Jane Austen Emma but I really didn't like Emma that's much.

I loved this book! Super cute. Will recommend for sure! This book was exactly what I didn't know I was looking for!

I enjoy Jane Austen retelling but this book was not for me. I found the main character annoying and a control freak so it got to me a bit. I like the cover and the author's writing style though.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I did not enjoy this book at all and gave up a quarter of the way in so do not feel it right that I give an honest review to other readers

1,5 Stars
Before starrting the actual review i have to admit that Emma is not my favorite Jane Austen book, although i enjoyed it a lot, and also that i read many retellings of Austen's books and i have no problem with the idea.

That said, this book has been a total disappointment. I could have gone past the fact that Mr Knightley became Gee Knightley, ex lead singer in a boyband, or even the new version of Harriet, Elton and company, i mean of course i was not expecting a clergyman and a farmer in this mix.
All this could have somehow stomached , but i felt that the author took the original characters, especially Mr Knightley, stripped them from what made them unforgettable and thew them in this story. The original Emma had some wonderfully ridiculous characters and events that made the story memorable and so much fun to read, i found none of this here. Normally, i wouldn't care. but the retelling of such a classic comes with responsabilities.

Personally, i feel that apart from the names of Emma and George and the fact that story begins with a wedding, there is nothing in it of Emma. And i really hated the use of those trademark sentences of Mr Knightley (readers who love the book will know which one i mean), that really didn't fit the whole thing and they seemed fake, as if thrown in the dialog in a hurry.
The extra half star was for some of the scenes that actually made me smile a bit.

Emma Ever After is a contemporary novel based of Jane Austen's Emma. In this version, Emma Woodhouse is a planner, a hard worker, and quite the control freak. She manages fake relationships - or fauxmances - at Mega! Management to help build the media coverage and popularity of celebrity clientele. She has a plan to stick to and refuses to deviate from that, even if she might be just a little bit completely in love with her roommate and former boyband superstar George (Gee) Knightly. While on a high profile assignment to set up a boyband with girlfriends she runs into some trouble when the boys refuse to cooperate. Emma tries everything she can to make everyone stick to her plan, but along the way is faced with the daunting ask of looking at her life from a different angle, one that tips her world. 

Overall, the novel was very readable, it was light and quick and uncomplicated. I find many contemporaries to be predictable, and since I had already known the story of Emma, this fell under that category as well. However, I found it a nice book to read for relaxing as nothing was too high-stakes. The setting of the novel is in England, but beside the occasional mention for media purposes, there was not a lot of description with the setting. This was disappointing as I would have enjoyed a bit more of a backdrop on Emma's life, but it did not take away from the story. 

The characters and the plot were the focus of this novel. The plot was a little repetitive and tedious but flowed together really well with the events of the story and the timeline of what was happening. I enjoyed that the author decided to address the topic of biphobia within her novel as it is an incredibly important topic and usually overlooked by the general public. That being said, the main character is the one being biphobic most of the time, having a very ignorant outlook on the LGBTQA+ community, therefore some of her thoughts were uncomfortable to read because I did not agree with her. This can be tricky as every reader should be mindful that the characters they are reading about are flawed and not always good examples, as the case is with Emma. I think the author generally handled it well and I enjoyed the end notes they provided that focused on the stigma on bisexual people, but I think there could have been more dialogue and turmoil in Emma's interior monologue to suggest her dynamic change regarding the subject throughout the novel. 

Something that was unfortunate regarding the characters was that Emma was almost the only female in the entire novel and was most certainly the only female with any shred of sense. Understandably, being based off a novel where women had very little agency, there would be threads of that, but I found it to be incredibly disappointing that in a novel about a woman seemingly empowering herself, there would be other women around. I did enjoy that there were LGBTQA+ characters and thought that it brought a lot to the novel, but it seemed unrealistic that all of Emma's friends were gay or bi men and I would have liked to see more female representation. 

Overall, I found this to be a very different and unique retelling of Emma and was entertained throughout the novel (if a little frustrated with her character). Reading about the boyband and the way that Emma regarded relationship and the medias purpose within them was really thought provoking and eye opening. The work that she does throughout the novel is important in societies current use of social media and our views on celebrities. It was a interesting, back-stage approach to the media and how our lives and relationships have been affected by social media and the internet.

I received a copy of Emma Ever After by Brigid Coady from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the summary - because a modern retelling of Emma by Jane Austen? YES, PLEASE! - and really wanted to like this novel, but the storyline could have been pulled together better and the characters better fleshed out (not so flat).

Another great re-imagining of an Austen classic from Brigid Coady. This is such a great social commentary as well and features many timely issues that we are facing today.

Emma is me and my friends all rolled into one, trying to have it all and living life constantly under threat from her calendar alerts. I can recognise the characteristic in myself, the need to have success and try and do everything you can to be the best at your job. She has put her personal life on the back burner in favour of the personal lives as others, part of her job. We've all been there and it made for some great reading.

I also loved her friend Gee and his ability to ground her. I am amazed that he is a grounded person and not the ego maniac we might expect from a former pop star super star! He makes for some real comedy moments in the book, as do the boys from the band that Emma is trying to catapult into even higher stardom.

This book really does explore the fandom and the role that social media can play in people's professional and personal lives, quite a brave thing to write about. This also covers some great LGBTQ+ issues and the stigma surrounding bisexuality and the connotations that that has. Whilst theses things are covered and fully explored, they are woven well into the storyline and so this book isn't an 'issues' book in any way.

This was an entertaining read with characters and events that I could definitely identify with, it made me laugh and it made me think.

This is a difficult book to review, so I'm going to give a plot summary followed by two different takes on the book. Both takes are mine. Because, difficult book to review.

Emma is a publicist working for a music management firm in London. She's in her late twenties and lives with her BFF, Gee Knightley. Gee is a former boy-band member who gave up his career when he refused to pretend to be straight. He's bisexual and another band member is gay, so it was a big deal to him. Emma has lived with Gee for 10 years, in a relationship they both pretend is platonic. If you're familiar with Jane Austen's EMMA, you know that Gee is George Knightley and how all that turns out.

The set-up is this: Emma is really good at her job, which is setting up fake-dating situations that boost both participants' careers. She has elaborate schedules and networks of contacts set up to ensure that these fauxmances are believable, and that they get covered in relevant news media, as well as on social media. She gets a big break when she's asked to set up four of the members of BOTP (a One Direction surrogate) in fake relationships before their US tour.

aI read this book like watching a car crash. Emma decides that Jamie (Jane in the original) is crushing on the wrong guy, so she tries to set him up with another man from the office. That man turns out to be straight and goes after Emma, instead. Not only does Emma have a terrible urge to meddle, but she doesn't even bother to find out if someone is gay before setting him up with another man? Hmm. She also fails to notice that (this isn't a spoiler) two of the members of BOTP are in a relationship with each other. The management company wants Emma to closet these guys. And, because she's oblivious, she goes along with it until it's made painfully obvious to her that she's been missing a huge detail.



Split review time!

1) Emma is kind of awful, right? She's in everyone's business, trying to fix things that don't need fixing, and making everyone miserable. This is true in both books. So, from the perspective of retelling EMMA, this is a successful book. If you like EMMA, you may very well like this adaptation.

2) But here comes my second review, the one where this book has to stand alone. I can't say it's an entirely successful standalone story, despite having a lot of things going for it.

I loved Gee. He's infinitely patient with Emma and I was happy to see them figure their stuff out and get together. The inside look (made up or no) at the celebrity publicity machine was fascinating. The writing is easy and funny, with some poignant moments that ground the narrative.

But. There's an odd feeling throughout the book as we watch a straight woman manage the lives of a bunch of gay men. Between the band, her coworker Jamie, and Gee (who is bi not gay), Emma is working really hard to closet some men, pair off another with someone he's not interested in, and keep Gee close to her. It begins to feel icky. Emma's not homophobic, just completely oblivious. She thinks she's helping all of them - Jamie with his love life and the band with their careers. So, again, Emma is a meddling monster in both books, but having all of the recipients of her meddling in this version be gay leaves a bitter aftertaste.

If some of her victims had been straight or women, I think the story would feel less off. Instead, there are three women I remember from the novel. One is her mother, a self-absorbed neglectful parent whose poor parenting has led to Emma's need to control everything. Another is Frankie, an obvious Taylor Swift substitute, portrayed as a man-eating she-demon who likes to play the victim. The last is Tina, the niece of one of the management company's bigwigs. Tina cons her way into the story by getting herself set up to fauxmance one of the BOTP boys and proceeds to be awful in every scene. In short? Every woman in this book is terrible.

Between closeting the gay boybanders for half the book and hating on all women... I don't know how to recommend this to any of my readers.

This was a perfect Sunday afternoon curled up in a big chair book for me. It follows the twists and turns of Emma's life while all the time she has the perfect man there if only she can see it.

I've read previous books by the author and have enjoyed them and this book was no different. I find her writing captivating and I needed to keep reading!

I' m not a huge Jane Austen fan and was concerned this might curtail my enjoyment of the book but it didn't - I'm sure I missed some of the nods to Austen's Emma but I feel the book stands on it's own merit. You may get more out of it if you know Emma well but is a great book regardless.

Hoping it won't be long until her next book.

A modern re-telling of Jane Austen’s beloved Emma set against the backdrop of a media management company and the music industry. Toughened by years of neglect and indifference from her parents, Emma relies on carefully thought out plans and schedules to realize her dreams. But sometimes, that means ignoring her true feelings and hiding behind a mask. George Knightley is her best friend and housemate. In an interesting twist to the original story, Knightley is bisexual in Emma Ever After.

A modern take on Jane Austen's Emma. An interesting read with some twists along the way.

I really enjoyed this re-imagining of Emma, set against the backdrop of a media management company. This book has a lot to say about the celebrity stories we are sold, and the media that is telling them. I loved Emma and her best friend Gee - he added a really welcome alternative perspective that made the story all the richer. The secondary characters are well developed, it was particulary great to see a couple of them from Persuading Austen make appearances.