CUWAC: Sense and Sensibility

Title: Sense and Sensibility

Author: Jane Austen

Pages: 406

Rating: ***1/2

Summary: 'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Review: I realize it has been a while since I've done CUWAC, but I'm trying to bring it back! I read this book last fall for AP English, and it was my first Jane Austen novel. I loved it!
I loved the characters. I feel that I am a mix between the two sisters, so it was easy for me to relate to both. Elinor is a strong older sister, but she sometimes puts her family in front of her own interests. Marianne is the exact opposite: thinking only of herself and her love.
This book completely turned my ideas of love on their heads. I've always been a hopeless romantic, convinced I'll be swept off my feet and fall passionately in love someday, when I meet that one person. As I get older, the more that fades. This book tells a strict lesson about losing yourself to passion, and the different types of love one can feel. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending of this book, but it was still good. I would have preferred different couples, but Jane Austen chose differently!
I won't go into too much more here. A friend of mine SPOILED the ending of the book when I had barely started it, so I am trying extra-hard not to do that to you guys! All in all a great novel, a well deserved classic. Jane Austen writes with excellent humor and fun, along with an insight into 19th century society (which really isn't so different from ours today!)

Recommended for: romance lovers

P.S. I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice, and I am absolutely in love with it. In case anyone was wondering.