Holly

As a Jane Austen fan, and a fan of fantasy writing, I was duped into buying this book not once, but twice.

What I liked:
*Kowal's character's are exact copies of various players in Austen's works. If you're familiar with the stories, you can pick them out as you go, which is fun. Seems like a complete cop-out by the author, but alas, that was the most enjoyable part of the book for me.
*The descriptions of the setting and magics involved were vivid and complete.

What I didn't like:
*Character motivations seemed cloudy and counterintuitive.
*Plot was stale. Just a jumbled-up rip off of several Austen novels with some magic thrown in. You can trace entire scenes back to a Jane Austen novel.
*The narration was done in a terrible fake english accent which changed and dropped throughout the book.

If you liked the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies type books, or just need an Austen fix, this might be for you, but I'd borrow the book.