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Apr 04, 2011

Ben rated it:

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4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2010

Bettie rated it:

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15 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Esonja rated it:

This book is ridiculous. Started off at 2 stars, slid home at 3.5-4. Seriously, I started this book thinking 2 stars was going to be generous (and not at all sure I would finish it), but am happy to say it has easily improved from there. Gross, but fun, especially after you stop looking for Austen homage, rather than a sea monsters book written by someone who clearly loves Austen's works. I stand by my first impression, though; it's ridiculous. Also, I note that I don't care that much about Sens More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2011

Celestial rated it:

What a hilarious idea, to rewrite the classics with sci-fi type twists.
In this case the traditional story sets off as usual but in a slightly different universe and after 'the Alteration' whence the creature of the sea began to attack humankind...
Ghastly ghoulish and very very funny 18thC Romance meets HG Wells Horror haha

0 comments like

Feb 06, 2012

Ashley rated it:

I actually LOVED this book!
I was not a big fan of the original (I know, I know... Shoot me now), I think I am probably the only woman who did not care for it. I really liked the twist Ben Winters gave it. I really liked all of the sea critters that were created during the "Alteration". I guess that's because of the scary or horror movies I like ;o) I would actually recommend it. I am thinking about reading the book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, even though my friend Heather More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 15, 2010

Meaghan rated it:

I think this book is an improvement on the previous one in the series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The zombies in the first book were really just window dressing. On the other hand, the sea monsters in this book were actually a major part of the plot and really livened up the story. (I cannot help but find Jane Austen's stories to be dull, dull, dull.) I look forward to see what classics they warp next! More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Jen rated it:

Though part of me recoils (and recoils strongly) against the idea of tampering with any of Jane Austen's books, I felt that I should try to read this. This was especially true as it was in the last days of Borders--and why the heck not read it. I so seldom read "flurf" books, that I figured this would be good for my soul.

When I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I found that I was far too familiar with P&P and was more being reminded of the book in my head than actually re More...

0 comments like

Aug 27, 2011

Barbara rated it:

She might be amused but, then again, she might decry her literary efforts being warped somewhat by the addition of tentacles, scales, and teeth. Winters does an excellent job of re-imagining Austen's classic of English manners by adding schools of terrifying fish, sharks, and the occasional sea serpent. Mr. Dashwood meets an untimely demise at the jaws of a hammerhead shark, and his daughters Elinor and Marianne are sent to Pestilent Isle to live. Elinor falls for Edward Ferrars, who is engaged More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Amanda rated it:

This time around, the penniless Dashwood ladies are sent to live in shanty on a small island. Not only must they deal with the fact that they are now poor and in need of wealthy husbands, but the nearby ocean is crawling with monstrous sea fare. The tentacle-faced Colonel Brandon has taken a bashful fancy to Marianne, who prefers the monster-killing Willoughby, while Elinor works her way into the heart of Edward Ferras. Can the Dashwood sisters find true love amid the violence of sea monsters an More...

0 comments like

Jul 07, 2011

Sarah rated it:

There was never any doubt in my mind that I would set upon this book as soon as possible, after reading “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” I was a bit dubious about the addition of sea monsters to a book which, to my recollection, had no mention of oceans in it whatsoever. But the author managed this effortlessly.

The Dashwood sisters and their recently widowed mother are forced to move to a foreboding cottage on the Pestilent Isle after Mr. Dashwood is violently consumed by a hammerh More...

0 comments like

Jun 02, 2011

Mike rated it:

Like its predecessor Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is, as its title suggests, an adaptation of the Jane Austen classic Sense and Sensibility with plentiful helpings of yes, you guessed it, sea monsters.

Unfortunately like its sister title, S+S+S (or perhaps, S3), shares a number of problems inherent in this rather unique ‘classic/humour/horror’ hybrid genre — not least of all, that it doesn’t make much sense. Now I know I was not overly positi More...

1 comment like

Mar 31, 2011

Ana rated it:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Book) / 978-1-59474-442-6
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Audiobook) / 978-1-4418-2436-3

When "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" came out, I knew I had to take the plunge. "Sense and Sensibility" being, of course, my favorite Austen novel, I was looking forward to re-reading a classic and seeing a touch of sea monster fun and humor thrown in.

Make no mistake about it: this book is delightfully funny. The superb Jane Austen pr More...

0 comments like

Mar 18, 2011

Kathy rated it:

I suspect this hysterically, satirical story is readable on its own although I think I got more out of it because I had read the original Jane Austen---if only for the tremendous contrast (and similarity) of the two.

I am really impressed with Winters’ interpretation.

“Lucy continued, ‘But I cannot help notice you are squeezing your eyes shut and holding your head between your legs. I should be sorry to have you ill. Heaven knows what I should have done without your friendship

More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2010

Kim rated it:

My problem with Sense and Sensibility has always been that it is the exact same story as Pride and Prejudice. Actually there is one difference, Sense and Sensibility is told more from the perspective of the Shy sister, instead of the Sassy sister.

But enough about Austen, you want to hear about Sea Monsters.

Much like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, some strange event has transpired (in this story it is called “The Alteration”) that has made every creature of the sea, fro More...

0 comments like

May 03, 2010

Xonrad rated it:

If you despise Jane Austin's novels, you will most likely not enjoy this.

This mutation of the story is amusing in parts, and the sea monster setting in itself is very good evoking that gloom that Lovecraft was so brilliant at evoking with his ancient ones... but the waffling on of "proper behaviour" and the like, and in the grammatical style that Jane used along with the vapid personalities and conversations from the original. If those things are what fueled your contempt More...

0 comments like

Mar 28, 2010

Chris rated it:

The original Jane Austen story, except that the characters are under constant attack from marauding sea life which has mysteriously turned against humanity. I laughed out loud at least a dozen times reading this book. Protective fans of Jane Austen may not like it--Winters makes some of the original scenes quite ridiculous. Also be warned that it is gross and gory, though not particularly scary. The book only gets a 3-star rating from me though, since the pacing feels a bit off and sometimes More...

2 comments like

Mar 16, 2010

Richard rated it:

The Cthulhu Mythos vibe surprised me here, but it added a charming element of terrifying mystery to some of the strange monstrosities. It cast the absurd mish-mash of monsters with romance onto a backdrop of dark meaning.

It works so well to have characters talking about day to day romantic drama oblivious to the horrors of their reality. As when Mrs. Dashwood discusses with her eldest daughter whether a suitor who departed suddenly did so motivated by roguish knavery or tragic duty, More...

0 comments like

Feb 27, 2010

Wendy rated it:

I have not read the previous book in this series - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - but when it first came out I was not particularly interested. I've read Austen but her novels aren't really my kind of book. And while adding zombies is an amusing gimmick, I didn't think it would make the new take worth reading.

I was given this book for my birthday, and decided to give it a go despite my trepidations about the series, which turned out to be pretty much accurate.

The conce More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2010

Audrey rated it:

I'm a HUGE Jane Austen fan. I've read and loved everything she ever wrote. I'm also a huge fan of monsters. I love reading books that are, in a sense, rendered ludicrous by their total lack of believability and by the overwhelming amount of monsters they contain. I was therefore sure that Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters was going to be a winner. Sense and Sensibility is a beautifully written masterpiece - add some sea monsters and that can do nothing but augment the awesomeness, right?
More...

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Feb 15, 2010

Rhiannon rated it:

Nothing offended me more than in first year university English when I had to listen to a classroom full of people gripe and moan about Jane Austen, and how they thought Pride and Prejudice was like a soap opera. I sat there and blew steam out of my ears and looked forward to the day when I could discuss the book with people who actually understood how brilliant it was that you could compare her book, written between 1797 and 1813, with a modern soap opera.

But for Christmas this year More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2009

Ash rated it:

It mostly sticks to the original. Marianne is passionate and romantic, and she quickly falls in love with Willoughby. Elinor is sensible and logical. When she finds out that Lucy Steele is engaged to her love interest, Edward Ferrars she never lets on her disappointment to her family even though it is constantly weighing her down. She even gets her friend, Colonel Brandon, to help Edward when he is cast out from his family for being engaged to Lucy who is of a lower class. The only new introduct More...

0 comments like

Dec 16, 2009

Jemima rated it:

The classic Austen social commentary about two sisters and their different approaches to love has been turned into a comic and imaginative science fiction novel. With every conceivable sea creature turned against humanity in a violent struggle for supremacy, the usual methods of courtship have been slightly altered. Rather than being attracted to a pretty face or a witty intellect, a single man in possession of a good fortune is now on the lookout for a woman with a strong pair of lungs.

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2009

Dreadlocksmile rated it:

Following on from the instant cult success of the tongue-in-cheek adaptation of Jane Austin’s classic novel with ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’ (with adaptations by Seth Grahame-Smith), came Philadelphia-based publishing house, Quirk Classics’ second such literary adaptation, this time with ‘Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters’.

Utilising this newly fangled concept of carving up a classic piece of literature to make way for a more B-Movie-esque style of writing, Quirk editorial More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 24, 2010

Jay rated it:

As a successor to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I felt this one fell quite flat. Although I didn't find PPZ to be a great book, I felt it lived up to the hype somewhat. This one, not so much. It might also be because it wasn't as, uh, true to the source text. Instead, it felt like they had taken the names of the original characters and whacked them into another universe. This could have very well played out in an ice cream parlour set in the 1950s.

I know this might sound quite odd More...

0 comments like

Dec 01, 2009

Jerry rated it:

I wanted to like this. I really did. I thought it would be an incredibly lulzy take on a classic book that I despised, and it would make up for how much I hated the source text. I was wrong, I hated it almost as much as the original Sense and Sensibility, and not even murderous Sea Monsters could save it.

The sea monsters and additions to the text are amazing on their own, but they don't compensate for the fucking boring interludes where the author has kept the original text intact. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2009

Jen rated it:

The Dashwood family had been living in Sussex until the untimely death of their father, who was eaten by a hammerhead shark while trying to discover the source of "the Alteration", "when the waters of the world grew cold and hateful to the sons of man, and darkness moved on the face of the deep." The dying man is washed onto shore and manages to write, with his remaining hand, his final wishes: his desire for his son John to care for his half-sisters and their mother financi More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 24, 2010

Julie rated it:

I'm a little torn over how to rate this book. Overall, I think I'm a little annoyed I wasted my time finishing it. If it had been a short story, I would have given it a straight up five for creativity and novelty. The story follows the same patter throughout. The characters will be talking about the hardships in their life, mostly guy troubles, and then a sea monster will try to bite their heads off. They'll hack and slash, scream bloody murder, etc and then go right back to pining.

I More...

0 comments like

Jan 19, 2010

Roxanne rated it:

It takes a lot for me not to finish a book, but I have to say, I'm 50 pages in to this and really not loving it. All the things that were fun and sassy about Pride & Prejudice & Zombies feel annoying and forced here. In P & P & Z, Grahame-Smith seemed to really care about the characters and the story and wove the zombies in beautifully, and the end result is a book that will attract new readers to Austen. Winters, however, doesn't seem to have any respect or love for Austen; unlike Grahame-Sm More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 21, 2010

Brittney rated it:

Ok, I knew this was going to be a risk, trying this book. I thought I would like it though. I like people who take serious things and turn them on their head to be funny, like Princess Bride or Monty Python (or pretty much all British comedy) for example. I thought this would be silly and fun. It turns out that it was just boring and stupid. I cannot remember the last time I didn't finish a book until I tried reading this one. Not even halfway.

The author basically takes the ori More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2010

Martina the Book Fairy rated it:

S&S&SM is, of course, a Quirk Classic parody of the classic Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. These blends of the classics & the supernatural/monster have been sweeping the shelves of bookstores recently, starting with the best-seller, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Note that in a previous review I gave P&P&Z only two stars. S&S&SM is leagues (no pun intended) above P&P&Z. While P&P&Z was basically a very condensed version of P&P quite literally word for word, but with zombie More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

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