Joyce read and liked Shafitri's review of The Jane Austen Book Club:

"Well, I'm very disappointed with this book... I had known before I read it that this book wouldn't be all about Jane Austen, but rather of the lives of the members of Jane Austen book club. However, the thing that disappoints me so much is that this ...more Well, I'm very disappointed with this book... I had known before I read it that this book wouldn't be all about Jane Austen, but rather of the lives of the members of Jane Austen book club. However, the thing that disappoints me so much is that this book seemed to only use the name "Jane Austen" to make her fans interested and want to read the book... Well, I kinda feel tricked into reading it actually =)

Well,at first i was quite satisfied with the beginning... because it argues about Jane Austen's book and still shows the personality of the character quite equally... However, the more I read it, I got the impression that the writer kind of forget about Jane Austen, and only write her name or her books just every now and then without anything that goes with it...

Well, that would not be a big problem if the story itself is good and the characters are developed with good care... However, they are just empty characters with good enough background but are not developed well enough... I got the impression that the writer had good ideas of what to make of her characters but maybe because there are just too many characters or what, she failed to express her ideas... Therefore, the characters seem shallow despite the goodness of their backgrounds and personalities...

Well, personally I think this book would have been good had the writer be patient and write the characters with more care... Because it seemed like she was in a hurry to get her book published... I believe that it's the way she wrote it and not the ideas themselves that make it failed to charm me.
(less) "

Joyce read and liked Dawn Michelle's review of The Jane Austen Book Club:

"This book was really a disappointment to me. After all the hype I thought this would be a really great book. And its not. Its an ok book, but not a great book.
If you are looking for a great book about friends and book clubs, then you should re...more This book was really a disappointment to me. After all the hype I thought this would be a really great book. And its not. Its an ok book, but not a great book.
If you are looking for a great book about friends and book clubs, then you should read "Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons: A Novel (by Lorna Landvik). That is so funny and sad and poignant and touching. Everything this book was not.
My husband is reading this book as well(He is a TRUE Jane Austen fan) and he asked me last night if ALL women were as catty and nasty as the women in this book can be!!!
And when I thought about it last night, I couldn't even remember what most of the book was about and I HAD JUST FINISHED IT!!!!
It was a quick read and that was about it for me. It had some good moments, but it mostly fell flat for me and the end...well, the end was SO...well....I don't even have words to describe it.(less) "

Joyce read and liked Laura's review of The Jane Austen Book Club:

"I was perusing movie trailers on my Mac last weekend and saw a cute title/trailer called The Jane Austen Book Club. The end of trailer announced, "Based on the best selling novel, The Jane Austen Book Club." I thought it would be fun to c...more I was perusing movie trailers on my Mac last weekend and saw a cute title/trailer called The Jane Austen Book Club. The end of trailer announced, "Based on the best selling novel, The Jane Austen Book Club." I thought it would be fun to check out the book since I almost never see a movie until I can watch it via Netflix.

I had hoped it would be a kind of "fun" read, especially since I am a Jane-ite. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't much fun. I actually found it a little tedious and the jumping around from character POV to character POV, but not really getting inside their heads was annoying. Austen does this and does it well....Fowler, not so much.

The story lacked cohesiveness...and there wasn't much of a plot. Of course, one of the book club topics was plot and women writers. Nyuck, nyuck. I suppose I'm not urbane enough at this point in my life to know if this was supposed to be ironically funny.

The non-plot and following several different life stories/character POVs seems to be a modern *thing* a la the movie Magnolia. But you have to be a certain kind of writer to pull this off...Fowler didn't do this for me.

If you're a fellow Jane-ite, it might be fun to read the book and the character's corresponding views on all things Austen...but otherwise, I'd advise you pass on this one.(less) "

Joyce read and liked Beth's review of The Jane Austen Book Club:

"I really didn't get into the book. In fact, by about the middle of the book, I felt that the only reason "Jane Austen" shows up in the title--or the book--at all, was because the author knew people like Jane Austen, therefore will buy the ...more I really didn't get into the book. In fact, by about the middle of the book, I felt that the only reason "Jane Austen" shows up in the title--or the book--at all, was because the author knew people like Jane Austen, therefore will buy the book. The book really could've been about any author--Dickens, the Brontes, Hemmingway, Fitzgerald--with the same results. The ties to the Austen books, in my opinion, are tenuous at best. If the title and the book club were not tied to Jane Austen, the references to the books would be a bit more subtle, and I'd consider the book as having more genius, but as it stands, it just seemed like a cheap attempt to get Austen into the book. I adore Jane Austen as much as the next "Janeite", but this felt cheap to me.

Beyond that, I always felt like the author created her characters, and was trying to keep them from us, much the way Jocelyn tried to keep details of who Grigg was from the others when the book club was formed. Most authors are proud parents of their characters, and want us to know everything about them. To me, Fowler came off as a selfish friend, who doesn't really want to share her friends with others; the only reason she's sharing them here is because she'll be the center of attention for a bit. Sadly, the characters I felt closest to were minor ones--Dean, Daniel, and Grigg's sisters.

The writing style wasn't bad, and I'd consider reading other books by Fowler, but I was disappointed in this particular book.(less) "