This one popped up on my NetGalley right as I was watching Pride and Prejudice (the BBC Colin Firth one, hell yessss), so I immediately was like ‘Ooooo P&P Remix’ *request*
Because I couldn’t help myself. ^_^
Thanks to the author, as well as Macmillan Children’s for the review copy!
London, 1812 . Oliver Bennet feels trapped—not just by the endless corsets, petticoats, and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world, and the vast majority of his family and friends, think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.
But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart, not to mention attractive.
As Oliver spends more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares to hope that his dream of love and life as a man can be possible. But suitors are growing bolder―and even threatening―and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly his own.
This is a remix of Pride and Prejudice wherein the protagonist is a trans man named Oliver Bennet. He is the second oldest Bennet child, just as in the original. Only his older sister Jane and a few of his close friends know Oliver as himself, as he doesn’t get too many chances to dress in men’s clothes and go out in public. He is constantly expected to dress in corsets and gowns and go to social functions as ‘Elizabeth.’
On one of these rare outings he meets Darcy, a man that has been super rude to him at one of the aforementioned social functions. But with Oliver dressed as himself, Darcy is sweet and pleasant to be around, and as they continue to spend time together, the catch some feels at each other. D’aww.
But as Oliver is expected by his parents to marry and be somebody’s wife, suitors that he is absolutely not interesting in marrying are starting to become more insistent and threatening, and poor Oliver just wants to be himself.
This was a quick and pleasant read! I thought Oliver was adorable and easy to cheer for. I have always found Darcy to be a complicated character in most versions of Pride and Prejudice that I’ve read or watched, and this one is no exception. Nonetheless, as rude as Mr. Darcy tends to be, I can never help wanting to smush them together from the very beginning. This one is also no exception.
I definitely recommend picking this one up if you’re interesting in an LGBTQ+ remix of P&P. Considering the time period, there’s transphobia and homophobia as well as misogyny, which I thought was handled well. That considered, if you’re anything like me, queer Darcy is just a instant read. 4/5 stars!~
superstardrifter 
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