Content Warnings for this Review (Items in Spoiler Text only appear in the Spoiler Section.)
– The Spoiler Section of this review contains references to the sexually explicit material in Knot My Type and may be considered #NSFW by some.
– References to Low Self Esteem / Low Self Worth
– References to Consensual Bondage
– References to Foster Care
– References to Alcoholism
– References to Cheating
– References to Toxic Exes / Gas Lighting
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a silly man in possession of a mediocre opinion must be in want of an audience.
Before I get to the review, I want to say a few things about misogyny in the American education system. None of my thoughts on the connection between Pride and Prejudice and this topic are original. My authority on this subject is less than that most people reading this review; however, I feel publishing a review for this book without addressing this topic would be dishonest, disrespectful, irresponsible, and careless.
As I expected, Pride and Prejudice is one of the best books I have ever read. While reading it, I kept thinking about the absurdity of Jane Austen not being a U.S. high school English literature curriculum staple like Shakespeare, Dickens, Golding, Orwell, Bradbury, and Steinbeck. Only an idiot would think any of their writing is more approachable to a modern-day teenager than Pride and Prejudice. (1) Jane Austen's jokes are still funny, (2) her story is about things high schoolers can relate to, and (3) her social commentary still matters.1 She belongs at the top of the list if we want high schoolers to read books that are 60+ years old.2
As I read Pride and Prejudice, I reflected on how the only book I was assigned in high school written by a woman was Frankenstein.3 Why did Pride and Prejudice never make the cut? Was it because we believe the boys will reject it and girls will choose to read it on their own? Was it because Romance is a lesser genre and somebody was making sure our education focused on less frivolous things like...reading a romantic drama that ends with a double suicide? I could keep listing reasons4 and they would all probably be true in one way or another, but the simple answer is sexism.
A consequence of this instance of sexism is that I did not discover my love for romance novels until my late 20s.5 Would reading Jane Austen in 11th grade English have changed that? We will never know. It is abhorrent that we cannot move past this concept of books written by women being for women and books written by men being for everybody. We never will get past it if we only assign books written by men in high schools.
One thing was abundantly clear to me upon finishing Pride and Prejudice. If we assigned high school literary based solely on merit Pride and Prejudice would be assigned in every school.
Medium Used: 95% Hardcover Barnes & Noble Classics Edition6 5% ebook via Hoopla
I waited close to a decade to read this book. Since it’s been published, I have graduated college, moved six or seven times, married the most amazing person in the world, and become a father. Through each of these milestones, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, a novella about my second-favorite character from my favorite series, sat on my bookshelf. Periodically, it would leave my bookshelf to accompany me on a trip, but it would never make its way out of my backpack on those trips.
I waited too long to read it. I had always anticipated both the story and the prose to be among the most beautiful and the most eccentric that I have ever read. And although it meant these expectations, reading The Slow Regard of Silent Things more than five years after my most recent reading of The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear is not the way of things. My patience was neither pragmatic, practical¹, nor perspicacious. My patience took away from how much I enjoyed this story, creating a desire to read it again after revisiting its predecessors. Unfortunately, I do not plan to revisit my two favorite books until it is time to read them to my child, as there are too many stories I have yet to experience and too few moments to experience them.
If I had should have read this book right around the time I finished my last read of The Wise Man’s Fear, which is what I recommend anyone reading it for the first time do, I suspect I would consider it a 5/5. It is a wonderful story and, in many ways, a Romance. I think it is meant to be read in one sitting (something I did not do). You may want to double your time budget for a book of this length if you aim to do so—I found the novel’s writing style required me to reread much of it to get the full meaning. I would also take the author’s foreword to heart. It is a great story that is not for everyone.
Overall Rating
⚙️⚙️⚙️⚙️
¹ Is this redundant? Perhaps. To me, my strategy should be pragmatic; my execution should be practical.
A short story about The Love Hypothesis, my TBR, and my 2-year hiatus from reading Romance Books.
It is Labor Day weekend 2021, a man, let's call him Romance-Book-Dad or 'Dad' for short, reads The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. It is the best Romantic Comedy he has ever read. It convinces him of something he had been thinking for about a year and a half...Romance is his favorite literary genre. His decision to read it was due to it being recommended in a request post on r/RomanceBooks. He quickly dives into another recommendation from that post Headliners by Lucy Parker. He loves it as well – he finishes it in 1 day. Next he reads another recommendation from that post Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren he likes it but not as much as The Hating Game or Headliners he drops a few other CRs1 from that post into his TBR2 list. The date is September 11, 2021.
A few days later Ali Hazelwood's debut Novel, The Love Hypothesis, releases to instant praise. How much praise? Enough that Dad adds it to his TBR on September 16, 2021, two days after its release. Dad takes a break from Romcoms after finishing The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon to read some Romantic Fantasy and Sci-Fi. In early October, Dad's Libby hold for Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, another top recommendation from that post, arrives. From October 2021 to November 2022, Dad would read 23 books, 12 by Ilona Andrews, 4 other sci-fi/ Fantasy Romances, The sequel to The Boyfriend Project, 2 other Romances, and 4 other books. For many reasons 2023 & 2024 would be two of the most challenging years of Dad's life, resulting in Dad only having time to read 6 books over 2 years. Consequently, The Love Hypothesis sat quietly near the top of his TBR for the better part of three years.
June 1, 2025, The Love Hypothesis makes it to the top of Dad's TBR. June 3, 2025, Dad finishes The Love Hypothesis. It is the best Romantic Comedy he has ever read.
Dad's Quick Takes – A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
I finished A court of Frost and Starlight this week primarily via audio-book on Hoopla (even though I own the paperback) because I had some driving to do. I enjoyed it. It was nice to see many characters I have grown fond of in a slice of life setting. I do think if it had been any longer it would have over stayed its welcome a bit. It made me slightly more excited to start A Court of Silver Flames which is on my 2025 reading goal list but was put there before I knew that the first three books were a Trilogy and A Court of Silver Flames is primarily about Nesta.
Rating: 💜💜💜
3 Things I loved
Snow Ball Fight
Emerie
Cassian and Nesta Sass
3 Things I didn't like
No more info on Bryaxis
Feyre jumping from not ready for kids to wanting kids so quickly
