Insults

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Jayanth S

Narrated by: Elizabeth Klett, Harry Frost

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me."

This indelible utterance stands as a momentous insult in the annals of literature, weaving its threads through the fates of two souls attracted to each other from their very first encounter. This slight birthed prejudices, kindled misunderstandings, and set ablaze a whirlwind journey for our dear couple within Jane Austen's cherished masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice.

The potency of an insult is profound, evoking diverse emotions and molding thoughts, behaviors, and engagements. Insults possess a remarkable capacity to linger in memory, casting their influence across lifetimes and permanently reshaping the path of one's existence. It is not unfair to assert that insults hold lives of their own. Regrettably, even an unborn insult has the power to reshape lives, as our dear couple discovers in this variation.

Meet Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy like no other, the embodiment of every Regency lady's romantic dream: a gentleman to the core and one who remains so even after facing numerous trials. Insults is a novel that heralds the power of true love and how it always prevails.

Insults form the fulcrum of the tale in this variation, but not in the way you think. The most infamous insult mentioned above does make an appearance, but not the way you think.

This is a Pride and Prejudice variation. It loosely follows the original work for the initial third. However, the rest of the book diverges into a completely different storyline. This is not solely a Darcy and Elizabeth novel. Listener discretion is advised.

©2023 Jayanth S (P)2025 Podium Audio

Insult

Excellent variation on Jane Austin's book Pride & Prejudice. Recommended for an enjoyable book on a summer evening.

Stellar

This may be the best pride and prejudice variation of the hundreds i've read.

I wasn't sure about the format. However, it is perfectly suited four, the narrators, especially for harry frost. I've had problems with listening to his previous narrations, but this one was perfectly suited for him.

Worth every cent, a great bargain for 1 credit

Can't wait for the next offering from this author.

should be titled Deliberate Misunderstandings

Don't get me wrong - this book is very well written, my mid-stars are purely based on it not being my type of JAFF story. First - the way in which the story is presented is along a timeline where you jump from several characters perspectives over and over within that frame of time. For instance title: March 23 - Wickham (insert his thoughts/doings for that day). title: March 23 - Jane Bennet (insert his thoughts/doings for that day). title March 23 - Jane Bingley (insert his thoughts/doings for that day). You get the idea, it does this for the entire book and each thought or action for that day is maybe 2-5 minutes of story. It gets to the point where it's really challenging to follow. And to make it even more challenging, the narrator will change from the male narrator/perspective to the female narrator perspective and repeat the same conversation, it just all comes across very disjointed. I love both of these narrators very much, I think with a book this style they would have done themselves a favor and used just one of them. They are both talented enough to carry off the entire book.

The second reason for my mid-score is the deliberate misunderstandings in this book are too blatant and go on and on and on and on and on. You don't really start seeing any resolution until an hour before the book ends. While I don't mind misunderstandings, 13 hours of them is extreme, it was almost making me feel tense listening. Again, if you like this type of read, it's well done. But I just prefer a bit of misunderstandings in the beginning and then resolution earlier in the story so you can watch the characters love grow through witty conversation, events that they attend, seeing their actions speak louder than their words. I mean EB & FWD spend TWO WEEKS walking for an hour every single day in Kent and don't come to one simple resolution over the thoughts they are obsessing over the entire time? And Caroline lies to Bingley blatantly and he then cuts Darcy off cold without asking a couple questions or having an adult conversation for an extended period of time! it was just too much.

The third reason again is very personal. One of my favorite elements of this genre is the cleaver dialogue in many of these stories. I love when authors come up with new characters who add spice to the story and make you laugh out loud - Viscount Saye in Amy D'Orazio's books, he's an all-time favorite! I love when the relationship slowly builds through witty banter where they are learning about each others character and where they get to experience each other over a lengthy period of time to gain understanding. I don't know, this felt more like tracking each characters movement through the story rather than living their experience through dialogue and experience. It felt like the focus of the writing was directed more towards creating tensions and excuses for them not to connect rather than building their love story on a solid foundation. They hated each other and then all of the sudden they loved each other for no good reason.

overall, it's technically written well, each performer did an excellent job, but when I add it all up it's too angsty, lacking heart-warming interactions, and a choppy listen because of all the bouncing around.

Wonderful Narration

I bought this audiobook because I love the dual narration of Elizabeth Klett and Harry Frost. I liked the various points of view in this book as it was interesting and different from other books. I must admit that, for me, there was too much angst in the book, and I found it a difficult experience. However, I would recommend it to anyone who is an angst fan since it was very well done.

Great Jaff

A great read. Listening to this book was a joy. Both narrators are great. Poor mr Darcy for being so treated. Great Jaff.

Great pacing

I first read this ebook. The cover attracked me. It still does. The tear. Darcy is not the arrogant person as in most tales. But he remains, Darcy. A few character twists and angst worthy. There is a lot that occurs and much time passes but the pacing of this story is on point. A definite page turner and of course repeat listen. As soon as I saw who was narrating I preordered. All the characters come to life.

Oh, the tear!

What twists and turns this variation takes! Thoroughly enjoyable with just the right amount of angst and swooning. Others have mentioned the great pacing of the story and I wholeheartedly agree. The story is well-developed with some depth. It’s an epic E&D story extending into the future beyond canon. Harry Frost and Elizabeth Klett do a phenomenal job of bringing all the characters to life. I loooove this Mr Darcy. So vulnerable! Practically perfect! Just a note to future listeners: this is a clean story, but does include the topic of sexual abuse. NOTHING graphic! Just a forewarning if you are sensitive to the topic. If that is not a trigger for you, I’m sure you’ll love this variation!

Wonderful take on a classix

Several points of view from different characters, wonderful twists and turns. A completely new revision of the classic pride and prejudice.

Disappointed with narration

I’m not a fan of heavy angst and this book is full of angst. I really like the depiction of Darcy. It seemed a little long and dragged in places. But, overall, a great story.

I was very disappointed with the narration. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to when Ms Klett would narrate. I found her voice irritating. It is personal, I have problems listening to high pitched voices. Mr Frost did his usual good job.

Too Many Dealbreakers for My Taste

I hate angst, and when it rears its ugly head, I’m done. Another dealbreaker is a marriage by either Darcy or Elizabeth to someone else. That party loses the right to a happily ever after in my opinion. I didn’t even make it that far, but I could see the inevitability from the foreshadowing. I thought it was a thoroughly irritating book that not even Harry Frost’s excellent narration could redeem.