What do readers think of My Jane Austen Summer by Cindy Jones? Write your own review.

The idea is clever--Lily is a Jane Austen aficionado whose own life seems to be falling apart. Caught in a cycle of repeating the same mistakes, she decides to do something different. An opportunity arises and she takes off for London to be a part of a theater festival featuring Mansfield Park. Her expectations for her foray to England are not exactly met, but she ultimately does find a new path in her life. This is a light froth of a book which will appeal to fans of contemporary chick lit. treatments of 19th century women's literature.

My Jane Austen Summer was not a book that I would recommend to someone. The main character lived too much in Jane Austen's "world". Dialogue was too imaginary. Author's main character compared real people situations to situation or people in Jane's world. Not enjoyable to me. The title attracted me, because I am a Jane Austen fan. I was disappointed.

I really like the idea behind My Jane Austen Summer. I tried to overcome my initial negative reaction to a main character who stalks her ex-boyfriend. I could never connect with Lily, who has the emotional maturity and judgment of a thirteen year old. The other characters were only superficially developed. The book was a disappointment.

If you are looking for something reminiscent of Mansfield Park. This isn't it. Although the book was fairly fast reading, I was not engaged by any of the characters especially Lily Berry, the protagonist. Equally parts whiny and self-pitying, her gradual transformation into a somewhat interesting individual is not enough for me to recommend this book.

Have enjoyed much of the Austen fan fiction published over the last decade but could not find much to recommend "My Jane Austen Summer." The plot twist at the end was interesting and unexpected. Maybe the book will improve greatly during the editing process. It would need much improvement to get my endorsement. I suggest picking up a copy of "Dancing with Mr. Darcy", an anthology of short stories published this month and selected by the Austen committee instead.

A women whose life is out of control flees to an Austen literary festival in England to find herself.

I'm a big Austen fan so I'm always interested in new takes on Austen, her works and her readers. I usually give these books some leeway as I don't expect them to approach the greatness of the the original works, but this one was a disappointment. The characters and plot were weak and inconsistent. I found myself being more annoyed with protagonist than sympathetic and her journey to find herself was not compelling. The descriptions of the literary festival were interesting, but not enough to make the book work reading. Skip it.

If you have read all of Jane Austen's six completed novels, including Mansfield Park, the title 'My Jane Austen Summer' will tempt you, Resist temptation here, as Jones adds nothing to understanding of Jane. This book is poorly written and its plot line is fourth-rate. If you have not read Austen's novels don't even think of wasting your time and money on My Jane Austen Summer.