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I was first introduced to author Jane Austen through her work "Pride and Prejudice". Now I will be honest, I didn't actually read the book, I saw the movie! But I absolutely loved the characters and the plot. I looked into Jane Austen, and I really wanted to experience her writing.

I have only heard about "Sense and Sensibility", once again, from television. When I picked up the book and glanced over the type of English used, I did flinch a little, for I knew it would take me ages to complete the story and fully understand it. I am very happy that I persevered while reading the novel because "Sense and Sensibility" was absolutely outstanding.

As I read the novel, I will admit, I shed a tear or two. It was just too realistic to me. The main characters are two sisters, one in her late teens, and the other slightly older. These two characters represent each word in the title, younger sister Marianne being sensibility and older sister Elinor being sense. The story follows the romantic interest of each sister and how the sisters respond. Because Marianne represents sensibility, she is impulsive and follows only her heart (what 17 year old girls tend to do). Her sister Elinor, being older makes her more wary of following her heart. Elinor is pressured with the expectations of the time period and cannot quite spend time with the adventures of the heart.

Jane Austen did a beautiful job displaying true and accurate portrayals of teenage feelings and while also staying true to the time period (I thought it particularly interesting how teenage feelings in the 1800s are almost EXACTLY the same as teenage feelings now!). Jane Austen is also terribly good at adding in the twists that every teenage romance has. What happens to Marianne and her love interest was unexpected, but every teenage girl knows the feeling!

I would recommend this novel to teenagers in their late teens, to females, and even to some males. There is a lot to learn from this novel. I realized that following my heart only works while listening to my mind. The true genius of this novel, in my opinion, is how Jane Austen keeps a hidden theme of sisterhood and family continuing throughout. This "brilliant tragicomedy of flirtation and folly" never fails to show the importance of family. I would highly recommend this novel!

Psst... This isn't the place to post your review. When you mark a book as "read" you then have the option to assign number of stars and write a review.