Emma

Rating - 8.5

Jane Austen's Emma was an excellent novel. Emma is about a young lady named Emma Woodhouse. Unlike many women in nineteenth-century English society, Emma actively participates in society with men. She is extremely clever and intelligent. Emma considers herself a talented matchmaker. However, she often runs into mischief when her attempted matches fail, causing grief for her friend Harriet. Austen's eloquent writing style makes Emma a great read. The characters and plot reveal satire and humor. Overall, it has great literary value. However, I failed to relate to the characters and felt the plot was lacking in suspense and depth. I felt that it was hard to keep track of the relationships between the characters and that the ending was too cliche. The book was also very long and in parts, I started wandering from the pages. Overall though, Emma was interesting and rewarding.