Frankiy it's just kinda meh. I did like Will and Jack well enough; they were human. Jack's medical issue was written well, as someone who gets migraines, I felt that in my soul. There were some unusual choices like what the one night was (ie the known significance of it and the set up), the supportive though realistically absent parent and the realism in the broken communication.

The plot was just a series of annoying miscommunications combined with a very awkward age and the weight of what if we ruin it. It's a novella with tropes are to be expected, but this felt too... something. I've seen it tagged gay-for-you, it's not, not really. If anything, he's closer to a demi.

It will probably prove itself forgettable, but it was a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. I kinda wish I'd kept it for one of my insomnia reads though.

This book is a bit of a treasure. Personally, I feel it is a must for fans of Jane Austen. It’s creative, well researched and stunningly beautiful. I don't know quite enough about Jane’s books to get as much out of this as some fans would. I didn’t expect to appreciate it as much as I did.

The book is broken up into four sections: the fabrics, the interlude, the pages and notes. The fabrics are the family and the story up until publication, the fabric patches, the interlude is the field or base of the quilt, and the pages are everything else, the paper patches somehow sown on the quilt (I'm not asking questions here). Notes is a collection of research notes Evans used while writing, including a select bibliography and how she decided what her Jane looked like.

The interlude is a brilliant touch. Moving us away from Jane to the other people, largely women, who echo on the cloth. It discusses as best as it can, given the complexity of the topic and the space it is allowed. I think the interlude might be the main entry into fabric work in the book. It is absolutely stunning. The story is heartbreaking. It's the perfect contrast.

It is a graphic biography. It is largely illustrated in pencils (or a digital pencil style), they are an effective choice. It allows for more effective movement to be shown. Evans has the skill to illustrate fabric and show Jane’s age and writing skills through her art. But the standout section is by far The Interlude. The Interlude uses actual materials and patchwork to tell its story.

There was an interesting piece of information that I discovered in this. Mansfield Park in Austen's work, Mansfield Park, is taken from the Earldom of Mansfield and a direct reference to William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. His famed case is Somerset v Stewart, “where he held that slavery had no basis in common law and had never been established by positive law in England, and therefore was not binding in law" (I'm quoting Wikipedia, sue me). For a book that does some discussion, albeit weak discussion, on slavery, it is telling. Fans of costume drama films may know his name and that case from the film Belle. He was the uncle and guardian of Belle Dido.