Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

Recommended for ages 8-adult, particularly tomboys or Austen fans.

What happens when you take one Jane Austen book about romance and add an ocean full of menacing sea creatures? You get this book, or something very similar.

Winters obviously had a lot of fun with this quirky take on Austen's classic. He got to expand his vocabulary into the world of tentacle-snot, and seems to relish in presenting the most repulsive images to the reader.

About halfway through the book I got a bit bored, and started to get annoyed with the author for stuffing around with Austen just for laughs, but the ending was nicely summarised and all the loose ends tied up (which I really appreciate in a book). Although I still think some of the tentacle references and octopi attack scenes are unnecessarily sensationalist, I can appreciate the new dimensions to which Winters has taken 'Sense and Sensibility'.

Note that this book is best enjoyed while NOT eating. It's hard to maintain one's appetite when hearing of Lady Middleton's dinner parties which frequently involve the maggot version of Russian roulette...

Recommended for all who enjoy quirky literature and sea monsters!