The Emma M. Lion Appreciation Society discussion

This is a place for first impressions of Emma M. Lion. How did you discover Emma? What did you think as you were reading the first book? What did you expect by the time you reached the end?

I'll go first. My good friend had these books recommended to her on Amazon (yay for algorithms, sometimes)! She liked Volume 1 a lot, so I looked it up, and was impressed by how unanimous the reviews were.

By the end of Volume 1, I wasn't completely ready to surrender myself to fandom, but I was intrigued. So much of the first book is about introductions and setup. You have to learn about the neighborhood; you have to learn about Emma's precarious financial position. It's not the time yet for escapades-- but the introduction of The Tenant at the end certainly caught my attention. Not too much had happened, but it certainly seemed like it was about to.

And the rest is history.

What about you?

The Kindle Unlimited algorithm fates were smiling down upon me one day and recommended this series. I believe I saw one of the updated covers (with the illustration) and it caught my attention. A quick glance at the reviews (which are extraordinarily positive), and away I went.

I had no idea what to expect, but what I was reading made me laugh and I couldn’t put it down. For me, March 26 is the entry that convinced me there was going to be a depth to the writing beyond sparkling wit. Of course, I jumped into vol 2 as soon as I finished vol 1.

This is a very bizarre comparison but the last time I remember feeling so invested in a series (that the characters feel almost real) was the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants many many years ago. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Someone in my Goodreads feed was reading and loving these, so I thought I would try them out on Kindle Unlimited. Like Alisha, I was intrigued at the end of Vol 1, but not hooked enough to order them all in hardback for my teen and tweens. (That happened after Vol 2!) I have a thing for impecunious orphans who love literature and are good friends. Emma's world delighted me right away, but I still felt like I was getting to know everyone. It's been so fun watching my girls inhale the series over the past couple of weeks -- knowing that I adore Emma and have been inflicting Vol 1&2 on various kindred spirits who need her in their lives, my daughters were all in from Vol 1.

"Impecunious orphans who love literature"... Nice category description, Emily! This reminded me of the challenge I find it to describe Emma to other people who would enjoy reading her... I think your phrase there is a great starting point. She's in the same ballpark as some LM Montgomery heroines, as well as the girl in Jean Webster's Daddy Long Legs. Are there others she reminds you of?

I hope all your bookish friends come to adore Emma too!

My mom, who is recovering from a double mastectomy and needed comfort reading, is now hooked on Emma, too! She's been texting me updates as she starts each new volume.❤️ We were trying to categorize Emma, and we agree on the LM Montgomery and Jean Webster vibe! I feel like she has a kinship with Penelope Lumley in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series. I'm sure there are more that I'm not thinking of. Anyone else!

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i’ve only head of LMM! i need to get on more of these trains! want to be friends on here and send me your recommendations by these other fun authors? also, sending prayers to your mom <3 lots of love!

Definitely recommend Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy (sequel) by Jean Webster! Incorrigible Children is a children's series by Maryrose Wood that I might even enjoy more as an adult than my children do -- plucky orphan governesses are my cup of tea!

oh my heavens! i just finished reading the emma books in march. is in ridiculous for me to want to read them AGAIN?! i have so many other books on my tbr!

It's not ridiculous! 😄 If you finished them in March, you already made it longer than some of us without a re-read.

Personally, I like to keep Emma M. Lion going in the background of my reading life... so I keep chugging along with the TBR, but on many days I'm also dipping in to Emma's journal for at least one or two entries! It's a great way to enjoy them and be more leisurely about it.

Emily, I hadn't thought of Jean Webster, but she's a great read-alike. I thought of Patricia C. Wrede, particularly Sorcery and Cecelia.

I love Emma M Lion. I received them as a gift from my mother-in-law and due to the boring cover and apparently lacking number of pages, I initially discounted the books. Except...I picked up volume 1 about six months later when alas, I had read down my pile of books on my nightstand. I am in love. I want to be Emma. There was no doubt when choosing a book for my book club's 100th book (that's right, we have read 100 books in 10 years!!) that it would have to be Emma M. Lion. Now I have another group of women that have fallen in love with Emma and also cannot put down the series.

I discovered Emma earlier this year after seeing a few people mention them on Instagram. I was immediately hooked, read all 8 books in a month and am almost through my second read through already. They are unlike anything I’ve ever read!

They pull in all my favorite elements from Jane Austen books (beautiful settings and peeks into British society), Anne of Green Gables (orphans and scrapes and a heroine to adore), I Capture the Castle (that first person narration that balances coming of age with humor and romance), and even a little bit of Gilmore Girls (the quirky town and the fast paced wit and conversation).

I have been raving over them to all my friends, and I still just can’t get enough. I’ve laughed out loud, shed tears, and am on the edge of my seat waiting for book 9 to be released!

agreed Becky! I compared it to all of those books & shows but I also add it's a bit a I Love Lucy with the Drunken Duck & Fountain scene but Anne of Green Gables gets into some good scrapes too. The only one you mentioned I don't know is I Capture the Castle. I'll have to check it out. If you haven't read Blue Castle by LM Montgomery it has a similar feel also and I LOVE it! I'm obsessed with the Emma books! ❤️