Traitorous. Sacrilegious. False. 
 Those are some of the thoughts I had about myself when I realized that there was a Jane Austen book that I didn't like. As a die-hard Janeite, I live and breathe her Regency world. I watch the movies over and over, my favorite P&P being the one with Keira K., and my favorite S&S the one with Emma Thompson. I rewatch Northanger Abbey many times, just loving the performances of Felicity Jones and Carrie Mulligan, who capture their character's essences to perfection. I listen to P&P, S&S, and the dramatized Mansfield Park (Yes, the one with Benedict Cumberbatch and Felicity Jones!) on Audible over and over and over again. 
 I long for the day when I can visit England, and breeze through the doors to Jane Austen's tea room. I watch Austenland and completely identify with the main character, obsessed with Mr. Darcy, and foolishly selling all to be able to go to a Jane retreat. 
 I hope you can now understand why I was about to rename myself Benedict Arnold when I realized that I was thoroughly not enjoying Persuasion. 
 I didn't like Anne. She didn't have much to recommend her. She was, as the title implies, too easily persuaded. Her character was too easily caught up in stiff piety instead of refined interest. The redeeming virtues she had left her appearing stuffy and unrelatable. 
 I cared very little for whether or not she ended up with Captain Wentworth. Their romance was not played up to my liking. You don't see the characters gradually turning toward one another, tension building. What we have is an old romance of which we are not acquainted, and care nothing about. Anne's family is so ridiculously arrogant and unlikable, that the entirety of the book spent in narrating their affairs until Captain Wentworth comes around is completely unenjoyable. 
 For the most part, I was bored, uninterested, and disappointed. I'm sorry, fellow Janeites, those of you for whom this is your favorite of her works. I'm glad you love it. However, Persuasion has fallen to the bottom of my list from Jane, solidly below Emma.