I believe this is the first book by Austen that I've read, unless I've forgotten something I read as a child.
Although I enjoyed the final chapters of both volumes (my edition had two volumes), the story, for the most part, didn't draw me in that much. At the end, especially in the final 2 chapters, I was fully on-board with the plot and the character's stories; but for the most part i was reading to get the book over with, seething at secondary characters' words and actions and being confused with who-is-who.
It seemed to pick up my interest halfway through, maybe because i quite enjoyed the final chapters of volume 1, maybe because more things start to happen plot-wise or I "adapted" to Austen's writing style.

I liked Anne with Benwick better to be completely honest, although you can tell from the get go that she is gonna end up with Wentworth. I mean the man is named WentWORTH. Her relationship with Benwick was a lot more of "show, not tell" and seemed that the interest was born in a much more natural way. With Wentworth, we get the what-happened explanation at the start of the book, and we get the couple's reconciliation right at the end (which i liked, but i felt that it needed a bit more development to fully round it out and make it more sensible) with a epilogue-like chapter to wrap things up.
Her family also made it very hard to read - she was either with Elizabeth and her father who are a terrible package-deal, or she was with Mary who is just effing insufferable. But it was part of plot, so I understand. Still annoying. Every other character was okay though.
The overall themes of persuasion were pretty interesting, and I enjoyed reading how she described them. I think I do enjoy Austen's voice, but the characters, besides Anne, the beacon of light, were somewhat sigh-inducing. The comparison between genders that takes place in certain spots was also pretty interesting. Even if I don't agree with Anne in everything she says, I liked reading that perspective on it.