Review: Prejudice and Pride

Title: Prejudice and Pride

Author: Lynn Messina

Publisher: 15 December 2015 by Potatoworks Press

Pages: 238 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: womens fiction, romance, chick  lit, retellings

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis: 

You know Darcy: rich, proud, standoffish, disapproving, one of the greatest romantic heroes of all time. But you don't know this Darcy because THIS Darcy is a woman. 

In PREJUDICE & PRIDE, Lynn Messina’s modern retelling with a gender-bendy twist, everything is vaguely familiar and yet wholly new. Bingley is here, in the form of Charlotte "Bingley" Bingston, an heiress staying at the Netherfield hotel on Central Park, as is Longbourn, transformed from an ancestral home into a perennially cash-strapped art museum on the edge of the city. Naturally, it employs an audacious fundraiser with an amused glint in his eye called Bennet. 

All the favorite characters are present and cleverly updated: Providing the cringe-worthy bon mots is Mr. Meryton, the nerve-wracked executive director of the Longbourn who’s always on the lookout for heiresses to join his museum’s very important committees. (Universally acknowledged truth: Any woman in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a social committee to chair.) Collin Parsons is still in obsequious, if ironic, awe of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The wicked Georgia Wickham toils as a graphic designer at Redcoat Design by day and schemes against Darcy by night. 

With her trademark wit and style, Lynn Messina takes the genres she does best—chick lit, mashups, and Regency romance—and weaves them into one delightfully entertaining tale that doubles as a fun guessing game.

My Thoughts

"Seriously, Darcy, you have to dance. You can't stand here by yourself all night glaring at everyone. You look ridiculous."

If you love 'Pride and Prejudice', and are not too much of a traditionalist, you will LOVE this book! I delighted in it and highly recommend it. This is a P&P adaptation set in today's world with all the pop culture #tags and references! Fun! I was a little bamboozled in the first thirty pages or so as there were many names and locations thrown at the reader. But persevere! It's modern with its "Instagramming selfies" and all!

What is most unique about this particular adaptation, is that nearly all the main characters from the original are flipped, that being, Darcy is a girl! (Elizabeth) Bennet is the boy! How original! This would have to be one of the most unique takes on a tale that has been told over and reinvented in so many forms; but this surely is an original and must be given credit for that. As much as an incentive as that may be, I just loved the whole mix together of flipped characters, humour, romance and thought it a great fun read that I tore through despite obviously knowing the outcome. Just goes to prove, it's all about the journey. 

"If that's really your definition of a well-rounded man, then I'm no longer surprised you know only six. I'm shocked you know any at all."

Messina cleverly parallels people, plot and circumstances and draws them into the modern world - you will recognise everything if you are a P&P lover. In fact, you will eagerly anticipate to see how certain famous confrontations are handled. This truly is a classic reinvented that I believe will appeal to both old and new readers alike. This is just a fun read! You get to see some favourite characters in a most fascinating way. Of course some of the characters and a few threads, lean on the somewhat exaggerated side, but I could overlook that, thinking how difficult it must have been to find a modern parallel for each and every situation. 

"And this", Darcy says...."is what you think of me! Thank you for explaining it so fully. Clearly, I'm an awful person."

If you love P&P and are open to a fresh and unique interpretation then this is the book for you. I loved it. 

"And your fault is a tendency to hate everybody."

"And yours," she replies..."is to deliberately misunderstand them."

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.