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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love any Pride and Prejudice story and I picked this one up because the setting was high school speech and debate, which I participated in myself!! I loved the addition of the #metoo stories and the girls standing up for themselves and speaking out. I otherwise wasn't super interested in the retelling itself because it was a bit too on the nose, with phrases and passages that were far too close to the original to be interesting, given how many times I've read the original.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very cute YA retelling of Pride & Prejudice. I didn’t love how the characters talked half-Never Have I Ever, half-OG Austen, so the dialogue pulled me out of the story at times. That said, I’m a sucker for an Austen remix, so overall I enjoyed it.
Great retelling of Pride and Prejudice. The world of high school debate was a great backdrop. Loved the way all the original characters were incorporated with some in unexpected ways.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you to Scholastic Publishers and the author for a finished copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
Trigger warnings: mentions of SA, sexism, racism, bullying, homophobia, classism
Once again, I really hate giving OwnVoices reviewers less than 4 stars :sob: This book was... interesting. As a Bengali, it was incredible to recognizes pieces of my culture in Leela and her family. When Leela mentioned "Indian French Toast" I literally lost it; I immediately went to my mom to tell her, and we were both so happy and shocked that something like that was in this YA book. This book really shows that representation is important, because I was straight up euphoric anytime something Bengali-specific was mentioned.
Representation aside, though, this book was lacking in many ways. This is a pretty run of the mill speech and debate rivals to lovers story, except that the rivals in question had absolutely no chemistry. Leela was such an ass to Firoze up until literally the last ten pages, so I had no idea how either character could possibly have felt romantic feelings for one another. There were some shoehorned moments of "tension" between them where they were arguing and *suddenly* the room was hotter and they were standing closer together, but I didn't buy it at all.
The next disappointing thing was the feminist message. I can't go into it without spoiling the book, but it was disappointing because the climactic moment felt really unearned, and also a little unfocused. The author uses many analogies that don't really work, and actually made me come to some concerning, hopefully unintended conclusions.
If you want a story with South Asian representation and a diverse set of characters, I'd recommend this book. If you want something that critiques feminism and debate culture in an intriguing way, maybe skip this one.
Trigger warnings: mentions of SA, sexism, racism, bullying, homophobia, classism
Once again, I really hate giving OwnVoices reviewers less than 4 stars :sob: This book was... interesting. As a Bengali, it was incredible to recognizes pieces of my culture in Leela and her family. When Leela mentioned "Indian French Toast" I literally lost it; I immediately went to my mom to tell her, and we were both so happy and shocked that something like that was in this YA book. This book really shows that representation is important, because I was straight up euphoric anytime something Bengali-specific was mentioned.
Representation aside, though, this book was lacking in many ways. This is a pretty run of the mill speech and debate rivals to lovers story, except that the rivals in question had absolutely no chemistry. Leela was such an ass to Firoze up until literally the last ten pages, so I had no idea how either character could possibly have felt romantic feelings for one another. There were some shoehorned moments of "tension" between them where they were arguing and *suddenly* the room was hotter and they were standing closer together, but I didn't buy it at all.
The next disappointing thing was the feminist message. I can't go into it without spoiling the book, but it was disappointing because the climactic moment felt really unearned, and also a little unfocused. The author uses many analogies that don't really work, and actually made me come to some concerning, hopefully unintended conclusions.
If you want a story with South Asian representation and a diverse set of characters, I'd recommend this book. If you want something that critiques feminism and debate culture in an intriguing way, maybe skip this one.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s been a long while since I last read a contemporary adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and this was quite refreshing. I liked how the different characters were reimagined (Lady Catherine de Bourgh was perfection as a diction coach. It worked so well!), and how different major plot scenes were adapted to fit the high school age setting. I had wondered before beginning, how the Lydia/Wickham storyline would be handled, and I liked how it was portrayed in this. Lines from the original were woven into the dialogue throughout the book. Sometimes the lines blended in well, sometimes they stood out just enough that it took me out of the story. I also think that the Lizzie Bennet character (Leela Bose) was too over the top at times in her interactions with others. Yes, she’s in high school, so it fit her age, but sometimes it felt like a forced reaction and not natural. I still liked her as a character though, and enjoyed watching her relationship with Darcy grow over the course of the book.