Reviews

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

spaces_and_solaces's review against another edition

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4.0

I am complete sucker for Pride & Prejudice, or anything written by Jane Austen. So, to read a desi retelling of P&P with gender swapped & beautiful characters was an interesting experience.

Meet the Raje family descendants of a royal family from India who have made San Francisco their home base. The protagonist is ‘Dr Trisha Raje’, an accomplished neurosurgeon who is our female ‘Mr. Darcy’ trying to save people, one brain at a time. Then there’s ‘DJ Caine aka male Lizzy Bennet’ a sexy chef employed by Trisha’s family.

Sparks fly when they meet & drama ensures (like in the original P&P). You know what’s going to happen because it’s an obvious retelling of the old classic, but you will still be interested in the crazy characters, mega rich family, a total rom com hero & a meet cute gone wrong!
It’s perfect for a light read on the beach or a trip and there are 2 more in the series based on Dr Trisha’s other overachieving siblings.

0tter_a's review against another edition

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I felt the characters and setting didn’t blend well with the pride and prejudice storyline

rkw2017's review against another edition

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main character is super unlikable, classest,  and self-absorbed. cannot read any more from her perspective

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laurenpat's review against another edition

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4.0

It’s pretty good. A little bit of a slow beginning but it picks up in the second half. Took me a while to realize that it was a complete gender swap of PAP, since the plot doesn’t completely follow the original (obviously). I think it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be because Elizabeth Bennet is such a strong, inspiring, passionate character in the original, and now to have that “persona” for a man, I just didn’t really relate as much. Still a decent light read though.

yarn_chicken's review against another edition

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3.0

Maybe closer to 2.5 stars from me but that be due to my mindset when reading it

cinelitchick's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

book_concierge's review against another edition

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2.0

Book on CD performed by Soneela Nankani.
2.5**

This retelling reverses the roles of Elizabeth and Darcy. Set in modern-day San Francisco it features Trisha Raje, daughter of a very wealthy immigrant Indian family, with royal connections back in India. She’s an incredibly brilliant “genius neurosurgeon” with a tendency towards quick judgement and, according to her siblings, absolutely NO emotional insight. (She’s clearly the Fitzwilliam Darcy character). Darcy James Caine, known as DJ, is a transplanted Brit of Indian and Rwandan heritage. (He’s the Elizabeth Bennet character.) He’s a brilliant chef and slated to cater the Raje family’s fundraiser for their brilliant scion’s announced run for Governor. He’s also the brother of brilliant artist, Emma, who has a brain tumor that only brilliant neurosurgeon Trisha Raje can possibly remove.

Did I mention that these characters are all brilliant? I just wanted to be sure, because the author manages to mention this in every single chapter! Good thing she does, because most of the time Trisha, in particular, doesn’t act brilliant at all. She’s a complete mess. I worked with surgeons, including some extraordinarily talented and innovated ones – several of the best were women. Not a single one of these women behaved even remotely like Trisha does. I rolled my eyes so often I made myself dizzy.

I did like DJ, although his secrets and guilt were a bit much. But his genuine goodness and steady support of his sister and his friends were admirable qualities. And his way with food! Oh. My. Stars. I was practically salivating whenever the book focused on DJ’s skills as a chef. (And there’s a recipe at the end that I’d like to try.)

In general, though, I think the author was trying too hard to match P&P. There’s even a Wickham character – Julia Wickham. Perhaps if she had just focused on the Bollywood-movie style romance without trying to force the elements of Austen’s classic into her story this might have worked better.

Soneela Nankani did a fine job with less that stellar material. She had a lot of characters to interpret and she was up to the task … even when sisters where talking I was never confused.

bookperusing's review against another edition

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emotional funny slow-paced

3.5

kmw1994's review

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

morr_books's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5