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A review by writervid
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
3.0
3/5 stars
I'm all for angst. I'm all for seeing classics get a new take. And Pride mostly delivered on both counts.
I think this remix of Pride and Prejudice did a good job of creating an idea of prejudice in a contemporary setting, one that I learned a lot from. The topic of gentrification is a tricky one to tackle, and Zoboi did it justice and seamlessly wove it into the narrative. I found the characters and the sense of community realistic, and there was clearly a lot of heart in this story.
Not only that, but the way culture played such a major role in this story was fresh and enjoyable. So often in contemporary, heritage is brushed over in favor of the same cliche beats. And while I enjoy those beats, the focus on Zuri's heritage made this story so much better and so much more realistic. So many teenagers out there are intrinsically tied to their heritage, including me, that it thrilled me to see that portrayed on the page as a normal part of life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
However, there are downsides to every story. I found myself being told a lot of who the characters were, rather than being shown. If Janae is so sweet, and she and Zuri are so close, don't just describe that; show it! I also found that Zuri's dislike of Darius came on too quick, so much so it felt contrived. I did find that once we were well in the dislike stage, the emotions she felt were extremely well executed, causing plenty of *angst*. However, after some of the angst was over, her feelings of dislike were resolved too quickly, which made a lot of the angst disappear, and made me wonder why I was still reading. The rearrangement of the beats in Pride and Prejudice didn't always work. Zuri's emotions often felt rushed, and didn't quite flesh out into a full arc. With such a character-arc driven novel, the arc needs to feel complete and fully realistic, and this story was too intent on making things happen quickly for plot's sake to do that. In a story like this, the characters should carry the plot, not the other way around.
I'm all for angst. I'm all for seeing classics get a new take. And Pride mostly delivered on both counts.
I think this remix of Pride and Prejudice did a good job of creating an idea of prejudice in a contemporary setting, one that I learned a lot from. The topic of gentrification is a tricky one to tackle, and Zoboi did it justice and seamlessly wove it into the narrative. I found the characters and the sense of community realistic, and there was clearly a lot of heart in this story.
Not only that, but the way culture played such a major role in this story was fresh and enjoyable. So often in contemporary, heritage is brushed over in favor of the same cliche beats. And while I enjoy those beats, the focus on Zuri's heritage made this story so much better and so much more realistic. So many teenagers out there are intrinsically tied to their heritage, including me, that it thrilled me to see that portrayed on the page as a normal part of life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
However, there are downsides to every story. I found myself being told a lot of who the characters were, rather than being shown. If Janae is so sweet, and she and Zuri are so close, don't just describe that; show it! I also found that Zuri's dislike of Darius came on too quick, so much so it felt contrived. I did find that once we were well in the dislike stage, the emotions she felt were extremely well executed, causing plenty of *angst*. However, after some of the angst was over, her feelings of dislike were resolved too quickly, which made a lot of the angst disappear, and made me wonder why I was still reading. The rearrangement of the beats in Pride and Prejudice didn't always work. Zuri's emotions often felt rushed, and didn't quite flesh out into a full arc. With such a character-arc driven novel, the arc needs to feel complete and fully realistic, and this story was too intent on making things happen quickly for plot's sake to do that. In a story like this, the characters should carry the plot, not the other way around.