PRIDE & PREJUDICE ADAPTATION
Epic Fail
By Claire LaZebnik
Teen /YA
Romance Historical (Adaptation)
Kickin' Female Lead
This is a high school teens read of the Jane Austin persuasion. Actually, its a Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice retelling. Set in high school in California in the US, the story follows school newcomer Elise Benton as she finds herself in the 'in crowd' because her sister, Juliana has found herself a new boyfriend whom she really likes. Enter Chase and Derek aka Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, both of which are rich and kids of famous Hollywood superstars and film makers. And of course where Chase goes, Derek goes, so it is on Elise's first day of her new school that she finds herself sitting next to a jerk of a guy and his friend Chase. Only Elise doesn't know that the cold and annoying Derek is in fact the only son of the most influential movie stars in the whole world. Way to make a great first impression.
Definitely a teen read and an interesting take on Pride and Prejudice, but it lacked any real drama that the setting of the original novel excelled in. I found the characters a little 2D and typical of the Teen and YA genre but it was fun to see how the author went about retelling the story. I liked the humour and sarcastic interplay between the characters but the story really did lack a lot in way of something unique to add to the retelling.
I gave this book 3.5 stars out of 5.
