PRIDE is a retelling of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE set in modern day, gentrifying Bushwick. The Benitez girls are taken by surprise when the wealthy Darcy family and their two boys move in across the street, changing the neighborhood and their lives permanently.

This book feels like a summer block party. The love Zuri has for her neighborhood pours out of the book, and you love it too within a few pages. And replacing Austen’s original social structure and arcane etiquette rules with the strata of gentrification and the nuances of teen slang is basically genius. It all works seamlessly, a testament to the timelessness of Austen’s characters and themes.

Layered under all that is an additional conversation about what it means to be black and who is black enough. I felt so strongly for Zuri and Darius, caught up in these societal structures, each just wanting to claim their own place in the world.

I did feel like the pace of the story was a bit off. It began as a slow burn and then accelerated too quickly near the end, I think. Still, one of the most unique retellings of a favorite story of mine that I’ve ever seen.