Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.04k reviews by:
desiree930
Okay, here's the deal. I love Jane Austen. LOVE. Pride and Prejudice has been one of my all-time favorites since I first read it in high school. I am a sucker for the movies and mini-series based on her work. I also really enjoy the different re-tellings that have come up over the years (seriously, if you haven't seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, stop reading this review right now and go watch it. You're welcome). I also enjoy literary re-tellings, when they are well-written. Unfortunately, this book does not fall into that category for me.
Now, to be completely fair, I don't think that I am the target audience of this book. I picked it up specifically because of its relation to P&P, but I went into it knowing that it was written more for young teens. But to me, a good story is a good story, regardless of the target audience.
There are possible SPOILERS in this review, if you don't know the story of P&P...but seriously...if you haven't read P&P already...you need to reevaluate your priorities (just kidding - kind of)
First, the characters:
Chloe Hart = Elizabeth Bennett
Taylor Anderson = Fitzwilliam Darcy
Blake Winter = George Wickham
Alyssa = Jane Bennet
Madison = Charlotte Lucas
Zack = Charles Bingley
Collin = Mr. Collins
Emmalee = Caroline Bingley (and also Catherine De Bourgh)
Taylor is really super popular. Really. Every girl wants him, and every guy wants to be him. We are told this over and over again as every girl in the story is consistently drooling over him. Care to take a guess who the only girl is that doesn't fall for his charm? If you guessed Chloe, you'd be correct. She is the lone rebel who refuses to succumb to his charms, although her disdain for him actually stems from a time that he embarrassed her by flirting with her (which she was really into at the time) in front of a group of people and then finding out he had a girlfriend.
So here is my first problem with this book. In P&P Darcy is NOT a super popular, outgoing, social guy. In fact, he is the EXACT OPPOSITE. He is introverted, shy, and socially awkward to a degree. I get that this is supposed to be a modernization of a story, not the same story, but I do feel like the essence of the characters should be respected if you are going to take such a well-known text and well-known characters as the basis of your story.
Chloe was just okay for me. The story was told first-person through her eyes, so in theory she should be the most well-developed character in the story, but I just didn't really care for her. She was utterly clueless about Taylor's feelings toward her, even though it was completely obvious. He all but declared his feelings two or three different times before he actually told her he was in love with her. Her relationship with her friends was fine.
I did not really like the dynamic between Chloe and her mom. The author pretty much lifted the Mr. Collins subplot, complete with her mom demanding that she date Collin. It just didn't translate in a believable way to a modern retelling. I haven't been a teen for awhile, but I've never heard of a mom in this day and age DEMANDING that her daughter agree to be girlfriend to the boy of her choosing when her daughter has adamantly said she is not interested.
The Blake (Wickham) storyline is one that translates pretty well to any time period, probably because where there are young, impressionable girls there will be creepers ready to take advantage of them. I honestly feel like more time could have been spent on this subplot. It felt a little rushed, and wrapped up in a little bow with very little fanfare.
One other thing that made me roll my eyes was all the silly language that 18-year old kids just don't use. You don't have to swear, but 'chicken butt' and 'sugar' instead of a** and sh**...there are just so many other words that would be believable if you don't want swearing in your book (jerk and shoot are two off the top of my head).
All in all, I just don't think this was particularly well-written. The main plot points from P&P were all there, but they didn't always make sense in the modern day, and the characters weren't well-developed. I do wonder how this book would appeal to people who are unfamiliar with the source text. For me, it just didn't work.
Now, to be completely fair, I don't think that I am the target audience of this book. I picked it up specifically because of its relation to P&P, but I went into it knowing that it was written more for young teens. But to me, a good story is a good story, regardless of the target audience.
There are possible SPOILERS in this review, if you don't know the story of P&P...but seriously...if you haven't read P&P already...you need to reevaluate your priorities (just kidding - kind of)
First, the characters:
Chloe Hart = Elizabeth Bennett
Taylor Anderson = Fitzwilliam Darcy
Blake Winter = George Wickham
Alyssa = Jane Bennet
Madison = Charlotte Lucas
Zack = Charles Bingley
Collin = Mr. Collins
Emmalee = Caroline Bingley (and also Catherine De Bourgh)
Taylor is really super popular. Really. Every girl wants him, and every guy wants to be him. We are told this over and over again as every girl in the story is consistently drooling over him. Care to take a guess who the only girl is that doesn't fall for his charm? If you guessed Chloe, you'd be correct. She is the lone rebel who refuses to succumb to his charms, although her disdain for him actually stems from a time that he embarrassed her by flirting with her (which she was really into at the time) in front of a group of people and then finding out he had a girlfriend.
So here is my first problem with this book. In P&P Darcy is NOT a super popular, outgoing, social guy. In fact, he is the EXACT OPPOSITE. He is introverted, shy, and socially awkward to a degree. I get that this is supposed to be a modernization of a story, not the same story, but I do feel like the essence of the characters should be respected if you are going to take such a well-known text and well-known characters as the basis of your story.
Chloe was just okay for me. The story was told first-person through her eyes, so in theory she should be the most well-developed character in the story, but I just didn't really care for her. She was utterly clueless about Taylor's feelings toward her, even though it was completely obvious. He all but declared his feelings two or three different times before he actually told her he was in love with her. Her relationship with her friends was fine.
I did not really like the dynamic between Chloe and her mom. The author pretty much lifted the Mr. Collins subplot, complete with her mom demanding that she date Collin. It just didn't translate in a believable way to a modern retelling. I haven't been a teen for awhile, but I've never heard of a mom in this day and age DEMANDING that her daughter agree to be girlfriend to the boy of her choosing when her daughter has adamantly said she is not interested.
The Blake (Wickham) storyline is one that translates pretty well to any time period, probably because where there are young, impressionable girls there will be creepers ready to take advantage of them. I honestly feel like more time could have been spent on this subplot. It felt a little rushed, and wrapped up in a little bow with very little fanfare.
One other thing that made me roll my eyes was all the silly language that 18-year old kids just don't use. You don't have to swear, but 'chicken butt' and 'sugar' instead of a** and sh**...there are just so many other words that would be believable if you don't want swearing in your book (jerk and shoot are two off the top of my head).
All in all, I just don't think this was particularly well-written. The main plot points from P&P were all there, but they didn't always make sense in the modern day, and the characters weren't well-developed. I do wonder how this book would appeal to people who are unfamiliar with the source text. For me, it just didn't work.
