Started: 2/9/2019
Finished: 2/10/2019
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I have to admit that I have never read Pride & Prejudice, but I have seen so many iterations of this story that I feel like I can safely say that this is one of my favorite adaptations of this story ever. It was so difficult to put down. I haven’t walked through a sporting goods store with my family not putting this book down. That’s how good it is.
We follow our Lizzie Bennet, Zuri, as she gets ready for her senior year of high school and her changing neighborhood. She can see how gentrification is starting to effect her neighborhood and the neighborhoods around her, something she’s not exactly excited about. The Darcy family moves into the house across the street and Zuri’s life gets turned upside down. She’s suddenly having to question her ideals and the pride that she holds in herself and her community.
I really loved getting to see the relationships between the sisters, which is always one of my favorite parts of any Pride & Prejudice retelling. I loved the Jane and Lydia characters, and felt like they really worked well within the narrative. They felt like their own characters while still hearkening back to the source material. I feel like it can be a struggle for some authors who write retellings to find a balance between sticking to the source material and also creating original, fresh characters. But Zoboi was able to do that flawlessly.
Like I said in one of my updates, I really underestimated how much I love the Lizzy and Darcy romance. It’s probably one of my favorite hate to love romances ever. Nothing could ever compare. I found the Darcy character in this book really compelling. He felt less stilted than I’ve seen other Darcys portrayed, and it really made a difference. He seemed a bit smoother somehow. Not really smooth in having game, but just smooth in characterization. I really felt like his and Zuri’s relationship developed naturally and it was really nice to see the direction Zoboi took this storyline.
One of the things I loved the most was the voice and the overall tone of this novel. It was so much fun and real, it reminded me of watching Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing. I really loved the setting and the background characters, it really felt completely immersive. This is a point of view that doesn’t get explored a lot in YA novels, but I would love to see it around more.