Friday, June 25, 2021

Mini-Reviews: Pride & Prejudice Retellings


As much as I love P&P retellings, this one fell way short for me.  Trisha is a successful neurosurgeon who has been somewhat estranged from her family for almost 15 years.  DJ Caine is a chef whose sister is being treated by Trisha.  The two have their issues from the start, but might they be able to overcome their first impressions?  I did enjoy some things - I loved the culture and the food, and the way the author played with elements of the original story (the two leads are kind of swapped) without tying herself down with trying to incorporate everything.  Unfortunately, there was a lot I didn't like - first, the book was way too long (almost 500 pages!).  It could have easily been 100 pages shorter.  There was so much extraneous background information on so many of the characters.  I just didn't need it all.  I hated the way Trisha's family treated her.  They were basically gaslighting her for something that was in no way her fault (and it also happened when she was a teenager - they need to get over themselves).  The romance was lacking - I know P&P is a slow burn, but to not get a payoff on the romance until literally the last few pages in a book this long was frustrating.  Finally, the writing was very repetitive.  The author would constantly detail what the characters wanted to say in a heated conversation followed by what they actually said.  It was very confusing and I had to keep rereading sections to figure out what was actually happening.  2.5 stars

 
A modern take on Pride & Prejudice between two Civil War historians at a small Mississippi college.  Ransom and Shelby's first meeting doesn't go well after he writes a terrible review of her book in a national magazine.  Her blunt honesty and his stoic nature find them in one misunderstanding after another but they eventually get to know each other better.  Although I didn't love this book, I thought there were things to enjoy.  One thing I had an issue with was how nasty some of the characters were to Shelby, and it felt completely unwarranted.  Her department head is constantly finding ways to undermine her, for instance.  I also felt like there were scenes and plot threads that went nowhere.  But I did enjoy the way the author took elements of the classic novel and adapted them to a more modern setting.  She didn't use every character and situation, but the ones she did are easily identifiable.  I also liked the college setting and the fact that the two main characters are historians.  The little touches of Southern history were really interesting.  I didn't realize this book was Christian fiction, so the story was fairly clean and the romance very simplified, but it worked here.  3.5 stars

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20 comments:

  1. I enjoy a P&P retelling as well! Too bad that neither of these were stellar reads for you. I do enjoy a college setting, too, so maybe the second one might make it on my list. ;)

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    1. Yes, the college/history angle was a nice one!

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  2. And Cheese Grits? Fantastic! I need to file this one in case I need a MI book for my reading challenge. I read the first book, and I liked it, but it felt overly long. That's my memory of it.

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    1. This one didn't feel too long, but I was reading a large-print version, so that always kind of skews the feel!

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  3. A bit of a mixed bag of P&P retellings, unfortunately. I didn't even realise the first one was 500 pages long yIKES!

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  4. That's too bad about Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. Books that are too long feel like such a chore to get through.

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  5. Wow, close to 500 definitely sounds like maybe a bit much, haha! Bummer that one didn't work out as well. I hope you can find some even better Pride & Prejudice retellings in the future. :)

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  6. Sorry to hear these P&P retellings weren't the best. I liked the first one more than you did, but I do remember thinking it could be a lot shorter.

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  7. Gotta love a good Pride and Prejudice retelling! Though sorry these didn't work so well for you.

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  8. It's a shame you didn't love these as much as you hoped! I love Pride and Prejudice, but I don't think I've ever read a retelling, which is a shame.

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  9. Oh no! Well, I guess I won't try Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. I think out of her whole series that's the one with the lowest ratings.

    So now you have to tell me what is your favorite P&P retelling?

    If you like middle grade and magic you might like Kat, Incorrigible which is a sort of Pride and Prejudice retelling or has something like it in its plot.

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    1. Unmarriageable was a really good one, also Eligible, and Staci Hart has a lot of Jane Austen inspired books, including an entire series called the Bennett Brothers!

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  10. I've read the second you feature, but not the first which I wondered about. Sad that it could be 100 pages shorter; that's one of my pet peeves for books. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Angela.

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!