Scan barcode
lamom77's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, this was really cheesy and the dialogue was so horrible; however, I bumped it up to 3 stars because there were parts of this book that the author did some really fun twists on the original Pride and Prejudice.
kingtess's review against another edition
3.0
I think the author did an admirable job at translating Austen's Regency and male Darcy into a contemporary female character. I could see why she made the choices she did, and for the most part I agree.
That being said, it is difficult for me to read any P&P-type novels without comparing it to the original. (It took a long time and many films for me to stop doing the same thing with P&P movies.) This particular book retains Darcy's mannerisms and explains some of the character's thought process, but entirely avoids any social commentary or natural evolution of affection. The reader goes from "I haven't thought about this guy or anybody else from this town for years!" to "I hate this guy" to "I'm drunkenly kissing this guy" in the space of about two pages.
Gentle kinda-spoiler:
The whole book, sans epilogue, takes place over perhaps a week. Whirlwind romance: check.
Head-canon spoiler:
That being said, it is difficult for me to read any P&P-type novels without comparing it to the original. (It took a long time and many films for me to stop doing the same thing with P&P movies.) This particular book retains Darcy's mannerisms and explains some of the character's thought process, but entirely avoids any social commentary or natural evolution of affection. The reader goes from "I haven't thought about this guy or anybody else from this town for years!" to "I hate this guy" to "I'm drunkenly kissing this guy" in the space of about two pages.
Gentle kinda-spoiler:
Spoiler
The jump to "I think I might love this guy" takes another few chapters, during which we see very little indeed of the guy in question, and most of that is traded barbs.The whole book, sans epilogue, takes place over perhaps a week. Whirlwind romance: check.
Head-canon spoiler:
Spoiler
The epilogue says nothing of Darcy's profession, which could imply she's still a hedge-fund manager. Since she spends so damn much of the book obsessing over why she isn't happy - including examinations of her chosen career - I personally like to think she pivoted into financial advising. She mentions things like "So few women go into stocks" and "I'm so much smarter than everyone else" and "Maybe I should help other people more often," so it honestly seems like a natural fit that would bring her joy.amym84's review against another edition
3.0
If you can't tell by the title Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a retelling of Jane Austen's classic [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926]. However, Melissa de la Cruz's version is a gender-swapping take on the classic set in in modern times during the Christmas season.
It has been eight years since Darcy Fitzwilliam (great use, by the way, of literally just switching last name and first around and using it for a female character) has been home to Pemberly, Ohio. She's been busy living in New York making a name for herself as partner of an extremely successful hedge fund company. She's living her life the way she wants after being cut off by her father for not marrying her on-again, off-again high school sweetheart, and to say so myself she is doing rather well for herself. But when her mother suffers a heart attack, Darcy rushes right home. Now, she's face-to-face with the family she left behind at one of the most family-oriented times of year. Not to mention running into her high school rival Luke Bennett.
They couldn't stand each other in high school. Darcy felt like Luke was always trying to one-up her at everything. However, Darcy can't seem to deny the spark between them when under the influence of too much family eggnog as well as the mistletoe. As she starts to warm to the idea that her feelings for Luke are more than just antagonistic, Luke turns things on their ear by rejecting Darcy's claim of love and calling her snobby and selfish. But is that the truth of who Darcy is? Is she really a snob who thinks herself better than others, or is something else clouding Luke's judgement of Darcy's character?
Like others, I cannot resist a good Pride and Prejudice retelling (and there are quite the plethora on the market). So when I first learned the Melissa de la Cruz would be tackling one, and the fact that it clearly (from the title) takes place during the holidays I knew I wanted to read it.
On the surface Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a cute, sweet, retelling. I loved that it de la Cruz decided to put a spin on the story by switching things around and not just in the genders of most of our main characters, but the fact that technically this is a story from Darcy's point of view in lieu of Elizabeth's (i.e. Luke's). I liked that, here, Darcy is a successful female in a primarily male dominated field. I like that Darcy is proud of her successes and really doesn't want for anything. I loved where Melissa de la Cruz decided to go off the beaten path with the story. I liked that there was a history between Luke and Darcy. They begin with a classic enemies-to-lovers story trope. They push each others' buttons, and the moment Darcy, literally, runs into Luke you can feel the chemistry between them. I do believe the opening of this book in very nearly perfect.
But, you knew this was coming, I did use the words "on the surface" in the above. When I start to really think about this story, and how things proceed, I come up with a few things that just did sit right for me as a reader.
One of the main ones being that I actually wanted to see Darcy being successful. We are only ever told she is a success, but we don't see her in her element. In fact, much of this book is spent with Darcy outside of her element and while that was necessary for her character's journey in this story, since there was such a thing made about her being a woman and being successful at her job and having pride in her success, I wanted to see it. Because where we are in the book, Darcy is all over the place emotionally questioning this and that, I kinda felt like she was a mess at certain points. And truly, as we see Darcy's "change of heart" happening, it felt mostly forced rather than genuine. This came through mostly for me when we see Darcy interact with her three brothers. There is a moment where we see how deep Darcy cut ties with her family for eight years, and while I could understand the precipitating events between her parents (especially her father), I just didn't understand it when it came to her brothers who clearly where thinking about her. I guess more of what I would have liked to have seen was Darcy trying to repair the rip between her and her brothers.
Also, as with Darcy's siblings, there were a lot of secondary characters and relationships that felt like they were just kind of there. Such as the relationship (yes romantic) between Luke and his childhood friend Charlotte Collins. The more I thought about Melissa de la Cruz's choice to have their be a romantic entanglement between Charlotte and Luke the more I really liked the idea. There could have been so much more to Charlotte's character. Instead she's relegated to jealous female. I know that the problem lies with the story being only from Darcy's point of view, but I was sad that there wasn't more to this character (and the twist between the characters as set up).
I thought Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe was a cute, quick read which was overall satisfying for what it was. However, I would have liked if we got a longer story and were able to expand upon some of the characters a bit more. I think the story would have been more enriched if there were more details added.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It has been eight years since Darcy Fitzwilliam (great use, by the way, of literally just switching last name and first around and using it for a female character) has been home to Pemberly, Ohio. She's been busy living in New York making a name for herself as partner of an extremely successful hedge fund company. She's living her life the way she wants after being cut off by her father for not marrying her on-again, off-again high school sweetheart, and to say so myself she is doing rather well for herself. But when her mother suffers a heart attack, Darcy rushes right home. Now, she's face-to-face with the family she left behind at one of the most family-oriented times of year. Not to mention running into her high school rival Luke Bennett.
They couldn't stand each other in high school. Darcy felt like Luke was always trying to one-up her at everything. However, Darcy can't seem to deny the spark between them when under the influence of too much family eggnog as well as the mistletoe. As she starts to warm to the idea that her feelings for Luke are more than just antagonistic, Luke turns things on their ear by rejecting Darcy's claim of love and calling her snobby and selfish. But is that the truth of who Darcy is? Is she really a snob who thinks herself better than others, or is something else clouding Luke's judgement of Darcy's character?
Like others, I cannot resist a good Pride and Prejudice retelling (and there are quite the plethora on the market). So when I first learned the Melissa de la Cruz would be tackling one, and the fact that it clearly (from the title) takes place during the holidays I knew I wanted to read it.
On the surface Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a cute, sweet, retelling. I loved that it de la Cruz decided to put a spin on the story by switching things around and not just in the genders of most of our main characters, but the fact that technically this is a story from Darcy's point of view in lieu of Elizabeth's (i.e. Luke's). I liked that, here, Darcy is a successful female in a primarily male dominated field. I like that Darcy is proud of her successes and really doesn't want for anything. I loved where Melissa de la Cruz decided to go off the beaten path with the story. I liked that there was a history between Luke and Darcy. They begin with a classic enemies-to-lovers story trope. They push each others' buttons, and the moment Darcy, literally, runs into Luke you can feel the chemistry between them. I do believe the opening of this book in very nearly perfect.
But, you knew this was coming, I did use the words "on the surface" in the above. When I start to really think about this story, and how things proceed, I come up with a few things that just did sit right for me as a reader.
One of the main ones being that I actually wanted to see Darcy being successful. We are only ever told she is a success, but we don't see her in her element. In fact, much of this book is spent with Darcy outside of her element and while that was necessary for her character's journey in this story, since there was such a thing made about her being a woman and being successful at her job and having pride in her success, I wanted to see it. Because where we are in the book, Darcy is all over the place emotionally questioning this and that, I kinda felt like she was a mess at certain points. And truly, as we see Darcy's "change of heart" happening, it felt mostly forced rather than genuine. This came through mostly for me when we see Darcy interact with her three brothers. There is a moment where we see how deep Darcy cut ties with her family for eight years, and while I could understand the precipitating events between her parents (especially her father), I just didn't understand it when it came to her brothers who clearly where thinking about her. I guess more of what I would have liked to have seen was Darcy trying to repair the rip between her and her brothers.
Also, as with Darcy's siblings, there were a lot of secondary characters and relationships that felt like they were just kind of there. Such as the relationship (yes romantic) between Luke and his childhood friend Charlotte Collins. The more I thought about Melissa de la Cruz's choice to have their be a romantic entanglement between Charlotte and Luke the more I really liked the idea. There could have been so much more to Charlotte's character. Instead she's relegated to jealous female. I know that the problem lies with the story being only from Darcy's point of view, but I was sad that there wasn't more to this character (and the twist between the characters as set up).
I thought Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe was a cute, quick read which was overall satisfying for what it was. However, I would have liked if we got a longer story and were able to expand upon some of the characters a bit more. I think the story would have been more enriched if there were more details added.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
sarah_moynihan's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first Hallmark style, feel-good, Christmas romance book. I saw it displayed on a sales shelf and the "Pride and Prejudice" part of the title caught my attention and it was the last copy in the pile, so I snatched it up. It was an incredibly fast read, being just over 200 pages, and I finished it in just a few hours.
It starts with the cliche workaholic woman who has forgone and neglected any kind of personal relationship in her life in order to progress her career. She gets a call form her estranged family, informing her that her mother has suffered a heart attack and she flies home for the first time in nearly a decade. While home, she quite literally stumbles upon a boy from her past whom she did not get along well with during her family's holiday party. He is outwardly content in the life he has created for himself doing carpentry in his hometown. And thanks to some spiked eggnog, strategic mistletoe, and some awkwardness they kiss.
There's some back and forth and denial, some flirting and some resistence, some misunderstandings, and some pride and prejudice that get in the way of them being together. And of course there's some alternate love interests getting in the way. But in true happily-ever-after fashion, they get together in the end.
It was an enjoyable and quick read and perfect for the upcoming holiday season.
It starts with the cliche workaholic woman who has forgone and neglected any kind of personal relationship in her life in order to progress her career. She gets a call form her estranged family, informing her that her mother has suffered a heart attack and she flies home for the first time in nearly a decade. While home, she quite literally stumbles upon a boy from her past whom she did not get along well with during her family's holiday party. He is outwardly content in the life he has created for himself doing carpentry in his hometown. And thanks to some spiked eggnog, strategic mistletoe, and some awkwardness they kiss.
There's some back and forth and denial, some flirting and some resistence, some misunderstandings, and some pride and prejudice that get in the way of them being together. And of course there's some alternate love interests getting in the way. But in true happily-ever-after fashion, they get together in the end.
It was an enjoyable and quick read and perfect for the upcoming holiday season.
erincataldi's review against another edition
2.0
One of the lamest Jane Austen spin offs I've read in a long time. I will admit, I picked this book up solely because I love Jane Austen and I love Christmas. I didn't even bother to read the description (which was obviously a mistake). In this modern day Christmastime Pride and Prejudice adaptation. Darcy Fitzwilliam, one of the wealthiest and influential women in New York City comes back to Pemberly, Ohio for the holidays for the first time in eight years because her mom is sick. After she failed to marry her high school sweetheart, Caleb her father disowned her and took her out of the will so she went to New York and became rich and powerful on her own. She hates Pemberly, but thankfully her best friend from high school, the sassy gay Bingley, is in town so they have a good time catching up while her mother recovers. Also she runs into Luke Bennet and he is a stunner. Maybe something will happen with that. Ugh. It's a nightmare. I didn't even care what happened to anyone.
pantsreads's review against another edition
2.0
Points for the idea, but major miss on the execution.
Check out my full review on Forever Young Adult.
Check out my full review on Forever Young Adult.
liketheday's review against another edition
1.0
What I was promised: A gender-swapped, modern-day Pride and Prejudice.
What I got: A weird asset-flipped hot mess of a Pride and Prejudice that makes little to no sense.
Why I finished it: I figured either it couldn't get any worse or I could come here and say, "I figured it couldn't get any worse." It was the latter.
What I got: A weird asset-flipped hot mess of a Pride and Prejudice that makes little to no sense.
Why I finished it: I figured either it couldn't get any worse or I could come here and say, "I figured it couldn't get any worse." It was the latter.
emilyplewallen's review against another edition
3.0
Eh, it was a cute, festive, and quick read. The storyline was good and I kept reading to find out what happened, but I didn’t love the way it was written. It was definitely a cheesy, holiday romance, which is what I was looking for. There was just something about it that I didn’t love and I can’t put my finger on it exactly.. sometimes I felt like the POV wasn’t settled.. or maybe it went back and forth between letting us make good inferences about the characters to being explicitly told.. I’m just not really sure what it was.