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diana_raquel's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.”
Unsurprisingly, Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors of all time. And although I love the Regency Era, I'm always a little reticent regarding retellings/inspired books of Jane Austen's work. More times than not, I find that they lack something. And, unfortunately, this retelling is no exception.
As a mystery crime story, this book is really good. The story is well-structured, the characters are well-written, and although I was able to predict some plot points, I never found the identity of the killer and their motivations, so that revelation was interesting to me. As a mystery crime story, this is a 4.5 to me.
However, I was expecting more. I was expecting more sarcasm and irony. The thing about Austen was that she was able to write stories that poked fun and criticized society's rules in a subtle way. And I don't think that this was achieved here. Yes, we see Elizabeth struggle to overcome society's rules, although, I wasn't amused by it. Where is the subtle irony? Where's the poking fun? Other writers of the Regency Era have criticized society's rules and the position of women in said society, but the thing about Austen is that this criticism is very subtle and amusing. And we don't have this in this book.
At the same time, we also have very little interaction between Elizabeth and Darcy. The message of the original book is that first impressions aren't everything. And throughout the interactions between Elizabeth and Darcy, we learn that Darcy is proud because he's a product of society and Elizabeth can be quite judgemental because, again, she is also a product of a society that excluded women. We love the book because of the interactions between Elizabeth and Darcy. In this book, there is more interaction between Elizabeth and Wickham than with Darcy. I know that this is supposed to be a mystery crime story and not a romance, but, I think that the book would benefit from a little more interaction between Darcy and Elizabeth.
So, I would prefer that this was marketed to me as an "inspired book" than a "retelling", but I cannot deny that this is a good narrative. Just don't try to sell it to me as a retelling.
Unsurprisingly, Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors of all time. And although I love the Regency Era, I'm always a little reticent regarding retellings/inspired books of Jane Austen's work. More times than not, I find that they lack something. And, unfortunately, this retelling is no exception.
As a mystery crime story, this book is really good. The story is well-structured, the characters are well-written, and although I was able to predict some plot points, I never found the identity of the killer and their motivations, so that revelation was interesting to me. As a mystery crime story, this is a 4.5 to me.
However, I was expecting more. I was expecting more sarcasm and irony. The thing about Austen was that she was able to write stories that poked fun and criticized society's rules in a subtle way. And I don't think that this was achieved here. Yes, we see Elizabeth struggle to overcome society's rules, although, I wasn't amused by it. Where is the subtle irony? Where's the poking fun? Other writers of the Regency Era have criticized society's rules and the position of women in said society, but the thing about Austen is that this criticism is very subtle and amusing. And we don't have this in this book.
At the same time, we also have very little interaction between Elizabeth and Darcy. The message of the original book is that first impressions aren't everything. And throughout the interactions between Elizabeth and Darcy, we learn that Darcy is proud because he's a product of society and Elizabeth can be quite judgemental because, again, she is also a product of a society that excluded women. We love the book because of the interactions between Elizabeth and Darcy. In this book, there is more interaction between Elizabeth and Wickham than with Darcy. I know that this is supposed to be a mystery crime story and not a romance, but, I think that the book would benefit from a little more interaction between Darcy and Elizabeth.
So, I would prefer that this was marketed to me as an "inspired book" than a "retelling", but I cannot deny that this is a good narrative. Just don't try to sell it to me as a retelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gore and Torture
Minor: Stalking
whewtaewoon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
Pride and Premeditation is a deadly take on the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. All your favorite characters re-imagined. Check it out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Death, Sexism, Blood, and Stalking
gabriellakaoru's review
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Kidnapping, Death, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
jennforman108's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed this adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Although, my love and knowledge of Austen’s novel made the twist/ reveal in this book not much of a mystery for me. I did not mind the liberties taken with some of the characters, but I did feel there were times the plot became more important than involving/ developing the side characters like Jane or Charlotte. It seemed Jane only stayed home to wait for Lizzie to return so they could discuss Lizzie’s investigation. Her other sisters and mother also never seemed to go any deeper than the surface level of their personalities and they were always at home like shut ins.
I really enjoyed the way Lizzie challenged the norms for this time so she could find herself in the law field for a career. The romance was too slow for me in the first half of the book as Darcy was scarcely around. Once he was more present it picked up, but I missed some of the finesse of their slow burn romance and how she runs into him in many unexpected places. Without any balls there’s not a reason for all our characters to gather together publicly.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a fairly quick read which certainly is paying tribute to the original and takes great care to stay true to Lizzie’s personality and how she might handle a murder investigation in this world.
I really enjoyed the way Lizzie challenged the norms for this time so she could find herself in the law field for a career. The romance was too slow for me in the first half of the book as Darcy was scarcely around. Once he was more present it picked up, but I missed some of the finesse of their slow burn romance and how she runs into him in many unexpected places. Without any balls there’s not a reason for all our characters to gather together publicly.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a fairly quick read which certainly is paying tribute to the original and takes great care to stay true to Lizzie’s personality and how she might handle a murder investigation in this world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Blood
robin_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Such a comfort to know (more or less) what is coming and still get interesting twists and a murder mystery. It's fast-paced and takes liberties in Regency-era London but that doesn't take away from the story at all.
All in all, for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, this is a delightful read.
All in all, for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, this is a delightful read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Gun violence and Kidnapping
Minor: Racism
madsmcw_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Misogyny
morainjay's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this retelling. I found it to be extremely fun and to have the right amount of mystery and banter. And, dare I say, this Darcy is in my top five favorite Darcys.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death
Minor: Sexism
debussy's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This didn't work for me as well as its sister book in the series. Historical accuracy aside, Elizabeth as barrister-in-training up against Mr. Darcy for the same case (Mr. Bingley is accused of murder) is all fine and well, but I never quite connected to this version of Elizabeth. She is the book's sole focus, with any attention paid to secondary characters like Jane and Lydia completely forgotten. Mr. Darcy doesn't become a character of note until too late as well, making the romance a shoehorned afterthought amidst the mystery so when it does appear it feels out of place and unconvincing. I couldn't get into it, and as the mystery became more convoluted I wasn't sure it could be said that I found the mystery itself very interesting. The whole book is kind of a miss for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
sohma4uesugi's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A really fun murder mystery twist on the classic. I enjoyed the read even though I saw both twists coming well in advance. I liked some of the character changes and the modernizations, even though some were unrealistic. I would have liked a little more of that classic Mr. Darcy romance, but I wasn’t disappointed with what I got.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death
zoepagereader's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Now this was a good murder mystery novel. The ending had a perfect measure of not expecting the murderer and not having the murderer connected in some extraordinary way. I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice, so I have no idea how it compares to that, but it was a great mystery and romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence