• I really love the voice in this book
  • Zoboi really has made this story her own and I LOVE that in a Pride and Prejudice retelling. I love that I’ll be surprised by some things but others are so familiar.
  • I already love Darius and Ainsley so much.
  • I still have a soft spot in my heart for Mary and one thing I hate about every Pride and Prejudice retelling is she’s like the scapegoat. No matter what she’s always the outcast sister who’s unlike all the other sisters in a bad way. But she’s not. She just doesn’t like balls and wants to focus on her piano playing. MAKE MARY A BEAUTIFUL, RESPECTED AROMANTIC YOU COWARDS
  • I understand where Zuri is coming from, but I don’t necessarily relate to it because I never had a big neighborhood community. On my block, we only had block parties a couple of times and only half the houses participated. Fundamentally I understand change is hard, and the desire to come back to something is strong. But I don’t really connect to it on an emotional level.
  • I love the emotion Zuri has. She’s an emotional fireball and it’s perfect and so Lizzie Bennet.
  • But I mean yeah, Warren is extremely charming. Wow.
  • I can’t tell if he seems fake because I know who he represents in the story or because he actually seems fake.
  • It’s so hard to actually keep writing notes because I just want to read it so quickly.
  • I mean Zoboi definitely made Zuri judgemental enough to be Elizabeth.
  • I just love Janae and Ainsey they’re so adorable together!
  • Oh yes, Darius is definitely gonna be there for the tour of Howard right?!
  • Hmmm… then again maybe not?
  • I really thought they would end up going back to Brooklyn or something.
  • OH HECKS YES HE AND HIS SISTER ARE HERE IN DC. I totally forgot that’s where she was living haha.
  • Um DARIUS LOVES ZURI SO MUCH ALREADY IM LIVING WOW
  • I like that even though the plot lines up with the original, it’s still a bit of a different spin and a modern twist.
  • 6/10—I liked this book, but I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I was really looking forward to this because I had heard it recommended by a ton of people. I recently read a really amazing Pride and Prejudice retellings and some really mediocre ones and watched the 2005 movie. And this one falls squarely in the middle for me. Okay, so here are some random thoughts to toss at you because I got so distracted reading this book and didn’t finish all my notes.
    • I wasn’t really charmed by either Darius or Ainsley. I think they’re both sweet, and have adorable moments, but I didn’t really feel a burning ship between Zuri and Darius and Janae and Ainsley.
    • I think this book would have been more successful if it had been longer and I’m not just saying that because I want it to be longer, even though I do want it to be longer. I really liked the social commentary and I think it was much better than Austen’s social commentary. But I think it would have been more successful as a dual romance-social commentary if it had been longer—the original is so long. In Pride and Prejudice both “Lizzie” and “Darcy” ar
    • I felt like the ending was good for a YA book, but not super good as a Pride and Prejudice ending. It kind of lacked the “everything is tied up in a nice, neat bow.”
    • I really liked Georgia, I wish we had spent more time with her. I know this is similar to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but with all the changes, I just wish we could have had more time.
    • Overall, I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it. I wish it had taken it’s time more. Sometimes it felt rushed.
    • I absolutely love Zoboi’s writing and I look forward to reading more from her in the future!