Review of Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Release Date: Jan. 1, 2011
Publisher: Point
Pages: 231 pages
Genre: Romance, Classical retelling
Rating: 3.5 stars
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?

Review:  I really love Pride & Prejudice and so when I saw that Elizabeth Eulberg was writing a modern YA version of P&P I was very excited and have been looking forward to it for months.

I started reading the book with a huge smile on my face because it really did feel like I was catching up with old friends. I knew everyone’s personality, the love interest, the villains, there was definitely a feeling of comfort and home for me in the book.

Elizabeth Eulberg has written almost all the characters that we love (or love to hate) in this book, most of them even have their original names. Darcy is not quite as swoon worthy as he is in the original, but hot nonetheless. Lizzie is sweet and smart, a little too mean to Darcy for too long of a time, but she’s Lizzie so we love her.

I did notice a few things that I thought were off. The language the characters used would be formal at some points and modern the next. Additionally, because I knew P&P, the book was a bit predictable for the first two-thirds, but did throw some surprises at the end.

Overall, this was a fun and very quick read. I would recommend it to both readers who don’t know the original at all and would like a very casual introduction, and to fans of the original who would love to read something a bit different with their beloved P&P characters.

Content: Some underage drinking.