Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix

After reading this re-imagined Pride and Prejudice and countless others I'm left wondering if I ever really liked Elizabeth Bennet. In every retelling I hate the "Lizzie Bennet" for the way she treats "Mr. Darcy" in the beginning. She's unjustifiably rude and downright unpleasant. Or maybe that's just me. Zuri Benitez has lived in a run down apartment building in Bushwick for her whole life. Her family is everything to her and she's excited for her sister Janae to come home from college for the summer. When a wealthy family purchases the dumpy old house across the street and renovate it into a modern new house Zuri despises the changes she sees on her street. She doesn't warm up very much to the Darcy family that owns that house either. Here's the rundown Zuri - Elizabeth BennetDarius - Mr. DarcyAinsley - Mr. BingleyJanae - Jane BennetWarren - WickamMarisol - Mary BennetLayla - Lydia BennetKayla - Kitty BennetCarrie - Caroline BingleyGeorgia - Georgiana DarcyCollin - Mr. CollinsCharlize - CharlotteCatherine Darcy - Lady Catherine de BourghSome personalities were altered to make them a little more likeable and others were kind of one-offs just for the nod towards the original material. In the end I still liked where the story went and even though the romance was lame I did like Zuri by the end.

A contemporary YA remix of Pride and Prejudice set in Brooklyn. Seventeen year old Zuri Benitez is proud of her family, of their Haitian-Dominican heritage, of their community. She’s unimpressed by the change she sees, like gentrification of her neighbourhood and the wealthy Darcy family moving in across the street. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up. But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of. People can be thrown away too, like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks or pushed to the edge of wherever all broken things go. What those rich people don’t always know is that broken and forgotten neighborhoods were first built out of love.Pride twists the events of Pride and Prejudice fit Zuri’s context, rather than the other way round. This allows the story explore cultural identity and class and dealing with change, and to be not so predictable for someone who knows Pride and Prejudice backwards; it means Zuri’s relationship with Darius makes sense for two 21st century teenagers. Pride is a cute teen romance, but it’s most powerful as a love-letter to Zuri’s hood, to this world she’s grown up in. I listened to the audiobook, which helped bring Zuri’s hood to life even more vividly -- I got to hear the accents and the proper pronunciations and Zuri’s spoken-word poetry.

This novel is entertaining and interesting. It brings clarity and life to a poor, predominately black neighborhood that is becoming “gentrified.” When the mixed, rich family moves into the big ol' house next door after fixing it up to be almost a mansion, there is bound to be tension.I loved the language of this book, the slang I'm not familiar with, the ethnic phrases, and the excellent narration. And don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the book. But the plot was a little too tired, a little too predictable, just dressed up in fresh, new clothes. Pretty clothes, yes, but nothing I haven't seen before.

I got this book from an Owlcrate. I read the first 60 pages of this book and decided to set it aside. It's not an awful book but not something I really was into either. It's one of those contemporary YA romance books set in the "hood" so to speak. It's also a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Neither theme really appeals to me much and the story didn't draw me in.The book starts with Zuri and her sisters as they watch the wealthy Darcy family move in across the street from them. Right away you can tell that this is a book where the sisters will fall in love with the charming Darcy brothers. However, the “twist” is that this book is set in Brooklyn and there are ramifications for Benitez’s welcoming the wealthy Darcy’s. Overall this was just not my thing. The writing style is okay but I found it hard to engage with the story or the characters.

This was modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth Bennett being replaced by Zuri Benitez, an Afro-Latina whose Brooklyn neighborhood is shaken up when the wealthy Darcy family moves in. Much of the plot follows the overall path of P and P, but the modern venue added some new twists. Since it's the 21st century, Zuri's sister's reputation isn't ruined by running off with a boy, but no spoilers here, you'll have to read the book. But beyond the classic love story there were some added themes that really added to this book. The overall issue of how gentrification is changing neighborhoods was definitely a good topic to ponder, as well as the overall issue of being black in America, even in a city as tolerant as New York.I listened to this book (thank you Libro.fm for the free ALC!). Definitely recommend listening to this one. There is a lot of slang and narrator Elizabeth Acevedo did a phenomenal job in her performance of this book with accents and different voices for the cast. Highly recommended!

Zuri loves repping her block. But things are starting to change. When a HUGE new house is build across the street and the wealthy, handsome Darcy brothers move it, her world shifts. She hates Darius instantly, judging him on his appearance. But as the two get to know each other they connect. Zuri's small world is getting bigger as she visits Howard and thinks of college, as her family considers moving, and it throws her. Poetry is interspersed throughout the narrative. Elizabeth Acevado's narration is powerful in the audiobook.