User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
“Jane. I will not live my life sitting by the side while there are so many men making a mess of things.”
And thus began the saga of Elizabeth Bennett our favorite Regency-era woman teaming up with Darcy to solve a murder in nineteenth-century London.
P&P is arguably Jane Austen’s most popular novel, so I had high expectations from this book. Tirzah Price did a phenomenal job capturing the essence of the characters and transporting them into a new story while at the same time remaining true to its roots.
The good -We are still given the famous opening line, with a twist,
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.”
- The plot is where this book stood out for me I mean who could have thought about a plot like this. Amazingly though out and perfectly woven book.
-The pacing was really well done as well and the mystery was perfectly crafted , I thought I figured out the culprit but then again the at the end I was convinced not surprised though but convinced at the smart choice of author.
- I read several reviews and what people seem to dislike about the book was the fact that Darcy appear after like 40% of the book is complete but me being a supportive wife to my wife Lizzie enjoyed the fact that most of the book was focused on Lizzie and I think that's exactly what Jane Austen would have wanted.
“Do you purposefully misunderstand everything I say, Miss Bennet?”
“Do you purposefully overlook all inconvenient truths, Mr. Darcy?”
- They spend most of the time bickering and glowering at each other which i live for ofc, and Lizzie is suspicious of him, but she doesnt seem to abhor truly negative feelings towards him. This was a nice touch to the plot.
“So your only choice is to hate everyone?”
“And yours is to willfully misunderstand everyone,” he said finally, meeting the full force of her gaze."
The bad - First thing that bothered me was Lizzie's age why the hell was she 17 when the motive of the book was to show condition of women in 19th century ,this modification added absolutely nothing to the story and makes no sense to me at all.
-Some characters, Lizzie’s sisters, are just background characters and don’t have much going for them like they did in the original.
- I get that romance is not the main genre of the book but I wanted it to be more than just 30% . I was a bit letdown on that front.
Overall a delightful, super feminist, action-packed historical murder with loads of banter and sass!And not to forget that this is the first installment in the series and I can't wait to read them.
Rating: really liked it
Retelling
Jane Austen classics with a
Murder Mystery twist!?
And this cover!? Get on my shelves!!!
Rating: really liked it
I’m so conflicted about this one 🤷🏽♀️
Here's the thing, I would have enjoyed this one so much more if I wasn't in a Jane Austen class right now at college and hadn't immersed myself in the regency era for like three months now. I know the author left a note on historical accuracy in the back, but I just could not get past the inaccuracies in this book. It was very unrealistic. Something else that bothered me about this book was how vague the characters were. They were not well-developed or fleshed out. They each seemed more like archetypes rather than characters, particularly Elizabeth. I couldn't get past her naive nature. She had none of the qualities the actual Elizabeth did.
Speaking of Elizabeth, I do not think this needed to be a Pride and Prejudice retelling. It really made no sense. There was really no basis that made it seem like a retelling, mainly because there were no key plot points from the original book. There was no letter from Darcy to Elizabeth, no Lydia running away with Wickham, no growth between Jane and Bingley. All of the things that made Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice were gone. It seemed more like a very, very vague fanfiction. Which isn't a bad thing, just not what I wanted. Essentially what I'm trying to say is that I felt like the author used Austen's characters in the author's own world without paying homage to the original.
There were a couple of things I liked though! I definitely didn't see the murderer coming nor did I suspect how and why it would play out. I also liked the fact that Charlotte was biracial. She had interesting commentary, but once again was grossly underused...it almost seemed like a throwaway to add some diversity to the book.
I read the exclusive Barnes and Noble version that had the extra chapter in the back, and that was super fun. I would recommend reading that version if you can because the extra chapter in the back was better than the epilogue. It had more characterization and growth between Darcy and Elizabeth than the whole book did.
This was a quick, easy read just not for me. Like I said...too many inaccuracies and not enough substance.
👩⚖️🔎✉️
Rating: really liked it
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.” This book was way more fun than I thought it would be. A remix of Pride and Prejudice, but with murder! Mr. Bingley has been accused of slaying his brother in law in a crime of passion and Elizabeth Bennett is set to prove his freedom. Elizabeth investigates the murder in the hopes of proving to her father that she can be a valuable part of his law firm. But the more she investigates, the more clear it becomes she is in danger herself.
I enjoyed the crap out of this Austen cozy mystery retelling. There’s a lot of mixed reviews on this book so I was apprehensive about reading it and I’m really glad I did because now I am dying to read the other books in the series. This is a feminist take on the Pride and Prejudice story, and the author in a way fixed some things that probably didn’t sit right with those of us who love the original story. I think the author did a wonderful job weaving the murder mystery around these characters and even though it’s a modern novel, it stayed true to the original work. My only complaint is there should have been more Mr. Darcy in the story, but I might be biased on that.
Rating: really liked it
I am friends with the author through our work at Book Riot so it doesn't feel terribly fair for me to give an official star rating.
For me, a retelling needs to walk a pretty fine line. If it just retells the same story in the same way, it is no fun even if you've moved the setting or time period. You need to give me something new to invest in. Tirzah uses a very Austen-y voice, and she's quite good at it, so I got to have those nice familiar feels. But her story is quite different, even if you recognize the characters. For me, this meant it worked quite well. But some who like more strict retelling styles may find it is so far from the norm that it's not their cup of tea. (Although I don't know how they'd expect a P&P retelling with murder to stay all that close to the original.) I liked that I generally knew if a character would be good or bad but didn't know how they fit into this mystery, a good balance.
I liked very much how we focused on aspiring solicitor Lizzie's continual frustrations with the way men are able to co-opt her work, that helped it feel true to the time but has more similar stakes to the way women feel today than Lizzie's feelings about marriage.
The solution to the mystery was a bit too complex for my tastes, though it's certainly accurate to the period. Just a personal preference thing, I also get annoyed with Agatha Christie when a motive turns out to be on the fussy side. But I liked that the balance was more towards mystery than romance, which is also my personal preference. I like to keep the romance in the B-plot and make sure it moves forward with the plot, Tirzah is great at this.
Rating: really liked it
If you are familiar with me at all you know that I will read
any P&P retelling. This time around my old fave is taken to a
cozy direction where Mr. Bingley has been accused of murder!!!!
Lizzie Bennet wants to prove to her father that women are just as capable of men and that she is deserving of more than just a behind-the-scenes clerk type of job at his law firm. Unfortunately, Mr. Bingley already has a solicitor working on his case – Fitzwilliam Darcy. What follows is the two combining forces in order to not only prove Bingley’s innocence, but also to avoid becoming victims themselves.
As I said above, I read about eleventy-three of these revampings per year. This one?????
They can’t all be homeruns.
Rating: really liked it
A delightful combination of an Agatha Christie mystery with Jane Austen characters and setting. Elizabeth Bennet is determined to solve a mystery to acquit Mr. Bingley and at the same time convince her father that she is a worthy addition to his law firm. The Bennet family is intact as in Austen's novel, but living in Cheapside. In fact, the entire P&P cast is in a parallel timeline where they are all city dwellers. The mystery was very well done and I enjoyed spending time with some of my favorite P&P characters. This could be recommended to preteen mystery buffs as there is no objectionable language or sexual content.
Thank you to HarperTeen and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
2.5
Ok so this is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice with a murder mystery twist. I so wanted to love this but I was kinda disappointed.
To start off, I was correct about the people I suspected. CORRECT. Zoe never is correct in mysteries. Zoe doesn’t think smart during mysteries. Zoe never solves the mystery. So that says something.
Secondly, Lizzie (our Mc) did not act like Elizabeth Bennett at all. I kept trying to imagine her but it never worked. She acted so differently. And all of a sudden Darcy never decides to be grunt or mean and instantly turns into a softy. NO.
And things only pick up at page like 250 an md that’s more than half way through. I was a bit bored.
YET, this was so quick to read.
Thee author even took so big chunks of quotes the characters say in the original and threw the exact words in here. No. It’s a retelling you don’t do that.
I did enjoy the setting as always and I enjoyed all the other characters because they acted like the originals.
But it was just not a good mystery. And the two Mc did not act like the way they are supposed to.
Rating: really liked it
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.” I’m not a fan of Pride & Prejudice but I am a fan of murder mysteries. Also, the cover is just completely breath taking, so I decided the give it a shot and I loved it!
The characters are pretty much the same but this book includes kidnappings, pirates, murders, etc. I loved Lizzie, Jane and Darcy far more than I did in the original. Placing Lizzie and Darcy as rivals was amazing and added a little more spice to the romance.
Pride and Premeditation is the first book in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series and I can’t wait to read the next books!
Rating: really liked it
Who Dunnit? Well let me tell you! Tirzah Price, you have done it, and done it well, you did indeed!
This book checks off everything I love in a book.
🌷Jane Austen inspired
🌷 Pride and Prejudice brilliant retelling
🌷 A YA Lizzie Bennet and of course, our swoon worthy Mr. Darcy
🌷 Thrilling Murder Mystery Page Turner
This is the first book in a series and it is absolutely brilliant, wickedly witty, unputdownable, and super entertaining. This certainly is an epic read!
Do check this book out if not for the gorgeous cover, for a great YA mystery that will sure keep you guessing.
Thank you @epicreads for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
I. Give. Up.
Make Lizzie a wannabe solicitor. Make Darcy her rival. Put Bingley on trial for murder. Sure.
Just
modernize it. Don't set it in the 1800s where Lizzie's cry that she's "better than the male solicitors and should be allowed to practice law!"
will make me want to bash my head against a wall.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars - This was very cute and total fan service for those who love the characters of Pride & Prejudice! I think keeping the setting in the Regency era created an odd overall tone for the story (it wasn't really going for historical verisimilitude, so why keep that as the setting?) but I did really like seeing these characters that I know & love in a different kind of story. And I'm always excited when these books are an actual mystery
Rating: really liked it
This book had very sophisticated writing and continuously gave me a feeling as if I was reading classical literature instead of a retelling. The murder mystery twist to Lizzie and Mr Darcy's story was exciting and entertaining through and through!
Rating: really liked it
I have exactly two reactions to this book.
#1: good retelling of the classic.
#2: bad murder mystery.
*stares conspicuously at the three actual plot twists*
here's the publisher's summary of the plot cause y'all know i got a lovely thing called homework ❤️
"When a scandalous murder shocks London high society, seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seizes the opportunity to prove herself, despite the interference of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates.
Convinced the authorities have imprisoned the wrong person, Lizzie vows to solve the murder on her own. But as the case—and her feelings for Darcy—become more complicated, Lizzie discovers that her dream job could make her happy, but it might also get her killed."yeah no way.
so overall, the book was fine. not terrible, not great, but fine.
the little quirks of
certain people *ahem* fit quite perfectly into the puzzle from the beginning, which was nice.
However, i WILL be complaining about exactly five things.
#1: WHERE WAS THE ROMANCE
#2: too much telling and too little showing.
#3: WHERE WAS MY CINNAMON BUNS JANE AND BINGLEY
#4: if you are a stickler for historical accuracy this is sooooo not the book for you. I understand some things have to be changed for our modern sensibilities, but not all of those modernizations were necessary. For example, that kiss in the bloody MIDDLE of the courthouse?? #socialdeathinthe1800s
#5: SO WHERE WAS MY ROMANCE AGAIN THIS IS A PRIDE AND PREJUDICE RETELLING FOR GOODNESS SAKE
anyways the characters were decent. A little flat, since we don’t really get to know any of them except Lizzie, but decent. All of them were named exactly to their original counterparts *rolls eyes* and sometimes we had exact quotes from the original.
*rolls eyes more aggressively*
Meet Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, an official representative of
Girls Who are Headstrong and Don't Use Their Heads.
see, you can
tell me Lizzie is cLeVEr and cUnNinG and sMArT, but she needs to actually
prove it. And a girl who makes made stupidly reckless choices in the name of women’s rights that really just weren’t necessary is. She did improve greatly over the course of the book and make smarter choices. It even got to the point where I was no longer annoyed with her general existence 😊😊
as for Darcy, I have no complaints against Darcy.
I may or may not have forgotten about him 85% of the time.
overall, this book was decent, but that doesn't mean i'm not still mad that i didn't get my P&P ENEMIES TO LOVERS ANGST.
Ratings:
Star Rating: ★★☆☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: PG-13
Recommendations If You Liked This Book:
Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price (book #2 coming out on April 5, 2022)
Rating: really liked it
3.5/5
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Pride and Prejudice + murder mystery?
Could that possibly go wrong?
