4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this take on the classic story set in Pakistan. I’m not very knowledgeable about daily life there so I felt like I was enjoying a cultural travelogue along with the story! ( )

4.5 stars! Charming and fun! A great retelling that is both social satire and romance as was the original and is more generous with many of the characters including Sherry-Charlotte, Annie-Anne de Bourgh, Qitty-Kittie. And made me hungry for Pakistani food!

One meta-issue was that at some point I wondered when Alys would realize she is living the very story she knows so well. It seems unlikely that it wouldn’t occur to her at some point given the names of the people in her life so closely paralleling those of Austen’s P&P. It still worked though! ( )

3.5

Delightful retelling of a familiar story: Pride & Prejudice. Enjoyed the dynamics of a big bunch of sisters and did a lot of googling of Pakistani fashion terms while reading.

From book subscription box ( )

A very enjoyable retelling of P&P (excellent on audio). The story sticks very close to the original plot so if you're looking for new plot twists you'll be disappointed. Great to read a book set in Pakistan that's fun and light. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but only because I read the real pride and prejudice before this. When adapting the novel the author took out some of the character motivations which made it feel like the things that happened in the novel only happened because that's what happened in pride and prejudice. There was also too much exposition and a lack of character/ relationship development (for example the Elizabeth jane relationship was missing a lot of characterization and if I hadn't read the original I would not have understood this part of the book).

I felt that the biggest problem was the dialogue which just felt unrealistic throughout. I mean it was decent but it kinda felt like a 15-year-old wrote It or like it was robots talking to each other. for example there are multiple times when darsee and alys just go on listing what they have in common. to me, this feels so awkward. the alys/darsee interactions are by far the worst. If you're looking for a love story with good dialogue between the love interests, don't read this book.

There were also some things that the author added that didn't make any sense. For example when alys confronts darsee at the party. this doesn't make any sense because it didn't impact the plot at all except by making it make less sense. Why would darsee still propose to alys after he already knew that she was convinced he was guilty of cheating wikaam out of his inheritance? Like what? it just undercuts the plot and makes us think that alys is a bitch.

I did really like the additional characterization of mrs. binat, the sisters, annie and all the women. This was what made it readable. I also like how alys and jena were English teachers which added a lot of depth to their characters BUT this was slightly undercut by the fact that alys literally says a bunch of times that she does not want to get married, but then, in the end, she's like "ohhh darseeee omg i love you" and then just marries him without it even being a conflict. like WHAAAAT? you had a chance to make good additional conflict but then you just ignore it. aaaaaaaaa.

anyway, overall I would say if you've ready pride and prejudice that this is a pretty decent read. But if you haven't then I would not recommend it.

it's not the worst but it's definitely not the best.

shit, I wrote way more than I intended to. ( )