Isle of Books: Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeh Eulberg

Friday, September 23, 2011

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeh Eulberg

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? Whatever the result, Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club, has concocted a very funny, completely stylish delight for any season — prom or otherwise.

I Give This Book:

My Thoughts:
'Prom & Prejudice' was a sweet variation of a classic story. I thought that the whole idea of putting all the characters into high school was a neat idea. I liked how the book even had Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mary and Kitty in it - though they played a very minor role.

Lizzie Bennet is an only child of middle class parents. She has a music scholarship at Longbourn Academy. Longbourn is a girl bording school, where the elite send their daughters. Because Lizzie is a scholarship student, she is relentlessly bullied and has very few friends. Her only friends at school are Jane and Charlotte (the only other scholarship student in her class). Her music teacher, Mrs. Gardner, is the only other person, besides her friends, that she feels close to at school.

The highlight of the year is prom, usually the girls from Longbourn go with the boys from Pemberley (the school where the elite send their boys). Jane is hopeful that Charles Bingley will ask her to prom, but there are many setbacks, one being her sister Lydia. Lydia makes a fool of herself in front of everyone at a party and the video quickly goes online. Lydia is very vain, doesn't see what she did as embarassing and is in fact very pleased with all the attention she is getting.

Jane and Charles behave in almost the same way as they did in the original story, always thinking the best of everybody and only seeing the good in them. Lydia of course acts the same, if not even more reckless, than the character in Pride & Prejudice and Wick (George Wickham) seemed even more horrendous in this story.

The book also has the characters of Colin (Mr. Collins), Cat (Lady Catherine de Bourgh) and Georgiana Darcy. I thought that the spitefulness of Cat did a great job of channeling what Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a teenager would have been like. And Colin was such a bore, just as I would have pictured Mr. Collins as a teenager. Georgiana was as sweet in this story as she was in the original, but I thought that this book made her seem sickly at times - when I had always pictured her as just shy.

Of course no story based on Pride & Prejudice would be complete without Darcy, and in this book I thought that his character was the best written. Will Darcy has had his trust broken by Wick and because of it is very leary of new people. So when he meets Lizzy for the first time, he makes a horrible first impression and she thinks that he thinks that he is better than everybody else. But just like the original story, you will adore Darcy.

I really enjoyed reading 'Prom and Prejudice'! I hated to put this book down, but everytime I had to do so, as soon as I could, I picked it up to continue reading. If you, like me, can't get enough P&P fan fiction books, you should enjoy this book too. Or, if you are looking for a book that a teenager will love, I think this would be perfect. I totally recommend this book.

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Here are some of the places where you can purchase 'Prom & Prejudice': Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository.

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