Review: A great take on Jane Austen's most beloved book!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
ARC received by the author in exchange for an honest reviewHow many of you love "Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen? Well, I am a huge fan, always have been, and I confess that I must have read the book close to a hundred times by now...I am not usually one to read books inspired by some of the great classics of all time, so I was a bit sceptical about this one. But one of the things I love most about reading is how surprised you can get, and I am happy to say that this story really blew me away. It did take me a while to really get invested in the story but once I did, I could not put the book down!Meet Springer (Spring): she is definitely different from the norm; she is a junior at college, has dreadlocks, is an adamant vegetarian and she is an environmentalist in capital letters. She does not give a toss what other people think about her - she is focused on getting her Ph.d. and once that goal is reached, she wants to change the world. She is rather opinionated, and she has a hard time seeing things from both sides. Which is what her thesis professor points out to her in the beginning of the story: her thesis is not solid enough, he wants her to include the pros of land development.Rather anxious, Spring gets home and before entering her house, she sees a moving van across the street and a Viper parked at the curb. She notices a very good-looking guy, but his manner towards the moving men leaves something to be desired. He is, plain and simple, very rude towards them. As Spring enters her home, her roommates - Julia and Alison - plus her best friend, Mel, start talking about the new inhabitants, hoping that they will be at the party they are all going to later that night. Spring tries to not act interested at all, she wants to stay focused on her studies - but she is, secretly, rather curious about them.At the party, Spring and her friends run into their arch nemesis, Lilah: she is absolutely dreadful! Honestly, it has been a while since I really loathed a character, but upon meeting her, I saw red instantly. Unfortunately, one of the guys from across the street, Dart, is her brother. He is nothing like her, and he immediately sets his sights on Spring's roommate, Julia, and you can really sense the sweet romance in the air. The other guy's name is Henry Knightly (The Third!) and is very aloof and remote. Spring does not know what to make of him. Later that night, she overhears Dart and Henry talking, and let us just say that what Henry says about her is less than flattering."I couldn't stop myself from replaying his words, his harsh, ugly words. The more they ran through my head, the angrier and more irrational I grew. Phony? Snakes? How dare he? He's the one who drove a damn Viper."Naturally, Spring does not want to have anything to do with him after that.At the party, Spring also runs into a casual acquaintance, Alex, and when Henry sees him, he goes rigid - when Spring witnesses his reaction, she cannot help but wonder why but her questions are left unanswered. And, she keeps telling herself, she doubts very much that she will have anything to do with Henry in the future and that she needs to concentrate on her studies.But - and this is the point in the book that really made me start to pay more attention - it turns out that Henry is just the guy she needs to help with her thesis: she finds out that he is studying to become lawyer and being the exact opposite than Spring is. Obviously, Spring is less than thrilled to be studying with him but she cannot overlook the fact that he helps making her thesis much better.When we reach Thanksgiving in the story, Spring and Julia have to vacate their house temporarily due to maintenance issues and Dart - now Julia's boyfriend - offers them to come stay with him and Henry. On Thanksgiving morning, Spring and Henry find themselves alone in the kitchen, and after having a food fight - yes, it is true, a food fight - Henry ends up kissing Spring.  Fireworks explode within her when they kiss and she is left feeling unsettled, confused and unsure about what they are to each other now.Now, as I started out by saying in my review, I do not often read books based on some of the greatest classics in all time - and, let us face it, "Pride & Prejudice" is such a book - because I do not usually enjoy them. However, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the way Miss London handled it.Spring is a great character: determined, spunky and idealistic. Yes, she can be opinionated but that is also a part of her charm, from my viewpoint at least. I love how loyal she is to her friends, especially Julia, her protective nature and even her analytical tirades.Henry is her complete opposite (at first): aloof, old beyond his years, with a tendency to make assumptions when he should not do so. But he can be so incredibly funny and swoon-worthy as well:"Subject: My mouth.Location: You.Notes: Don't move. My mouth is on your fingers, eyelids, your face. My mouth, your neck. Your mouth. My hands, your back, skin. your mouth. My mouth, your tongue. Your mouth, my mouth. Your stomach, my mouth, my hands. Under your hair. Under your shirt. My mouth on you."Needless to say, I adored Henry!Whenever these two characters went head to head, I could not stop smiling! The chemistry between them is very believable and as time goes on, you really want them to see how good they can be together. They are both so stubborn, though, refusing to see that they are at fault - and, obviously, they have to go through a great deal - together but also separately - before they admit that they love each other. As with the original tale, a lot of misunderstandings, heartbreak and preconceived notions about one another are key elements in the story.As I was reading the book, I found myself thinking, "If only this book was available in paperback..." - yes, I would definitely want to add it to my vast collection of paperback copies, because I want to read it many times. I enjoyed the author's writing style, and the characters felt very real to me. I just wish that some scenes had been more detailed, and that the ending had not been so abrupt or that there had been an epilogue, but that is just my opinion.All in all, I enjoyed the book immensely and I will definitely pay more attention to Miss London's books from now on.