Friday, May 6, 2011

Prom and Prejudice: A Book Review

Genre: Comedy of manners
Reading Level: Age 13 and up

Summary: 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.

My Review: After paying tribute to her favorite band in her debut novel The Lonely Hearts Club, miss Eulberg sets out to pay tribute once again, this time to her favorite author Miss Jane Austen. Unfortunately where her first novel succeeded her second one does not. I guess I was turned off by the fact that all the characters had the same exact names as the original, I would have liked them to have different names but yet still keep the significant characteristics. Something a little more a la Clueless.

The second thing was the writing. It was almost as if Eulberg was going far and beyond to make her writing as simplistic as possible. It was almost painful. We didn't get into the head of anybody, not even the main character. Emotions where told instead of shown, and the "teens" talked very old fashioned using words like "smitten" and "momentous" both fabulous words but seriously I've never heard a teenager use them unless I'm counting myself. :P

The characters we're sloppy skeletons of the original counterparts, lacking heart, and soul. Lizzie in this modern tale was far too whiny, she played out as a victim to all the cruelty she got from her classmates instead of standing up for herself. I'm not even sure what was going on with Darcy's character, he acted more like an old man than a high schooler. The rest of the characters were no different, and Mr. Wickhams character got saddled with the horrible nickname "Wick".

I'm not sure why the book is called Prom and Prejudice since the main character doesn't even want to go to the prom. Seriously though, I think teens can skip this one and get far more enjoyment out of the original since it isn't dumbed down like this one. I think it's sweet Eulberg wanted to pay tribute to her favorite authoress, but so many people have already done it it's become trite and cliche. Her talents are better spent on original works.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Content: A female characters reputation almost becomes besmirched.

Recommend: no.



2 comments:

  1. OUCH! OK I won;t waste my time! Not that I had any intention to do so... but thank-you for making an already easy decision even easier!
    DRAGONFLY

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a shame that this one didn't live up to expectations! I thought The Lonely Hearts Club was quite cute and fun and had my eye on this one. Interesting to read your comments about it!

    ReplyDelete

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