A Savory and Satisfying Spin on Jane Austen’s Beloved Classic!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Book Tour

TYPE OF NOVEL: Modern-day Pride and Prejudice Adaptation

THE PREMISE:  Between working two jobs, writing a play, the coursework for her final college semester, and a sister preparing for the MCATs, Lissie’s plate is pretty full. And the last thing she needs is for someone to take that plate and spin it hard like a whirling dervish. Which is exactly what Preston Lin does when he and his friends visit her family’s restaurant and Lissie makes an atrociously fatal first impression…

WHAT I LOVED:

• The Setting and Subjects: The Cheng family consists of three orphaned daughters living in the San Francisco Bay Area. They and many of the characters in this story are of Chinese-American decent. Not only did I love Christina Hwang Dudley’s choices because they were refreshingly unique and diverse, but because they correlated so creatively to Pride and Prejudice in subtle ways. With the sisters losing their parents and feeling the pressures of being unexpected burdens on their aunt and uncle it forms a unique parallel to the plight of being an unmarried Regency daughter. And since the Chinese culture highly values tradition, family, and status, there is a lot of tangible connections to the themes of duty and class found in Pride and Prejudice.

• Not a Carbon Copy: Yes! You’ve heard me say it before, but I will say it again. I love it when a modern-day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is more of an “inspired by” type of adaptation than a plot point by plot point translation. It allows the author to add their own originality and voice! I love the original twists we see employed in this story – the different family dynamics, the new conflicts, and the diverse situations given to familiar characters. Some of my favorites would be that Lissie’s big mistake, “Wickham’s” occupation, and the social gatherings like the Fall Ball.

• Exploring Interesting Environments: In addition to the Bay Area and university life, readers are able to witness the details and dynamics of two other environments – family-owned restaurants and competitive swim teams. The exploration of these environments felt authentic and accurate, like maybe the author has some firsthand experience with them or has done a lot of research. 😊 I liked the time spent in these worlds and the new perspectives they give for those who aren’t familiar with them.

• Family Relationships: Some of the more central relationships featured in this story were between Lissie and her younger sister and Preston and his mom. Both for unique reasons, and both with unique conflicts. I loved witnessing these relationships and how they shape and impact both Lissie and Preston. For Lissie, she feels some extra responsibility and guilt towards her younger sister, and for Preston, he struggles with his mom’s destructive domineering and shortcomings.

• Quick Wit and Adorable Banter: Lissie is especially sarcastic and quippy in this tale – she makes for a very fun server! But Preston is no slouch either. He is quick on his feet and can volley back and forth with Lissie’s quick wit. I loved to see the funny banter battles they would get into. There playfulness together was charming and full of chemistry.

WHAT I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT:

• Wayman Wang: He is our Wickham character, and he becomes known to the Cheng family by way of being Lissie’s younger sister’s swimming coach. It was brilliant. Because like Wickham, even though there is some attraction and charm, Lissie feels he is off-limits because of his role in her sister’s life. What I didn’t love was the Wayman-Preston story-line. There is a completely different dynamic, with others maybe being further in the wrong than Wayman. So it kinda of felt like the bad blood between Wayman and Preston was a little diluted and didn’t have the same impact.

WHAT COULD’VE BEEN BETTER:

• Small Quibbles: The Darren and Mel situation seemed to end on a weird note that I don’t know if I can completely get behind. Also, I felt like we didn’t have a solid resolution between Jenny and Charles. Maybe there are plans for a second book…? *fingers crossed*

FINAL THOUGHTS:

📗  A creative, perceptive, and heartwarming modernization that has lots of unique qualities and insights.

🍤  Funny, vibrant, and flavorful – Ms. Dudley has a special talent for creating characters and worlds that are inviting and diverting.

📚 I love Christina Hwang Dudley’s novels – both her charming Regency romance series and her stellar and compelling modern-day adaptation of Mansfield Park – The Beresfords. Yes, she took on this challenging novel over a decade ago and excelled at it!

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My sincere gratitude to Laurel Ann of Austenprose PR for inviting me to take part in this tour.