Member Reviews

A Jane Austen Murder Mystery? That’s all I needed to hear when I requested a copy. And it did not disappoint. A 5 star read. I was so engrossed in it that I finished it in a day. We get to meet Elizabeth Bennett who wants to work in her father’s office, who is a barrister. But that’s easier said then done. She lives in an era where women are not expected nor encouraged to work. Her own mother would rather she find a suitable suitor than follow her passion. So it’s no wonder Elizabeth jumps at the opportunity when her father gives her a chance to prove herself. And the very first case she goes for? To represent a man accused of murder. But again, being a woman can only take her so far, no matter how many great ideas she has. So when the defendant chooses his barrister and longtime school friend, Mr. William Darcy, Elizabeth makes it her mission to prove that she has what it takes and that she is just as good as any.

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I was granted complimentary access to an eARC of Pride and Premedeitation by Tirzah Price through the publisher, HarperTeen, in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. Thank you so much to all involved in affording me this opportunity! This has not swayed my opinion. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Pride and Premeditation is a murder mystery in the setting (time and place) of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bennet is the daughter of a law firm owner and practising lawyer, and she desperately wants to be hired on as a fully trained barrister herself. How does she plan to accomplish that? Find her own case and solve it to prove herself, of course! So when she hears of a mysterious murder she jumps in head first and finds herself in far more trouble than she bargained for.

I attended the HCC Frenzy winter preview event on December 9th and this was one of the many upcoming titles we looked at. When the event ended and I rushed over to NetGalley to see which ones I could review right away, this was one of the few available for request by Canadian bloggers, so I jumped on it. Thank you to the HarperAudio staff in particular for the approval. (Synthetic preview audio, not a real narrator, I cannot comment on the audiobook.) I must admit I'm not a huge fan of the classics, so I went into this not knowing if I would like it or not, and I do not have the backing experience to catch nods to the original work.

I'm so glad I gave it a chance! Price's writing style is so captivating, her characters are immediately relatable, and the mystery is full of more twists and surprises than a lot of other mysteries I've read in recent years. Seriously, this is Agatha Christie level murder mystery craftsmanship.

Lizzie was by far my favourite character, which I suppose is a good thing since she's the main character, but I also really liked Darcy from the beginning. He's quite the misunderstood, morally grey "bad guy" and I loved it! Although romance is not the focus of this novel, its a murder mystery first and foremost, there are subtle romantic subplots taking place all written with the discretion of the time. I'm assuming these were dictated by the original (which again, I haven't read) but it's also perfectly on track with contemporary YA trends and tropes. Enemies to lovers? Yes, please!

I've heard that there are plans for at least two more novels in this series and I can't wait to read them. Fans of YA, the classics, and mysteries should all check this one out when it released in April 2021!

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Trigger Warnings: Death (on page), murder, sexism, implied racisim

I absolutely love Jane Austen, she's one of my favorite authors, and I love murder mysteries. So when I heard about this book, I immediately wanted to read it!

Something I often worry about with retellings is how these characters that I love so much and have grown up with, will be portrayed by a new author. Tirzah Price did a wonderful job of taking these characters and making them her own while staying true to the inspiration. No one felt extremely out of character from the original story, and the changes that were made absolutely made sense within this story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the next books in the series!

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As a lover of Pride and Prejudice, and all things Jane Austen, this retelling was wonderful. The characterization of the characters, but Lizzie in particular, was fantastic, and the writing style very closely mirrors that of Jane Austen, which I very much enjoyed. Some of the twists, as this is a murder mystery, were pretty obvious and easy to guess, having read the original book, however it was still very interesting to see how all the details came together in the end. I really enjoyed the changes to Lady Catherine DeBourgh, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Wickham, which I think gave the overall story a much better ending. I do wish there was more attention shown to Jane and Mr. Bingley, as it was only mentioned once in passing, however both characters were very well written. I also didn't love the decision to make Lizzie 17 considering Darcy was 23, and though he is also younger than in Pride and Prejudice where they are 21 and 28, it's an uncomfortable age gap with a minor. I understand this is a YA novel, and thus it makes sense to make the characters younger, however Lizzie didn't have to be so young, and the age gap could've been made smaller. Overall, it's a very fun story to listen to, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Pride and Prejudice.

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Rating 4

The book "Pride and Premeditation" by Tirzah Price was a good retelling of the original story. The author did such a great job of making these characters and settings her own. I loved the main character Lizzie because she had her own personality and she was so full of wit. Due to social norms of when this book takes place Lizzie is not able to fully be herself or follow her occupational dream. However, being the way she is she does not take no for an answer. So, when a murder takes place she is determined to prove to everyone that she has what it takes to solve it. I listened to the audiobook version and it was great. There were some slow parts but if you keep going it will pick right back up a few minutes later. Overall, an enjoyable story with a slow burn romance and a good whodunnit that will keep you guessing. 

Should you read "Pride and Premeditation"?
 Yes! You do not need to know the original story to enjoy this retelling. If you like a good mystery and strong female characters then give this book a try! 

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

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I have tried an synthetic voice audiobook on NetGalley a week ago, and I cannot do audiobooks without it being read by an actual person. I believe it ruins the experience of the book and the beauty that is an audiobook. Audiobooks bring the characters to life for me, and a synthetic voice unfortunately does not do that.

I would be happy to review a digital eARC of this book or when the narrator is picked and recorded.

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I am a sucker for anything Pride and Prejudice. I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as Death comes to Pemberley. This is my favorite thus far. I felt in Death comes to Pemberley that Elizabeth was too timid, this book captures her feistiness perfectly.
This book takes all the classic characters but shakes them up a little, so you get new surprises and fun excitement to look forward to, even a couple of twists! I love the nods to classic lines sprinkled throughout. There are a couple of times the characters do something that probably wouldn't work for the time period, but the author explains it perfectly in her note at the end.
I loved the mystery added to the story and felt it moved at a great pace. I knew it was a great book when I found myself thinking about it when I couldn't be listening to it. I wanted to know what the characters would do next and who had actually committed the crime.
I have high hopes for the eventual audiobook, it has some great potential to voice all the different characters. The advance audiobook I received was stated to not be the final product and was a computer voice, I will say I was amazed at how great that voice sounded, very natural. There were times it didn't quite frame the sentence correctly, but not as terrible as a computer normally sounds.
I am excited for the other books she's writing, and am sad I'll have to wait so long. I hope she ends up doing all six because these are amazing!
I received an advance audiobook from Netgalley for my honest opinion.

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Pride and Prejudice has been remade several times, in multiple formats with various plots. This version of the historical tale was just not something that I could get into, unfortunately. While I appreciate the author’s work on this rendition of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, I couldn’t get past the first couple chapters. The writing style simply did not hook me.

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that readers of good taste, must be in want of more Jane Austen re-imaginings.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Picture this... Your favorite characters from Pride & Prejudice, thrown head first into an Agatha Christie novel... It’s is just as amazing as it sounds!
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This book cured me of a reading slump and has reignited my love for P&P. If you need me I will be binge watching all of the movie adaptations back-to-back.
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I can’t wait for this book to come out! I will most likely own multiple copies and display them proudly next to my Jane Austen collection. Get your own copy March 9th, 2021!
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Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price is a delightful retelling of Pride of Prejudice that follows seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet as she seizes the opportunity to prove herself, despite the interference of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates to solve a scandalous murder that shocks London high society.

This novel really captures the romance, charm, and wit of Jane Austen's writing. Pride and Premeditation reintroduces us to many of the fun characters of Pride and Prejudice from the Bennet Sisters, Mr. Collins, the Bingley's, and of course Mr. Darcy. While I did have fun reentering this world Jane Austen created, I did find the murder plot rather predictable. This predictability may be because I already was familiar with the original characters and plot of Pride and Prejudice.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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This was cute. Simply, cute. I am a sucker for any Pride and Prejudice spin-off, and I am confident that anyone who feels the same as me will pick this novel up and devour it whole! Lizzie Bennet, a wide-eyed solicitor-to-be, is just as spunky and challenging in Tirzah Price's rendition as she is in any other P+P, and as a heroine, she is incredibly fun to read.

My one qualm with this audiobook was the narrator. She was ROBOTIC. I detested her monotone, especially while reading dialogue. I felt like the narrator brought nothing to the story, and the audiobook would greatly improve if it were narrated by someone else. I would probably, for that reason, recommend this book in physical format to readers, not audio.

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I was looking forward to listening to this book. But, I was unable to get the audiobook to work. I am hoping to listen to it when it is released on another audible serve. I don't want to give it a bad review, so please don't take my one star rating personal, I just don't have anything to base it off of.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ALC of this book for review.

This book is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, mostly true to the time period with a few storytelling liberties, but instead of a period piece we have a murder mystery!

Elizabeth wants to become a solicitor at her father's law firm, but she has to prove herself first. When Mr. Bingley is accused of murder, Elizabeth smells an opportunity to clear an innocent man's name and to prove herself to her father, but she will have to work with Darcy to do so...

The best part of this book by far is the enemies to lovers slow burn romance between Elizabeth and Darcy. I'm just as weak for it as in the original! They get some great scenes together and I really enjoyed watching that!

I felt that there wasn't enough originality in this, and that it relied too much on the original story. I think it could have diverged a lot more from Pride and Prejudice in order to be a more interesting story!

CW: murder, sexism, racism

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Normally, I love retellings, but something didn’t land with this one. From the very beginning, I was unsure exactly when this book took place. It was clearly in the past, but I couldn’t nail down when it was taking place.
I liked the departures from Pride and Prejudice, such as the reimagining of Collins, and the careers of the characters. I just think the whodunit aspect was not particularly well done, which is unfortunate for a mystery novel.

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Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book of all time and I just love retellings of the classic. This one just didn't appeal to me at all. I'm this retelling, Lizzie aspires to be a barrister in her father's firm. Darcy is a barrister and rival.

The entire book felt like the author merely borrowed the names from Pride and Prejudice. The characters hardly resembled the source material.

As for the mystery, it was pretty dull. I didn't feel invested and there was little to no suspense.

Finally, the romance, or lack of it. I understand that this is supposed to be a murder mystery, but, it's Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy! And Jane and Mr. Bingley! There is no romance in this book whatsoever. What a letdown. So not only is it a dull mystery, but the author completely removed the romance between the characters. So really all you are left with is the original characters' names. It was a bait and switch. I'll get readers to read my book by pretending it's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, when really, it has nothing to do with the classic aside from the title.

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Pride and Premeditation is a retelling of the Jane Austen classic with a mystery twist. The story follows 17 year old Elizabeth Bennet daughter of the barrister of Longbourn & Sons. Despite her mothers protests to get Lizzie married into society, Lizzie works behind the scenes with her father at the law firm, with dreams of becoming a barrister herself. When a murder occurs, and Charles Bingley is falsely accused, Lizzie breaks out of her expected duties in society to solve the case on her own. On her way, she meets the charming Mr Wickham as well as the intolerable Mr Darcy, solicitor of her father's competing firm, Pemberley Associates.

Although the story strays from the original retelling, the characters are just as memorable as the ones in the original classic, and the creative changes make the story all the more engaging. Lizzie is sharp tongued and quick witted, being the perfect sleuth as she tries to uncover the true murderer of Hearst. I also enjoyed the small banters between Darcy and Lizzie as they rivaled against solving the murder. Despite the fact that the story takes place in the 19th century, the author refuses to allow it to squander the protagonist's potential. She writes the murder mystery with a feminist edge, highlighting the strength of women and importance to social justice.

All in all, Pride and Premeditation was a fun and thrilling read. This book is perfect for those who love the classic of Jane Austen as well as the fun twists of mysteries by Agatha Christie.

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In the words of Hardin Scott, “Elizabeth Bennett needs to chill.”

Pride & Premeditation is a reimagining of Pride & Prejudice in which Lizzie Bennet, 17 year old aspiring lawyer, solves a murder. I’d recommend for fans of the Austen novel (which isn’t me but I love a good murder mystery, so I had to check it out). Pride & Premeditation comes out March 9, 2021 - so Austen fans keep an eye out!

Thanks to @netgalley & @harperteen for the early audiobook!!

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I absolutely loved this story! I will read pretty much any Pride and Prejudice adaptation you stick in my hands, and this one was one of the most original I've come across. Because of the murder mystery, it deviates more from the P&P story structure, but the characterization was very spot on so it still felt right. There's plenty of that Lizzie & Darcy banter we all love. I think that the change in their relationship, with him coming to respect and trust her over the course of the story, is really well preserved. Plus it was just really fun! I was captivated even with Siri reading it to me.

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I have read a lot of Pride and Prejudice retellings, but this was one of the best I have read! I read it in pretty much one sitting because it was so good.

Even though this is based off a book that many people have read, it still had lots of twists and turns. I was not able to guess the ending even though I have read Pride and prejudice. I also enjoyed the characters. I liked how this book did not focus on Jane and Mr. Bingley’s relationship. I also enjoyed how Mr. Darcy was like able and not a complete jerk. I liked reading about Elizabeth’s journey as a person and how she progresses through the working world as a woman.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to mystery and Pride and Prejudice lovers.

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This book was such a fun, slightly updated take on a classic. I continue to love the relationship between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy, and how they commit to working together despite their differences. The mystery element was well done. Even when I thought I knew who had committed the crime, I ended up being surprised! Definitely recommend this one. Can’t wait to pick up a final copy... plus, that cover??? 😍

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