Christina Hwang Dudley's "Pride and Preston Lin" is a refreshing take on Jane Austen's classic "Pride and Prejudice." It's always a tall order when an author seeks to retell such an iconic story, however, Dudley manages to do so brilliantly. I particularly enjoyed the setting and the layering in of the Chinese culture. I enjoyed Lissie independence and watching her character develop throughout the novel. The only area I wasn't so crazy about was the fact that P and P already existed in this universe, nevertheless, it does not take away from the story Dudley has crafted.
I would recommend this book to fans who enjoy P and P retellings and fans of contemporary Austen romance.
8/10 stars.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Third State Books for allowing me to enjoy this book ahead of its release.

All reviews are my own opinion.

A Chinese-American, Bay Area Pride and Prejudice retelling that begins with a mild shellfish allergy? Say less.

Lissie Cheng is a fifth-year college senior simultaneously working on a thesis project and waiting tables at her aunt and uncle’s restaurant. Preston Lin is a former competitive swimmer and microbiology student working on his PhD at Stanford. A little overlooked shrimp paste sets them at odds, but life continues to unexpectedly throw them together and eventually they begin to realize that first impressions may be deceiving.

The cast of characters was absolutely lovely (let’s make a little commotion for JoJo!), the banter between the MCs was *chef’s kiss*, and the nods to Jane Austen were really well executed. The story truly flowed so effortlessly. Even though I am familiar with the plot of Pride and Prejudice, there was no point where I felt like putting this book down. It was just really fun to read. My heart wanted to knock it out in one evening, but my heavy eyelids won the war. I definitely recommend this for any Austen-heads out there!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Sorry it took me longer to finish than I had planned. I needed a solid break half way through the book and struggled to pick it up again.

Pastiche - 'an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.'. If done well, the word Pastiche can be used to positively highlight pieces of work that are seen as homages to their original inspiration. Negatively, on the other hand, it is used to point out the lack of understanding, originality, or nuance of the original piece.

I'd like to start this by stating that I am an avid Jane Austen fan and have been for many years. I have read, watched (1995 mini series is the best obviously), and listened to Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count and it shapes the way I see the world. I chose this book on Netgalley purely because it is marketed as 'Pride and Prejudice meets Crazy Rich Asians'. Both are something I adore, and the cover is stunning. However, now I am starting to think that this is not a great idea because this book was hard to finish. I don't tend to annotate on my first reading of a book because I want to be able to absorb myself into the story but this time I couldn't help myself, Some of my annotations consisted of:

"Big Yikes", "wtf is this", "Karen Behaviour, gross", "puh-lease", Ew????", "jesus christ I hate rich people" and so many more. Honestly it got exhausting by the middle of the book and I gave up writing anything else because it was just a repeat of everything I'd already mentioned.

This story is very americanised, like in the same way the 2005 Pride and Prejudice is. It's dramatic, over the top, the writing is average at best and most importantly it misses the point of the original by a good chunk. Major events that happened in the novel were either forced into this story in any which place they could be shoved even if they made no narrative sense or they were so completely glossed over that it didn't make a difference anyways. I think that when you reduce yourself to a retelling of a novel that you have a hard time trying to expand on your characters before you remove yourself completely from the novel you're trying to re-write. By having your characters attend a P&P inspired ball as the characters from the 2005 movie, (by the way Lissie goes as Lydia, and the irony didn't fall dead on me in that situation) and your main character writing a Crazy Rich Asian inspired retelling of Pride and Prejudice but not a single character pointing out the coincidence or similarities of their stories just felt weird. Like the double inception held no value to the story other to make some snide comments about the original lizzie and charlotte.

I should point out of some positives as I have given this book a 3 stars. After the first half of the book the story slightly improves, it focus on the main story and doesn't have anymore side stories or random detours included and the writing improves. Its not an overly large novel to read, I think it took me just over 8 hours to finish and for someone who isn't entirely invested in Pride and Prejudice it could be a cute fluffy novel to read that fits into (a very forced) enemies to lovers trope.

Overall Vibes: Decently cute novel that could be marketed as an enemies to lovers if you disconnect it from the original or don't know anything about it.
Snack and Drink Recommendation: If you’re a fan of Pride and Prejudice, my recommendation for you is a triple on ice of your favourite hard liquor and something like chocolate or freshly baked cookies, this way hopefully by the second half of the book you're drunk enough not to care about the rest of it and the sweets soften the blow. If you’re not a fan or don’t really know much about the book when reading this one, then try a fruity mocktail and some cocktail spring rolls with sweet chili sauce for some flavour, spice and crunch to enhance your reading experience.

An Asian American retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I liked it well enough. It's an easy and entertaining read and I finished it in less than a day. I think anyone who likes P&P would also enjoy this contemporary interpretation of the classic.

Thanks to NetGalley, Christina Hwang Dudley, and Third State Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Pride and Preston Lin. I received an advanced reader copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a fun retelling of the classic Pride and Prejudice. It was a little too on the nose at times and felt a little forced in the theme, but the characters were highly likeable and entertaining. The beginning was very attention grabbing and the ending was enjoyable. The middle dragged a bit tough. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Jane Austen's novel and is interested in a more modern version.

Combining two of my favorite things, Pride and Prejudice remixes and Bay Area settings, Pride and Preston Lin is just fun to read. It's one of the testaments to the original novel that Pride and Prejudice can really be put into any setting when handled well, and it certainly is here, both feeling like the storyline could've existed on its own and being a loving homage to Austen. It dances between the familiar and expected scenes and changes what it needs to - mostly in family connections and in the Wickham/Wayman storyline. Juxtaposing differing diaspora experiences as well as the additional class markers of Stanford versus San Jose State was cleverly done.

I also really loved that competitive swimming made such a big cameo - as an explanation for Preston's physique, for the Wayman storylines both past and present, and as a way for Lissie to bond with Jojo. As an ex-swimmer, it absolutely tickled me to be vaulted back into that world.

I do wish this had leant a little more into the different situations of the characters here versus the original and let them really start to embody and own the story rather than letting the familiar beats steal the show, but I still enjoyed it from start to finish.

I really enjoyed this read, though I am a sucker for any P&P re-telling. The opener that pits our main character against the Mr. Darcy/Preston Lin was definitely a new one, and it captured the cringe of the original really well.
Things I really enjoyed: The dialogue. It felt real to the characters, and the timing of the back-and-forths was perfect. I also enjoyed the extensive look into the swim club. Some of the side characters were cute, but the younger sister really stood out to me. I also enjoyed the modern-day ball, and would have loved some more on that.
Unsure: There's a meta Inception Pride and Prejudice in the way that the main character is writing a P&P influenced play. I did not particularly care about this arc, and I didn't really feel like it contributed to any character growth. Along with this were some references that had me going hmm (one in particular refers to Mrs. Lucas being irritated and it took me out).
All in all, a solid Pride and Prejudice re-telling with some splashy updates. I would and have recommended it as a fun read.

1.75/5

I love Pride and Prejudice retellings but this one wasn't for me. I didn't like the writing style at all, it wasn't for me. Everybody always treated Lissie like a doormat and she took it as though it was normal.

I didn't see any chemistry between the main characters at all. Also, Pride and Prejudice exists in the universe and yet nobody is like "hey this sounds familiar" or "we have similar names", nothing?

Also, what's up with that ending. Will the characters be happy? What happened to the restaurant? Will Lissie get her dream job? Did she finish her play? Come on, give us something.

Thank you, NetGalley and Third State Books for the ARC.

I love re-imagining of classic stories, and had high expectations for “Pride and Preston Lin” by Christina Hwang Dudley – a “Pride and Prejudice” story. Unfortunately, this book did not quite live up to the greatness of Austen’s legacy.

First, this is a good book. I did spend some time categorizing if the items I thought were good were because they are part of the original story or if the point sprung from Dudley’s version. Elizabeth Cheng works at her aunt and uncle’s restaurant (her parents are dead) and she accidentally serves Hazel Bing, sister of Charles Bing, food she is allergic to, which causes an overreaction and the initial fallout with follow diner, Preston Lin.

Part of the first-act conflict comes from Lissie hiding the fact that she’s related to the restaurant owners; Preston feels betrayed by this lie. I could not understand (1) how this would have come up naturally such that Lissie and Jenny “lie” about their connection, and (2) what it has to do with anything except to provide some part of Lissie’s remorse at turning down Preston after reading the letter he writes about his restaurant over-reaction and his family’s dealings with Wayman Wang. Throw in a Pemberly-esque meeting at a real estate open house, and Preston’s mother who confronts Lissie to remind her she is not good enough for her Standford PhD son, and we hit all the Austen scenes.

The book would have been better if there was less devotion to the source material; the book was a paint-by-numbers recreation of Austen rather than re-imagining the plot in a California-based, Chinese-American community.

There is a lot of scope for an interesting story that should have been the focus. Pressure on Preston in a wealthy, overachieving family. Lissie’s orphan status, the fact that she doesn’t speak Chinese and must work two jobs to put herself through university where she pursues a degree with dubious career potential (don’t worry, she’ll go into PR, one of the acceptable options available to us literature-degree holders). Before the novel begins, we learn Lissie struggled with SATs and university courses because of grief, something that is woefully under-explored, as is the pressure to act as parent/friend of youngest-sister, Jojo, whose age means she both remembers their parent the least and is isolated from Lissie and third sister, Jenny.

A good book, but I hoped for more.

I’m a sucker for a Pride and Prejudice retelling. This one hits in all the right spots and brings a new perspective on the classic story. An epilogue would have been nice to wrap up a couple of side character stories but still a fun read.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

Snarky English major Lissie is the middle of three sisters who were taken in by their aunt and uncle after Lissie's parents died. While Lissie's younger sister focuses on being a tween and improving her times on the swim team, Lissie and their eldest sister help out by waiting tables at their relatives' Chinese restaurant. Or a least they do until Lissie accidentally serves a dish that triggers an allergic reaction in a customer and another member of the party, the haughty Preston Lin, writes a scathing article about the restaurant in the local student newspaper. Suddenly, Lissie finds herself unemployed, but still trying to defend the restaurant online while helping shepherd her younger sister to swim practice.

As can be assumed from the title, this is a modern, Chinese American twist on Jane Austen's classic Pride & Prejudice. While I'm all for retellings of classics, I feel like so many of the romance novels I've read recently focus specifically on P&P, and this one doesn't really have anything to lift it above any of the others. Perhaps that's because the play Lissie's writing is ALSO a P&P retelling, which feels a bit too on-the-nose. OK, but not great.

This was an absolutely solid rom-com, and an adorable and intriguing take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

We meet our protagonist Elizabeth Bennet—sorry Elisabeth Liang who goes by Lissie as she is going through her 5th and (hopefully) final year of University. She has an absolutely angel of an older sister in Jenny, who I believe is Dudley’s take on Jane, and little Joanna or Jojo, the youngest, in whom Mary Bennet and Lydia Bennet are combined.

Dudly cleverly studied the relationships and dynamics within Pride and Prejudice, incorporating certain key elements from it into Pride and Preston Lim that create a noticeable familiarity, but by the end has woven a tale entirely a new, even if it includes bits and pieces of the old.

I liked this author’s regency romance series but this felt more like a new adult read than the romance I expected, so I was let down. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them and the ending was abrupt. Did she get the PR job? Did she finish her play and graduate? Did Jeremy move out? Did the restaurant recover? We see no hint of Preston and Lissie’s future together. Even the last chapter of P&P gives us a glimpse of the HEA.

To save you from my anxiety, I’ll just say the Wickham character doesn’t need a content warning. Breathe easy.

And Wayman is handsome. It’s mentioned every time he’s in the page. We got it. We also know Preston’s chest is solid because Lissie bumps into it at least four times.

It was cheesy that the heroine’s thesis is about P&P when her own story parallels it—and she doesn’t see it. There was a weird reference to P&P of Lady Lucas being irritated Charlotte married first and her not having sons of her own—she’d actually thrilled and Charlotte has at least two brothers. When you make mistakes like that, it makes you wonder what else is wrong. Like ibuprofen easing a migraine, maybe.

I found the storyline to be entirely fun and entertaining, and the chemistry between the hero and the Lissie is electric from the start. I couldn’t help but root for them.

I loved this book so much I read it in one day!

What it's About:

Imagine a modern day re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. Add in a restaurant that needs saving and trying to atone for a mistake that effects all your loved ones. Mix it all together and you get Pride and Preston Lin!

My Thoughts:

I absolutely love Pride and Prejudice, so I was beyond excited to read this re-telling and it did not disappoint! I loved how the author put a modern spin on the familiar characters. The best part for me was how even though I knew the overall storyline I was still engaged throughout the whole book!

I definitely recommend reading this book if you love Pride and Prejudice!

*I received this eARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I love love love Pride and Prejudice! I watch the 2005 version at least twice a year, so anytime I see a modern adaptation pop up, I wanna read it. This did not disappoint. Lissie and Preston fit as Elizabeth and Darcy perfectly. If you’re a fan of Jane Austin adaptations like me, you’ve gotta check this one out.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Such a refreshing re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. Loved the different take the author chose to implement within this story. The restaurant setting was something I really enjoyed, and the aspects of Jane Austen's characters that readers love so much, the banter, definitely flourished in it. The aunt was actually funny instead of annoying like Mrs. Bennet, and the dynamic of the characters made the story unique on its own as well. I really liked this a lot.

ARC provided by Third State Books via NetGalley, and I have given my honest and voluntary review.

"Pride and Preston Lin" was a wonderful adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" I love retellings!!!!

I don't typically read a lot of romance titles but when I read the preface blurb... If Crazy Rich Asians and Pride & Prejudice had a love child, it would be this book I couldn't resist. This is a very smart contemporary retelling of P&P set in modern-day San Francisco. This version of the enemies-to-lovers romance keeps it fresh with well-developed characters and some fairly complicated family dynamics, miscommunications, and tense situations. The last quarter of the book was quite suspenseful. If you enjoy romance titles that are actually just thinly plotted erotica, well THIS AIN'T THAT. This is much smarter. Enjoyed this immensely. Also, that cover!

Thank you to Netgalley and Third State Books for the advance reader copy.

Send any and all Pride and Prejudice adaptations my way! As I've read many of these rewrites, I classified this one as one of the better books. It stays true to the original story, but makes it current.