This story was pretty good. It is a cute summer romance. Overall, I think it moved pretty slow. I would have liked to see more depth with the characters as well. I did have a good time, but it’s not a book I think I will recommend u less I know that it specifically fits what someone is looking for.

Sinopsis en español:

Lily tiene todo el verano extendido por delante: un sinfís días de sol y amigos en la hermosa playa de Pippi. Luego llega la superestrella Dorian Khan, con su grupo de tipos de Hollywood. Mientras que la mayoría de los lugareños, incluida la madre obsesionada con el glamour de Lily, están encantadas de estar tan cerca de los A-listers, Lily no puede evitar verlos como superficiales y arrogantes, especialmente Dorian, el más famoso de todos. Pero a medida que los caminos de Lily y Dorian continúan cruzándose, ella comienza a preguntarse si lo tiene todo mal. La dramaturga Kate Rice y su hija, la actriz de Hollywood Angourie Rice, se unen para escribir una novela romántica para adolescentes de aquellos que saben de primera mano cómo es realmente la industria cinematográfica internacional. Inspirado en el siempre popular fandom de Austen, Stuck Up and Stupid es para una generación de adolescentes que definitivamente NO buscan amor.



Reseña:


No me gustó ni el estilo de escritura ni la historia, de verdad que lo intenté, pero me costó horrores terminarlo.
No compartiré mi reseña con ningún otro sitio como Goodreads o Amazon para evitar afectar a la autora.



Gracias NetGalley por el ARC.

The excitement I felt when starting this book steadily left me, replaced by a mild curiosity with snippets of "ah yes, this would happen". Overall one and a half stars rounded up, due to me being a curious person.
This is a retelling, reimagining, of Pride & Prejudice. (Largely) Set in Australia it dutifully follows P&P which, for a lover of said book, is kind of fun. I'd never imagined if the storyline would hold in current times, even though I think its lasting quality is rooted in its timelessness, right?
Austen wrote a societal critique and yes, Stuck up and Stupid does pull of criticism on life anno now. But... But. There's a lot of people and given there's a lot of people in P&P, too, this shouldn't be a problem. But it is, because there's so many names, and some -inconveniently- are in Pride and Prejudice too, but they're not the same (of course, I expected them to be, probably my bad). And overall they were hard to distinguish. Which, in a lot of words, basically means they're flat characters, hard to remember.
It does paint a nice picture of boozy Australians, and LA where "everything is surface", and I assume that was the criticism.

I received a copy from NetGalley in return for my honest opinion

This needs much more development in writing , plot , characters etc. it was hard to connect and root for the characters. The plot was repetitive and overall just hard to follow.

Thank you NetGalley and Candlewick for the ARC of Stuck Up and Stupid by Angourie Rice and Kate Rice. Although I still have no idea how Lily came to have the feelings she proclaimed to have for Dorian, I still think this was a cute and easy read, though it did fall a bit flat. The beginning of the book was confusing initially, trying to differentiate all of the characters being named, but it did not take long to follow along. I feel like the characters needed more depth, as I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters except anger and irritation towards the mother. None of the characters were well developed enough to have a strong personality or allow me any attachment to a character. Dorian's character was very flat, and I was baffled by Lily's response because they had only a few conversations, most of which ended in an argument. I realize they are supposed to be the mains, but I don't love either of their characters. Lily had a decent character development in the end, but Dorian stayed boring with no personality through the entire book. Overall, it was not a bad book if you want an easy and simplistic YA book to read.

this was an interesting story and it was cool to see a mother and daughter duet on a ya book. i also didn't know or realize that this was the girl in the mean girls musical. very talented loved this quick read it is perfect for summer time.

This was a cute pride and prejudice retelling ! The romance was so fun and the banter was so cute! Would recommend

This book was cute, but it fell flat. I couldn’t really get it to this book. I couldn’t read it on my kindle because the format downloaded weirdly. But I was able to read it on my Ipad.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I love me a good Pride and Prejudice retelling, especially one that truly honors the original. Lily had all of the spunk and demeanor of Lizzy Bennett and Dorian had all of the charm and aloof behavior that we’ve come to know with a Darcy. Stuck Up and Stupid had me hooked from the beginning and I loved laughing and sometimes cringing at all of Lily’s family escapades . A quirky retelling full of that classic Austen heart!

I was excited to read Stuck Up and Stupid because I am a huge Jane Austen fan and enjoy reading books based on her novels. Unfortunately, I did not finish the book. Like other reviewers, I felt the pacing was off and the characters did not jump off the page. I also did not enjoy how this was written from the third-person perspective. The copy I received was not well-proofed, which is understandable as it is an advanced copy, but it made it even more difficult to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

found myself skim reading most of this book. it just didn't get my attention at all. didn't gel with the writing or characters

super cute retelling of one of my favorite books ever. although the characters were a bit annoying at times that was on purpose and it added depth to the story. I loved how the Bennet sisters were the aunts.

I didn't laugh, or smile or cry or feel anything while reading this book. I was just bored.

I tried so hard to continue it, but I just couldn't connect with the story or the characters. I DNFed it, which is sad since I was so very excited for it.

PS I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. So thank you!

As a huge Pride and Prejudice fan, I was intrigued and excited to read this "retelling" from an Australian location.
Stuck up and Stupid definitely did a good job portraying the main aspects of P & P from a fresh teen perspective. While Lily's independence gets a bit redundant through the story, it is a fun and lighthearted read. My students will love it.

Thank you netgalley for an arc of Stuck Up and Stupid by Angourie Rice: Kate Rice

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting and was excited to receive the NetGalley ARC. However, from page one you could tell It was going to be really hard to read. The way It was written and the formatting as well as grammatical errors just made It impossible for me to read. I could not picture the story at all because I had to keep stopping to use context clues to guess at incorrectly spelled or cut off parts of words. I had to DNF this one and I never do that :/

[review copy & pasted from my goodreads]

Stuck Up And Stupid is a retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in modern day Australia with movie stars, which is definitely an interesting take on the classic. The writing style sticks very closely to what you would have read during the Regency Era, it truly is like reading a Jane Austen novel…except I’m not sure how well that really works present day. I found myself wondering why I wasn’t just reading Pride & Prejudice the entire time. I don’t think this take on it brought anything new to the mix—or at least not in a positive way.

That isn’t to say it wasn’t good, because It is written well and I think the authors accomplished what they set out to. It’s just I really don’t think it was needed. They stuck so close to the original writing style that any reference to present day felt out of place and awkward. Every character was just a copy of the original characters, adding nothing unique. There are some slight differences here and there, obviously, but for the most part this book just has no originality.

I’m not trying to be harsh, because they did a good job, but I really just couldn’t stop wondering ‘why?’ the entire time I was reading it. Why go with this writing style? Why choose the age gap that they chose? Why are all the characters just even more annoying?

I don’t want to just say ‘negative’ things about it though, so I will say I always find a romance book that doesn’t solely rely on the overuse of intimacy, or tropey shenanigans refreshing. They did a good job of keeping my attention even though the romance was slow moving and could have easily felt overly drawn out.
So, yeah, if you love the story and characters in P&P you’ll probably really enjoy this book!


Thank you to the publishing team and the team at Netgalley for this arc!

Imagine if the Bennett sisters from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice grew up with families of their own and Lydia is a single mum of two?

A charming YA set in a remote beachside town of Australia, I loved this book for its modern P&P vibes. Embarrassingly though it took me 40 pages to realise that Lily’s mum and aunts are the Bennett sisters! Alas not much of Uncle Fitz or Uncle Charles but they still made some lovely cameos, as does Aunt Kitty.

The only thing that I think was a let down was the authors slavishly copying the P&P plot template. Given this is more a 'next gen' modern tribute, it would've been far better to deviate from the original and just loosely use a few of the major plot arcs. As such this meant important developments were truncated, with more telling that showing.
The romance between Lily and Dorian needed more on-page showing of Lily's gradual change as well as reasons to show why Dorian would be so hung up on Lily given her attitude. Also, Lily’s existenial crisis about her future was rushed. I'd have loved to see the campaign arc develop earlier, instead of having to cut it to fit the P&P plot.

Overall, this was fun and sweet summer beach read and I devoured this in one sitting. I hope we get more from this mother-daughter writing duo.

Thanks to Holiday House/Peachtree/Pixel+Ink/Candlewick and NetGalley for the ARC.

It is a fun summer book with small town vibes and a funny dedicated family. I did feel like the characters could have been developed more with the story progressing. Sometimes it felt a little crass.

Stuck Up & Stupid caught my attention as a modern Pride and Prejudice retelling, set in a charming coastal Australian town. The premise had promise—Hollywood meets small-town life, first impressions, and enemies-to-lovers tension—but while it had moments of fun and lighthearted charm, it didn’t fully deliver for me.

Lily was a likable protagonist, and I appreciated the nods to Austen’s classic themes. The setting was vibrant, and there were glimpses of humor and banter that worked well. However, the character depth felt a bit lacking, and the chemistry between Lily and Dorian wasn’t as compelling as I had hoped. At times, the dialogue felt forced, and the pacing uneven, making it harder to stay fully engaged.

That said, I think readers who enjoy breezy YA romances or are looking for a light, summery read might still enjoy this. It’s a fresh, modern take on a beloved classic, even if it didn’t completely win me over.

I'm a sucker for a modern "Pride & Prejudice" adaptation, yet somehow this one just wasn't the one for me. It really feels like the youth version of a modern version of "P&P," one that reads quickly and resolves easily. There was an over-the-top amount of exposition, where I'd rather have more story points. The writing is fine and sort of basic, like about average but certainly not terrible by any means. In short, it's not the best "P&P" adaptation I've read, like, it's just alright. It is exactly what's expected and nothing really elevates the story to be unique.