Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Stop laughing. You know you’ve been tempted to read it. This version is by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith.

I don’t know why but this book didn’t set off my “Don’t screw with the canon” alarm. I love Jane, I do. I reread all her books every year. I read a lot of spin off books. My favorites being the entire series by Elizabeth Aston. And Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was just another spin off book.

How did I like it? Hard to say. I enjoyed reading it, mostly. Some things rubbed me wrong. Some things I thoroughly enjoyed.

The good:

I love that some people close to Elizabeth fall prey to the plague. It’s not just red shirts.

I love that there are some honor deaths, from people I wouldn’t have expected it from in the original. I can’t decide if Sean is implying that he loved her more than Jane implied or that he loves his own self image more than Jane implied. I don’t want to get too specific in case you decide to read.

I love that the girls are warrior in service to the queen, that they’ve been trained to be warriors. And I love that it’s yet another thing Elizabeth is judged for.

Things that rubbed:

By the end, I felt every time Sean mentioned the seven cuts, I was being cut. Too much. Too often. Too lame. No specifics.

The sexual promiscuity. It was a big deal in the first book. Way too casual in this one and in conflict with aspects of the story the new author didn’t change. If sex is casual then why does everyone assume Lydia was kidnapped. And if it’s so shocking she ran off with Wickham, then all the other sex cannot be so casual.

The eating of a heart. Ick. And really when the country is over run with zombies, I’m not sure anyone would be eating internal organs.

℘℘℘ – Three Pages. Overall a fun read. If you like Austen and want another way to read Pride and Prejudice for amusement, give it a whirl.