Debra White Smith

First Impressions: A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and Prejudice Lawyer Eddi Boswick tries out for a production of Pride and Prejudice in her small Texas town. When she's cast as the lead, Elizabeth Bennet, her romantic co-star is none other than the town's most eligible--and arrogant--bachelor.

A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and Prejudice

First Impressions

Allie Herrington

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

From the moment I started reading this story, it felt very familiar. At first I put it down to it being a retelling, but it felt more familiar than that. It took about ½ of the book for me to realize that the reason that it felt so familiar was because I HAD read it before. Back in the mid 2000s when I was a teenager and all of my friends were obsessed with Jane Austen. Still, it's a fun enough retelling and rereading it was a pleasant enough experience, even if I skimmed a bit more than I probably would have otherwise.
Okay now onto the two parts of my review:
Librarian: I am sorely tempted to purchase this book for my library. It's one that I could easily see some of my students devouring, just like my friends and I did when we were their age. Unfortunately, I work at a non-religious school, so ordering Christian Fiction is a little inappropriate. However, I will be recommending it to friends who do work at Christian schools. If I were at a public library I would absolutely order it and talk it up to those who I think would enjoy it.
Reader: As I mentioned I read this book originally as a teenager, so there was a certain comfortable familiarity in it. As a reader, I found it a vaguely enjoyable retelling of a story that I know exceptionally well. I also enjoy the story within a story aspect of the characters putting on a play version of the original novel.
I didn't enjoy everything about this novel though. Some parts were a bit too on the nose for my taste and I've never been a fan of the "good ole American country boy" aesthetic. Still I'd recommend it to readers who are fans of that novel type or to readers who are utterly obsessed with all things Austen.

First Impressions A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and Prejudice

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