BOOK REVIEW | Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

Racism, Classism, Mentions of Sexual Assault and Drugging, Ableism, Revenge Porn, Grief and Loss, Miscarriage, Cancer, Stroke

Minor Characters who are Blind, Indian, Rwandan, Neurodivergent

Yay to being able to get a chance to reread a past favorite so that I can actually write out my review! I decided that I was going to write this as soon as possible after reading it so that I don’t end up forgetting like I did all those years ago. So here I am and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some good thoughts down before I forget.

One thing to know about me is that I just have never liked classics. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the way that they used to write back in the day, or that I just never really wanted to read anything that was required for school – luckily I was able to really just Sparknotes my way through having to read any classics or just didn’t really participate in discussions because it wasn’t for me – but I have found that I do like retellings of classics. Maybe it’s because its remixed for the modern day and audience and to me it’s cooler to read about people that are more like me than not. I don’t know, maybe that’s something to unpack at a later time. Anyway, I have never read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, nor have I ever actually watched one of the movies that’s based on her novel. The ones that I did watch were also retellings (read: Bride & Prejudice with Aishwarya Rai, also Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which was the closest I think I ever came to watching something even remotely similar? Not sure). Basically this is to preface that fact that I have no idea besides the general storyline the nuances of the original and why people love it so much. Nothing against those that do, that’s just so you know what I’m working with going into this review.

Which I think is important to note that Bride & Prejudice was one of my all time favorite movies when I watched it because that could have contributed to the fact that when I heard about this book, I was super excited to see how another Pride and Prejudice retelling was going to incorporate Indian culture into it, and how. First, I have to say that I’m really glad that I’ve had the opportunity to read this book at least twice in my life so far, and I feel like reading it the second time around actually made me like it even more than the first time. Huge shout out to Sonali Dev for being willing to write this story as I’m sure that she could have had some people fighting her along the way with – well we already had Bride and Prejudice, why do we need it in book form? Which, no, they are nothing alike at all. Two totally different stories even though they were both based on Pride and Prejudice.

Okay now hopefully on to the review.

One of the things that I noticed with this one is that not only are we focusing on two characters that have Indian roots – one who is more in touch with their culture than the other – but they were also gender-swapped. DJ – short for Darcy James – is more in the role of Jane Bennett, and Trisha Raje is our Mr. Darcy. And for this story, I feel like that was the right way to go. I don’t even think I realized the first time around that Julia Wickham was THE Wickham of the story, you know? Like I forgot that was her last name lol. So for Trisha and Julia to have this tragic backstory where Trisha really blames herself for what happened with her and her brother fifteen years before the story starts, and for DJ to be seemingly seduced into thinking that Trisha and her family are just god-awful rich snobs thanks to Julia’s spinning of her side of the story was interesting to see.

It’s weird, I feel like I said so much and said so little at the same time. I liked the gender swapping of it because I liked seeing Trisha as the one that supposedly comes off as a snob, when in reality I truly think it’s not that at all, and then for DJ to just really take the things she says to him at face-value and just despise her. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hated that for Trisha, because since we get to hear from both of their perspectives, we can see how it eats her up inside and how she just feels like something is wrong with her, but we take what people just absolutely fawn over in a man, and put those traits in a woman and see if they are received the same. As a note, I truly don’t think they are, and I think some other reviews will reflect that. I think that’s a conversation for another time though, and I think that it makes people’s perceptions of Trisha a bit unfair when it’s seemingly loveable and tragic for Mr. Darcy.

I also think it’s important to note that while I understand that Emma was coming from a place of hurt and being afraid of the unknown, her reaction and response to the life-saving surgery leaving her blind was really upsetting to me. And I think it’s important to note that I think Dev purposely made it this way to show that it wasn’t okay, but to also show that humans are humans. They are allowed to think this way, but it’s also important that they see that living with a disability is not the end of the world. There are so many people with disabilities – and MULTIPLE disabilities – that go through life every single day and there’s absolutely no way that they would have been okay with Emma’s reaction. Maybe they would have sympathized with her in the beginning, but I think they would have been majorly insulted that she would rather DIE than be blind. Like, what is Emma trying to say about those who were born blind, or became blind later in life? Or any other acquired disability later in life? That they should have just died instead? I think Emma’s part in this story is why I can’t bring my rating to a complete 5, because my feelings for her reaction just angered me. Especially as someone who has not only worked in the disability field for over six years, but grew up volunteering in the disability community since I was a child, having multiple disabilities that were acquired over the years, and having family members who are disabled, I was ashamed of her behavior. I know so many people who are blind, or deaf, or have challenges with mobility, and a slew of other disabilities that are enjoying their life and living the way that they want to.

I loved the family dynamic that Trisha had with the women in her family. I say it like that right now because while she does have brothers, in this book and for the majority of the book, they aren’t as close as they were back then. And even though Trisha has been removed from the family in elements that may have had more to do with her guilt and her way of protecting herself, seeing her with the other women in her life really made me miss my mom and grandma. I remember a time where I really felt like the women in my family were like that, and that no matter what happened and how we can irk each other over time, no matter what was going on we could count on one another and love one another. The women in the Raje family cared for each other so much and even if it wasn’t always perfect, it was beautiful to see. Even the way that they would treat Esha (well the whole family was absolutely great to Esha and I loved that part of the story) and would really take their cue from her on whether it was a good day or not, was beautiful. They never forced Esha to be someone she wasn’t, to have her interact with anyone in the family in a way that was not good for her day to day, and that was so beautiful. I even think they did similar things for Trisha too, and knew how she was as a person and didn’t try to make her do things she wasn’t completely comfortable with. Yes, there were moments where Nisha would make sure that Trisha looked put together during events or situations where wearing her scrubs wouldn’t cut it, but she did it in a way that she knew that Trisha would still be able to be herself and it would accentuate Trisha rather than change her. It may have been subtle in some ways, but it was very telling for me.

I want to say that, all in all, I really liked this retelling and I loved that Dev was able to show the Rajes as a family. I don’t believe Mr. Darcy had much of a family in the original and I think it was important to reflect that the Darcy character that was Trisha did have a family that loved her and supported her and each other. And I guess that’s all I really have to say now that I’ve sat and thought about it.

Also, I don’t know if I ever explained this, but I try to put different types of reviews under the “Other Reviews” section. Not always just 5 or 4-star reviews because that doesn’t always give a full viewpoint of what others thought about the book. I felt like it was important for me to state this because I’ve been doing it for a while but I don’t know if I ever stated why. Also, I feel like it’s not fair to only highlight positive reviews of books I liked just because I liked them. I try to do the same for other books as well.