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Pride and Preston Lin
Christina Hwang Dudley
288 pages | Published by Third State Books
Out March 19, 2024
The Set Up: While waitressing at her family’s Chinese restaurant, Lissie meets Preston Lin - who seems to be unimpressed with everything. Preston’s dislike for Lissie is solidified when she accidentally causes his friend to have a severe allergic reaction. Lissie can’t wait to be rid of Preston, but when her sister begins dating his best friend, life seems to bring them together more and more.
This was a really refreshing and unique retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It was very meta - there were so many Pride and Prejudice references, not just allusions.
Lissie and Preston grew a lot over the course of the story, and dynamics between Lissie and her sisters added a lot of depth.
The writing was concise and kept the story moving and easy to breeze through. I thought it was interesting to add an actual inciting incident between Lissie and Preston. Preston had a real reason to be upset, where in the original story he’s more so just put off by Lissie and her family’s general vibe.
The storyline with the Wickham character, Coach Wayman, felt like a bit of a stretch overall. I think there may have been a more natural way to explain a tension between Wayman and Preston. It felt a bit forced to me, but it didn’t take a way from the book as a whole.
Thanks to Third State Books for the giveaway ARC copy!
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