Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev | Book Review

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors – A Gender Swapped, Modern Day, Desi Retelling of Pride & Prejudice.

That first line, that’s all I knew about this book before I decided to pick it up. Oh and the fact that I had read one other book by the author that I had absolutely loved. And that book, The Bollywood Affair was a 5 star romance for me. And I mention the rating/genre because a 5 star romance is a rarity in my world.

Mostly because I read so many romances that they are almost like comfort food for me. Which I know is a good thing, a great thing even, because much like comfort food, I love romances.

But then again, it’s because I love the genre so much, I read a lot in it. So much so that it becomes difficult for any one single book to stand out (I’m actually even reaching this point with psychological thrillers, but that’s a story for another day). But be that as it may, I still loved The Bollywood Affair by this author.

Related to Pride & Prejudice: 5 Things I Loved About Pride & Prejudice and The Many Screen Adaptations of Pride & Prejudice.

So going in, I had high expectations. Which were raised higher by the fact that this was an attempted retelling of one of my favorite classics. And usually this also makes me a little wary, because it’s so easy to mess things up when you try to re-imagine a widely loved classic. But for some reason I had a feeling that the author would do the story justice.

And I was proven right. Because not only did I like this book more than The Bollywood Affair, I think on some levels this was better than the original P&P. Because it captured everything I loved about the old classic, and fixed the one grudge I have held against it (okay maybe grudge is not the right word here, but you’ll see what I mean).

In Pride & Prejudice, I have always felt like there was a possibility that Liz fell in love with Pemberley first, and then as a result of that, Darcy. Either way, the estate definitely ‘influenced’ the love for the person. Here at-least there is no doubt whether DJ (gender swapped Liz) fell for Trisha (gender swapped Darcy) or for her social status/wealth etc. Because it’s definitely the former!

Anyway, all that to say that..

As far as retellings go, this was Fantastic! A Gender Swapped – Modern Day – Desi Retelling of P&P that was PERFECTION

Oh and I am NOT exaggerating when I say perfection. Though yes it’s possible that I feel this way right now because I am still in the amazing-book-induced-happy-bubble at the moment, but honestly, this book is ADORABLE.

From lovable characters, to well thought-out plot, from romantic angst to heartwarming resolution, from great story pacing to good self aware writing – this book had it all.

All in all, it was a charming, modern day retelling of a widely loved story, that captures the essence of the classic, even while adapting it to modern times to make it relatable and relevant. And without either duplicating or butchering the original. Which is a very tricky balance to achieve.

In-fact if I’ve to describe it, I’d say it’s more of a celebration of Pride & Prejudice, while being a completely credible and adorable story on its own, rich with all the elements I mentioned above. And this is outside of the fact that this book is also culturally rich, full of witty dialogues, and drool worthy food descriptions!

Which is why, needless to say, I highly recommend this book to everyone. But especially to Pride & Prejudice fans all over. This is a book to go bonkers over! A book worth breaking any book buying ban for. Trust me, you’ll not regret it!

Check out the book blurb and get it here –

Amazon One Link: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Amazon India: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook

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Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors Book Review