Book Review: Pudge and Prejudice by A.K. Pittman

Title: Pudge and Prejudice
Author: A.K. Pittman
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance / Retelling
Publication Date: January 12th, 2021
Publisher: Wander

Thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for hosting a giveaway in which I won a free copy!

“Pudge and Prejudice is an homage to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, transported to the fictitious Northfield Texas High School in the year 1984. After moving to Northfield with her family, Elyse Nebbit faces the challenge of finding her place in a new school, one dominated by social status and Friday night football. When Elyse’s effortlessly beautiful older sister Jayne starts dating Charlie Bingley, the captain of the school football team, Elyse finds herself curious about Charlie’s popular and brooding best friend, Billy Fitz. Elyse’s body insecurities eventually complicate her relationship with Billy, leaving Jayne and Elyse’s exceedingly blunt friend, Lottie, to step in and help Elyse accept herself for who she is, pant size and all.” (Goodreads)

I was excited to see that I had won a kindle copy from a Goodreads giveaway and it took me no time to start this one.

Pride and Prejudice is a classic and has a huge following. There have been many retellings for it over the years. I just read one last year. Although I have yet to find one that I love as much as the original, this was one had its cute moments and I liked how the author did add her own uniqueness to the classic.

Elyse is a plus-size girl and although she has mostly come to accept it, others in her family and even those she encounters have not. Her mother tells her to go on a diet especially because she is going to be starting a new school since her father got a transfer from his job to a different state.

Although it wasn’t my mother who told me to lose weight as I was heavier side growing up, I can relate to Elyse when it comes to family members just not minding their own. It’s already bad enough being a teen and dealing with it all. You don’t need someone else adding to the mess, especially a family member.

The author did stay true when it came to the personalities of the original characters. It was interesting to see all of the characters come to life in the 80’s. Billy Fitz is a cool guy!

The plot twists in the book were pretty good but a couple of them felt like too much. I know that she was doing her best to make Wickham the bad guy but Lydia was definitely worse and didn’t deserve the good deed from Fitz. That scene just didn’t work for me.

Other than that, it was a good read and I liked seeing the relationship develop between Billy and Elyse. If you enjoy retellings of Pride and Prejudice, then check this one out.