Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies #1)

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: Classic, Spin-Off, Horror, Historical Fiction

Publication: May 2009

My Rating: 4/5

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.

So I read the prequel to this series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith, a few years ago, and I actually quite liked it. I don't know how someone can come up with the idea of putting together a classic novel set in Regency England (and a very well-known one at that)... and zombies.

I know that A LOT of people have found this kind of insulting or offensive. Personally, I think it's nice when others take something they're a fan of and try to add a little extra or make some kind of tribute to it and its creator. That's why I love Pride and Prejudice spin-offs, there are really good ones out there, and this one's quite different.

Ok, so it took me a lot of time to finally read this. And I was actually always waiting for a movie to be announced, because there had always been rumors about it, and not too long ago it was confirmed!! So yeah, that's when I went all "OHMIGOD NOW I HAVE TO HURRY AND GO READ IT OHMIGOD"... and so I did.

It was a really quick read. But then again, I feel like I always rush it when I read a Pride and Prejudice spin-off, since I always want to get to:

1. The ball where the Bennets meet Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley.
2. Elizabeth going to visit Charlotte, getting proposed to by Darcy and, of course, rejecting him.
3. Darcy's second proposal (AND THIS ONE REQUIRES A LOT OF WAITING... what with Darcy and Bingley leaving Hertfordshire and staying away for so very long -_-).

If you know Pride and Prejudice then there's not much to say about this book. It's the exact same story, but with zombies.

It was really difficult for me to grasp the whole idea of this book, since the prequel is a bit different. With this I mean that it's hard to see people considering being polite and appropriate to be as important as mastering the deadly arts, as they say. They're not exactly very similar, you see.

Since we already know the original story, let's just get into the details of this one.

Spoilers ahead.

I want to start talking about Mr Collins. We all know he proposes to Lizzie and she rejects him, like any sane person would, let's be honest. But in this book, we have to add yet another great thing to the list of reasons to marry this guy *sarcasm*... He wants Lizzie to stop fighting zombies.

I mean, who are you to give an ultimatum (well, kind of) to a person who doesn't actually want to marry you? Ridiculous.

But of course he ends up marrying Charlotte, who is soon becoming a zombie. How didn't they notice that?? Just Lizzie (and apparently Lady Catherine, as we later find out) knew about it, it was completely obvious!! And I didn't understand how it took so long to happen, even with the antidote or whatever she was getting. So, in the end, poor Mr Collins is devastated when he loses his wife and has to decapitate and burn her, so he takes his life.

And seriously, for me it was so hard to believe that Lady Catherine de Bourgh would be this amazing zombie slayer and that she would approve of that kind of behavior. I was having a hard time with all that...

And not just that, but I seriously didn't understand why they all would fight with people who were alive. That's not the point of this. England doesn't need you to go around killing the people who are still well. Lizzie, sweetie, why you eat people's hearts? Like, why??

Oh and Mr Darcy would never hit a woman! For real... I don't even know if he would enjoy hitting men! Even if it was Wickham!... Just stick with the zombies, people, stick with the zombies!!

I felt there were also other people a little out of character, Mr Bennet for example. I know, believe me, I KNOW Mrs Bennet is a pain, but his husband does love her and he loves her silliness. Mr Bennet would not cheat on his wife with a bunch of oriental beauties either, I didn't like this Mr Bennet, and I usually do like him.

Then there was also Wickham. Hmm... I seriously don't know if he would've left Darcy beat the hell out of him and leave him bedridden. Who would like that? Who would rather have that and marry silly Lydia and become a priest just so they would get all their debts paid, it wasn't even that much money, I think. There are better options out there, right? Hell, I think he would've preferred to get killed, because his situation in the end was very, very sad and awful. And Lydia is as dumb as ever.

End of spoilery section.

But whatever, I still enjoyed it and I think I might read the next book. I know for sure I'm going to see the movie.

So have you ever read this book or anything similar?

Thank you for reading! Bye-Bye! ♥