Author: Bernie Su and Kate Rorick
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Simon & Schuster Australia
Goodreads
"Pure genius... a sharp, clever re-imagining... if Austen was writing now, she might have created something like this." The Guardian on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.Review by Nara
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries may have started as a school project for Lizzie, but it grew into so much more, as the videos came to inform and reflect her life and that of her sisters, beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. People watched, debated, tweeted, tumblr'd, and suddenly Lizzie was YouTube sensation. But not everything happened on-screen. Lizzie kept a secret diary. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet is everything you didn't see in her videos - and more. This is Pride and Prejudice as you've never experienced it before! Read The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet, watch the YouTube videos at lizziebennetdiaries.com and check her out on Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter - become part of the sensation that's captured the imagination of millions of fans!
I remember watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries when the videos started last year on YouTube and loving them, and man, reading this book just brought back so many great memories. Seriously, if you even remotely liked that webseries, I'm telling you, you need to get hold of this book.
For those who don't know what the Lizzie Bennet Diaries is, it's a webseries on Youtube which is a retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but set in modern times and done in vlog form. The same company is actually doing a retelling of Jane Austen's Emma (named Emma Approved) which is airing currently, and I do recommend that you give that one a go too.
I love the narrative voice. It's so distinct and so strong and so Lizzie (which you assume it would be, seeing as though it's the same writer for the book and for the original script). We get to see so many more interesting little extras from behind the scenes of the series- and of course I'm totally okay with some additional appearances of one William Darcy ;)
That's not to say that you have to watch the videos to understand the book. The book itself can also be read as a standalone- and makes sense by itself. That being said, if you haven't watched the series before, I actually recommend watching the series while reading the book. The book chapters are titled with the dates of the diary entries, and watching the videos chronologically along with reading the book would be an amazing experience. (Which I am going to do as soon I get some more time...)
Fans of the original webseries, fans of contemporaries, fans of Pride and Prejudice: GET. THIS. BOOK.
Really liked it
Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
