Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price (2021) Review

Why I picked up the book:

Pride and Premeditation is a mystery YA debut novel. In it, we follow Lizzie Bennet, a 16-year-old law fanatic and feminist extraordinaire who doesn’t accept women only being allowed in court as witnesses and wants to pave the way by proving herself as a kick-ass litigator.

Opportunity knocks on her door when a shocking murder scandalizes London high society. Lizzie jumps on it, determined to prove the accused man’s innocence. The only kicker is that the suspect is already being represented by Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the heir in training to the prestigious firm Pemberley & Associates.

The case and Lizzie’s feeling for Darcy take some twisty turns, and soon Lizzie finds out that her dream job might lead to both happiness and getting her killed!

The book through my criteria lens:

 Pride and Premeditation is a solid debut novel, overall. I think that this series has the potential to keep getting better and better. The characters were delightful; the narrative was witty, managing to be old-fashioned and modern at the same time. Lizzie is a great heroine, driven, caring, funny, and independent. It’s not easy to have a cast of characters inspired by such iconic precedents and still manage to make them distinguishable, and Price did that. Albeit, there were so many characters that some felt overlooked.

The mystery was a good one, and the solution fair. The narrative was consistent, but it felt like the book was slightly too long, especially for a YA novel. But great fun!

My personal feelings:

Romance is a genre I don’t read anymore, even though I read quite a bit of it in my teens. So a YA book based on a classic romance might not seem like a choice I would make, right? Well, yes. However, Pride and Prejudice happens to be one of my favourite books of all time, I love Jane Austen, and when I read romance, enemies to lovers was my favourite trope. Plus, this is a mystery! Marketed as the first of a series to boot! Reading the synopsis it quickly became one of my most anticipated 2021 novels. And can we take a moment to appreciate the cover? (Part of me thinks I started reading YA because they look amazing on the shelf 😂)

 I am excited for the rest of the series; Pride and Premeditation was light and cheeky. I felt that Price did a good job capturing the essence of Pride and Prejudice and turning it into a YA Mystery.

I particularly loved that the romance was kept to a minimum and didn’t overshadow the mystery. Which, by the way, really impressed me. Price has a talent for plotting puzzles and delivering them seamlessly, with all the clues woven into the narrative. 

I cannot wait for Lizzie to continue to grow into her own and take on the world!

My total rating: 4.16