Title: Epic Fail
Author: Claire LaZebnik
Publication Date: August 2, 2011. (Kindle version)
Grade: B-
Claire LaZebnik has a series of novels that take the general plots of Jane Austen novels and makes modern versions of them. In the case of Epic Fail she took Pride and Prejudice. And in a sense, failed herself.
Now the book itself wasn’t horrible. Let’s start with that. It was a nice novel for the pre-teen set who like a little romance with their stories. It doesn’t have overdone love scenes and for the most part is PG. The only scene where it might be higher is where they discuss a possible sexual assault on a minor character. I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading Epic Fail. I just wouldn’t be “Oh, you definitely should!” should anyone ask me.
This year I’ve been reading alot of Jane Austen adaptions and variations. Some are good, most seem to fail the mark in some way, and this one is no different. Derek and Elise, the modern versions of Darcy and Elizabeth, don’t really feel like they have any connection to their 19th century counterparts. Some of the structure of the original novel can be seen, but for the most part, I would say this was more an inspired by then a true modernization. The characters seem to fill the slots but don’t really have much of the rest of it. I do however like that this book took Kitty Bennet/Kitty Benton and gave her a personality.
So I’m going to give it a B-. It’s a nice rainy day read, easy to digest and nothing that will make you want to throw the book out the window. However, it’s not Jane Austen really.
Sokorra Lewis 