Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: Prom and Prejudice
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Rating: 3 Stars

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.
After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn't interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be - especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.
Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles's friend, Will Darcy, who's snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn't seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it's because her family doesn't have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk - so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway? - Summary from Goodreads

I want to preface this review by saying that although I stand by everything that I said about this book, that doesn't mean that everyone will feel the same. My sister absolutely loved Prom and Prejudice and gave it 5-stars. Normally whoever loves the book most is the one who reviews it, but in this case I had already written mine.
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Prom and Prejudice follows Lizzie Bennett who is a scholarship student at the prestigious, all-girl school, Longbourn Academy. Instead of being pressured into finding a husband, these girls are dead serious about finding a prom date. No lie, their prom has crazy expectations. Prom is not the only thing crazy about this school, the students are also known for being incredibly cruel to scholarship students. Lizzie’s roommate, Jane is the exception. All of the characters are similar to their P&P counter parts, the only exception being Lizzie. While retelling this classic story Lizzie’s spark of humor and light-hearted personality is lost. When the girls at Longbourn treat her horribly the Lizzie in this story cries or hides, which is what any human being would do, but it isn’t what Elizabeth Bennett would do. Elizabeth Bennett would have laughed off whatever they did to her until they got bored or she would have gotten even. In my opinion, by not capturing Elizabeth’s character the story lost something important.

The first half of the book stays very close to its source. In my opinion that was a bad thing because it was just a modern, highschool version of P&P, which is why I got annoyed at small changes. Over halfway through the book it started finding its footing and taking on a life of its own and that’s when I began to enjoy it.

The relationship between Lizzie and Darcy progressed like it does in the book. I started out by disliking him, but like Lizzie, eventually I began to see his good qualities. I loved his relationship with his sister and the confrontation with Wick. I was worried that the happy ending with Lizzie and Darcy might be forced, but in the end I was convinced that they should be together just as I would be in P&P.

There have been plenty of retellings and tributes to Jane Austen’s famous novel Pride and Prejudice, but I can’t say that Prom and Prejudice stands out from that group. It’s a cute story and it’s always fun to pick out the characters and scenes that the story is remodeling, but it takes a while to find its footing. If you are a huge fan of Jane Austen and love reading tributes to her work, Prom and Prejudice might be for you.

                        -Christina