Review: Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Pride by Ibi Zoboi is a retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice following Zuri Benitez and her family in Bushwick. The wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street with their sons Ainsley and Darius. The story hits all the beats one would expect from a retelling of this novel and maintains the social commentary inherent to the original, updating it for modern life, focusing on the gentrification of Brooklyn.

Quick funny aside, the last book I read was also about the gentrification of Brooklyn, When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole, though that book went in a very different direction and the book I am currently reading, On the Come Up by Angie Thomas, has a strong wordsmith lady as the main character (Pride has a poet and On the Come Up a rapper). Now to the review.

There was a lot about this book that I really loved, though there was a lot that didn't work for me. I will start with the highlights.

I really think Zoboi did an excellent job with the setting. She lovingly describes Zuri's world; the reader feels very rooted in her world, on her block. I really could feel the way Zuri wanted to cling hard to her world, to prevent any change, while she also desired to go elsewhere. I loved the tension that was developed through Zuri's relationship to where she lives. The book's world is so well fleshed out; I love it when non-speculative fiction authors write the setting so well that it breaths.

Zuri is such a well-developed character. She is excellent on her own and as an Elizabeth Bennet. I have read a few reviews that complain that she is headstrong or prejudiced that make me want to bang my head against a wall. I really think that Zoboi shows us why Zuri is so resistant to change, both personally and on the macro level, with the stories focus on gentrification. Zuri is wary of newcomers because she does not want others to look down on her, her family, or her neighbors. She is skeptical of change because she does not want different to betray the neighborhood or people who made her who she is. Her character works so well in this story.

The social commentary also works incredibly well. Pride and Prejudice is a political story; it is about classism and how women can advance in the world. I can see how it would be easy to write a retelling that glossed over what is political about that story. Zoboi understands the original story and has a very clear vision that she executes for her own class commentary. This book is about gentrification, and Zoboi really shows us the stress of not being able to afford the place where you have such deep roots. She really illustrated the human impact of the process, the heartbreak of one girl who can feel the world changing around her and not caring about how it impacts her.

Now, moving on to some of the things that I wanted more from. I really would have loved more family time. I loved Janae because she is sweet, and I loved Jane; I knew to watch out for Layla because Lydia is the 'troublesome' sister, I knew her parents would be well-meaning because Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are well-meaning. I really would have liked the pre-Darcy bit to be a little longer or to just have more page time with the Benitez family. I wanted a little bit more from the Layla conflict; typically, the Lydia character's conflict impacts the story in a bigger way; I totally understood the narrative reason that it wasn't more of a focus. Still, I really wanted it to be a bigger focus. I want to be clear that I didn't want anything bad to happen to the character; I just wanted more reflection on what did happen from Zuri.

Also, I really don't like the way the story portrayed girls who have their nudes leaked; Darius explicitly says he didn't warn Zuri because he knew that she wouldn't let something like that happen to her, and Layla, who is 13, says that she wouldn't "let" something like that happen to her. It just feels a little bit dismissive of the manipulation that can go into younger girls being exploited by older guys. And when paired with a comment early in the book that is pretty slut-shaming by Zuri, it just seems like the thought pattern that says girls are responsible for their reputations, even very young ones who are being exploited, isn't interrogated in the narrative anywhere near as much as I wanted or expected.

The facet of this book that really didn't work for me and ultimately led by my rating was the romance. I think I would have loved this book without it. I genuinely don't understand why these two people like each other. Aside from them being Lizzie and Darcy, so they are supposed to like each other. The love story component did not work for me. I liked Zuri so much as a character; I truly do not understand how her feelings on Darius evolved. And I don't understand how he went from thinking she was trashy to wanting to impress her so badly. It just felt like they were following the structure and not like they had actual emotional factors compelling their romance.

I understand why Darius is important narratively, both in service of the themes of the story and because of the romance at the core of the story. But I just am completely baffled by why Zuri would like Darius, not why anyone would like him, why Zuri specifically likes him. He does not stand up for her ever, he does not treat her well around his friends, he does not seem to understand the way she thinks at all, which is very beginning of the book Darcy, but I never felt the moment where they clicked into understanding. I totally respect of this worked for other people, but it didn't work for me.

I also didn't like the way the on-off-on was handled in this book. Obviously, in a modern setting, it does make sense to have them be more proximate and to have them communicate via text. But I really didn't gel with the way the whole second half of the book handles their relationship. I think I have spent too much time on this topic, but I surely did not understand the emotions that lead Zuri to accept hanging out with or going on a date with (or being in the car with) Darius at any time.

I gave this book three stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I would recommend this book, which might sound odd because it is a romance that I didn't like the romance of, but so much of this book is done so well that I still really think more folks should read it. If you are a die-hard Austen fan, if you are someone who wishes you could get into Austen but don't gel with the cultural differences between then and now, or if you just want to read more about Afro-Latinx characters, I would say go pick up this book.