Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

I love a good retelling! Jane Austen and her wonderful works have been near and dear to me since forever. But Pride and Prejudice has always held a special place in my heart. There is no part that I don't love. And I can prove it too. I chose to write my senior college thesis around Pride and Prejudice and if I could spend that much time analyzing, researching, and basically driving myself crazy over every small detail of the work and still come out on the other end with affection...well I think that proves my utter never ending devotion.

Some devoted fans of Austen think the original Pride and Prejudice is a classic and should be left alone, but personally I just like the chance to revisit with my favorite characters, no matter how they've been spun and tweaked. LaZebnik has produced the latest retelling in this adorable package. Say hello to Hollywood, celebrities, fame and fortune and our favorite characters intertwined into the mix.

It was fresh and fun to see "Darcy" a.k.a. Derek as the son of a power celebrity couple and "Elizabeth" a.k.a. Elise as the latest transfer student at the elite and ubber rich kid high school where he and his friends attend. Her family is still exhausting and Derek is of course the guy every girl would like to date. It's cute and funny and I couldn't put it down. This was my first experience with LaZebnik and now I'm adding her other titles to my TBR pile. If all her books are as fast paced and equally entertaining as Epic Fail, I'll be on cloud nine and a lifetime fan for sure.

I gave Epic Fail 4 shamrocks!!!!


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