Pride

This book sounds amazing. It isn't. I am so disappointed I want to cry.

I was promised “smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic”, and what I get is stupid and a lot of tropes. I think I giggled a couple of times, but most of the time I was disgusted by the MC.

Frankly, none of the characters was good. I think Madrina and papi were my favorites.

Anyway, what's good about it?
The cover is absolutely gorgeous.
I like the neighborhood pride and gentification part of it. It just didn't sound quite real, though, as if the author didn't come from Brooklyn.
I like the poetry writing part of the MC. (Not so much the actual poetry, but I like how it was woven in)


I hate the MC.
She is supposed to be this tough, smart chick, and she's dumb, egocentric, conceited little bitch.
She's supposed to love books and reading and she isn't ever caught reading anything.
She whines all the time about how disrespectful people are to her, how bad manners everyone else has, how embarrassed she is because of her family, and she is horrible herself. She's scowling most of the time, is only concerned if people disrespect her and her neighborhood, doesn't bother finding out, just assumes and judges people all the time.
I think she apologized once in the whole book.
She lies all the time.
She is judgmental and prejudiced, and doesn't ever apologize for having preconceived negative notions and treating people accordingly. Her excuse for it is “I thought you were prejudiced, too!” Thought. He wasn't.
She falls for a guy, because he's hot, has swag and has the same background as she does. And isn't the main love interest. Because he's rich and wasn't all congeniality, even though considering how she treated his brother who was all congeniality, I don't think it would have mattered at all.
The first guy tells her a story, and she buys it, hook, line and sinker, and then the other guy tells her a story and she buys it, too, hook, line and sinker. No questions asked. No explanations listened to. And she is supposed to be this smart girl.
A lot of “tell, not show”. Characters aren't this author's strong point.