July 08, 2009

Prada and Prejudice - Mandy Hubbard


I have to admit I was a little hesitant about picking up Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard after my last Jane Austen spin off reading experience but I have to say that this was a very different experience - and one that I actually enjoyed!

Prada and Prejudice was my second read for the Everything Austen Challenge and after my disappointing first read I was intending to go back to the real thing for my second book to restore my faith but when this book arrived in the mail yesterday I thought I would give it a go.

The main character in the book is 15 year old Callie - an American girl on a school trip to London. When the book starts Callie is not having the best of times and she takes us through a little bit of her history as the "not so cool girl in school" - a time I am sure many of us can remember. Callie decides to do her best to fit in with the "in" crowd - which of course means using her mother's credit card to buy a brand new and authentic pair of Prada heels. Callie, being Callie, is not used to walking in such high heels and she ends up doing a nose dive into the London pavement causing her to black out and wake up in the English countryside - in the year 1815. Now, I'm not usually one who is able to get on board with the whole time travel thing but I was able to do it for Lost in Austen and I was able to do it for this book too - it's just a matter of suspending belief for that little while and getting caught up in the story.

The two things that I felt really made this book work were 1) Hubbard's strong and clear writing style and 2) The character of Callie - you believed this girl and you wanted her to come out on top.

This is clearly a book meant for adolescents but the adolescent in me really enjoyed it - a great light and fun read.

9 comments:

Cecelia said...

Thanks for sharing your review! This book is on its way to me, and reading your positive thoughts about it made me that much more excited for its arrival. Good luck with the rest of your challenge list!

Nadia said...

Great review! Sounds like such a fun read and I will definitely be putting it on my list of books to read. Cheers!!

Serena said...

sounds like this book worked out much better than the previous austen spinoff. Thanks for the review. I may give this one a try!

Anonymous said...

it sounds like such fun!!! the title alone slays me--i've seen it around the blogs. i have to check it out to see if it's good for my students--reluctant readers at best. thanks for reminding me about this one!!

Anonymous said...

oh, and i forgot to add that i also have trouble with the whole suspension of disbelief/time travel thing. i read an austen spin off last summer and had some trouble with that aspect because it was poorly executed. i hope this one is better!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, glad to hear your second book for Everything Austen was so much better!!

JoAnn said...

Sounds like fun! I hadn't heard of this one - thanks for the review.

vvb32 reads said...

i thought this was a fun one. loved the character growth with callie.

Karen said...

Hi celi.a - I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Hi Nadia - Definitely a fun read for when you are feeling like a break from the heavy reading!

Hi Serena - It sure did work out a lot better! Thankfully!

Hi booklineandsinker - I think the whole time travel thing is a hard concept to pull off and make believable in some way - I think it was done ok here.

Hi Stephanie - Me too!!

Hi JoAnn - definitely a fun read worth a try I think.

Hi vvb32reads - I agree - I really loved how much effort and consideration the author had put into the character of Callie - it made the book worthwhile for me.