I know, I know. Pride and Prejudice isn’t technically a young adult novel. I am still going to write about it, though, because it has all of the aspects of a young adult novel, just written 200 years ago! Plus, many students read it in high school as part of their English class, so young adults are still reading it.
Now that that is out of the way, let me tell you how much I love this book (and its movie adaptation!) This is a classic, although I only recently read it on my own since it was not part of my high school curriculum. I love the balance of humor and seriousness, romance and adventure. Who ever said 19th century writers didn’t use sarcasm? Austen is the queen of witty dialogue and clever assertiveness, best portrayed by Elizabeth Bennet and her conversations with her arrogent-yet-sensitive-on-the-inside love interest, Mr. Darcy. Although the English is old-fashioned and at points hard to follow, it becomes more easy as you get used to it and you will soon catch yourself talking like the characters yourself, using highfalutin vocabulary on the daily basis.
The 2005 movie with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen is just as good, because it includes most of the details from the book, which is something many movie adaptations fail to do. The cast is perfect and their acting is amazing, flawlessly portraying their roles.
Overall, this book is so fun to read, and I recommend it to everyone, even if you aren’t a huge fan of 19th century novels. You won’t be disappointed.