Tuesday, 10 April 2012

REVIEW: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

 
Author: Claire LaZebnik
Pages: 304
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Amazon: Epic Fail

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

In this modern take on "Pride and Prejudice," Elise Benton, who has just moved to California, is a junior at an exclusive prep school where, in spite of her initial bad impression, she finds herself attracted to the moody and handsome son of Hollywood's most famous celebrity couple.

REVIEW: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Epic Fail was a quick, fun and enjoyable read that was kindly gifted to me by the wonderful Andrea from The Busy Bibliophile.

Elise Benton is the new girl in an exclusive prep school in California where her mother is the principal and her father a maths teacher. She is surrounded by wealth but is glad she has her sister Juliana starting with her.

On her first day she is caught staring at the gorgeous Derek Edwards, not realizing he is the son of a famous celebrity couple and resents being in the spotlight. It doesn’t start for a promising friendship but as they get to know one another she comes to accept why he is so evasive, wary, distant and at times rude to those around him.

I really liked the romance, Elise was completely oblivious to the way Derek felt about her and she wasn’t endeared by his moodiness and constant scowl. It progressed at a realistic pace and when they did eventually get together it was all the more enjoyable but naturally it wasn’t without the drama.

There is a cast of fascinating characters, Juliana was wonderful as was her boyfriend Chase, and we have the typical shallow, mean girl in Chelsea an overbearing parent and a terribly annoying younger sister Layla. I initially liked Webster but as the story progressed so too did my distrust.

There were a few minor things I didn’t like such as Elise’s mothers behavior, she came across as overbearing and annoying which was frustrating, younger sister Layla was a nightmare and the ending left me gaping, I felt it was too abrupt.

Epic Fail is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, a book I have always wanted to read but haven’t gotten around to it; it has definitely enticed me to pick it up. Ms LaZebnik’s retelling was written well, it is a sweet contemporary romance that held my interest and kept me wanting to know more.

All in all, a light, fun and romantic read.


3 comments:

  1. Awesome review!! I really liked this book and I thought it was really cute :D

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  2. I haven't heard of this book, but I really enjoy the idea that it's a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice (I loved that book). It sounds really cute and something I may check out, thanks for the review :)

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  3. You should definitely read Pride and Prejudice. While these contemp retellings are cool, nothing is as good as the original :)

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