Spies and Prejudice by Talia VancePublished by: EgmontUSA on June 11, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Retelling, Romance
Pages: 304
Source: NetGalley
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Rating: ★★★
Pride & Prejudice meets Veronica Mars in this slick romantic spy-thriller where nothing's as it seems.
Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She's busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she's sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.
So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her "nothing amazing," it's no loss for Berry. She'll forget him in no time. She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death.
But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can't Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?
With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide.
Spies and Prejudice started out really strong for me. I loved Berry’s voice, her name (!!), her whole “spy girl” thing, and her Saint Bernard. The plot was interesting, the best friend character (Mary Chris) was great.. We were rolling! But then my interest dropped off around the 50% mark when we find out that View Spoiler »
I also wasn’t totally digging the romance in Spies and Prejudice. It didn’t exactly dominate the story, but the parts that were there felt strong, except I wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Berry and Tanner. I could see it trying to be there, but that’s all it ever was for me. I never got excited or giggly or any of those feels.
The only thing that really kept me going after a while was solving the big mystery around her mother’s death… but even that ended with a flop. View Spoiler »
I think the characters that made me enjoy the story were Mary Chris and Ryan. Now they were so cute together! They’re like two complete nerds who are total soul mates. They completely clicked and had all the chemistry. I honestly would have preferred a book all about those two! Just overall, Mary Chris and Ryan were my favourite characters. Berry was okay, Tanner was meh, Drew was what the hell (still don’t know what his deal was).. which left Mary Chris and Ryan rocking the show (even though their parts weren’t huge).
Unfortunately this was just one of those books that left me feeling with: What was the point? I didn’t feel like anything got resolved in a satisfying way. Combine an unresolved overall plot with a ‘meh’ romance.. and overall, you get kind of… a big “meh”. (Yeah that’s really coherent.)
Overall I didn’t hate this book. I didn’t even really strongly dislike it. I just feel kind of unsatisfied. It wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t great, but by the end I was certainly ready to move on.
The Verdict
When you can’t feel the chemistry, that’s a bad sign. I feel like a lot of authors are just throwing characters together instead of working on their relationship.
I just read a book where I thought, “What was the point?” I hate that feeling.
Yeah… in so many books these days the romance is the center of the story. I don’t mind that, but it becomes a problem when I’m not into the romance.. then I just don’t like the book!
I don’t think you can do a Jane Austen spin off and then have ‘meh’ romance. That is not the expectation that author is creating so I can see why it would leave you feeling ‘what is the point’. I won’t be in a rush to read this one.
Exactly! If you’re going to do a Jane Austen spin off, or have a central romance in any story, then the romance needs to ROCK! Like, seriously hardcore ROCK! I’m so bummed that this one wasn’t that great..
I just got this one for review this week, I’m not a fan of title ‘mock ups’ but I heard that its pretty cute. I guess I’ll have to lower my expectations then.
Nonetheless, lovely review, Ashley! <33
I really hope you like it a bit more than I did! 🙂
Ah, sorry you didn’t like it. I really enjoyed it but I have to say it did feel like something was missing. And I wasn’t really satisfied with the whole resolution with Drew.
I’m glad you enjoyed it a bit more! Yeah I have no idea what was up with Drew.. his whole character was really weird!
I liked him before we found out he was an agent. Afterwards though it seemed like he kind of degraded into a wimp…. I hate it when that happens.
I read one of Talia Vance’s mythology books, and I wasn’t a fan, so I’m sorry you didn’t love this one as much as you expected D: I can definitely see where you’re complaining because the lack of interest would probably bother me too (it would probably bother everyone actually lol). I’m sorry this one just made you feel dissatisfied, too, I hate when you feel completely and totally “meh” about something D:
OH WAIT! I forgot to say:
Awesome review, Ashley! I still don’t understand how you make such amazing graphics to go with your reviews *falls over*
Thanks Eileen! Bummer that her other book wasn’t great either. 🙁 It sucks because it’s such a cool idea!
And squee! Thanks! Making graphics is like sooo much fun!
I will likely end up reading this at some point. I tend to love spy novels, and I don’t even know why really. They just draw me in. I’m glad to see a book with great supporting characters like Mary Chris! That’s so cool. 🙂