Pulse and Prejudice – a review

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Pulse and Prejudice by Colette L. Saucier for Netgalley.com.

I really did not want to like this book. As a die-hard Pride and Prejudice fan I have always felt that there should be no messing with the perfection of the original tale. But while I love my precious original version I must admit to having my interest piqued by the spin off tales I’ve been seeing in recent years.

Pulse and prejudice appealed to me because I enjoy a good supernatural novel and the idea of Mr Darcy as a vampire appealed probably more than I care to admit.

I started the book thinking it would be a waste of time and was prepared to scoff at what I thought would be a bumbling attempt at reinventing the wheel. I’m not ashamed to admit how very wrong I was.

I LOVED Pulse and Prejudice and having just finished it, feel I need to read it again!

I found it fascinating how the author managed to completely explain the original Mr Darcy’s behaviour by turning him into a vampire. Suddenly he became so much more likeable from the early pages rather than part way through the book. We see such depth and complexity to his character that I now realise was lacking in the original telling of the tale. But then again, Jane Austen could not have shown more of Darcy’s character and inner depth because her version was written almost entirely in Elizabeth Bennet’s point of view.

I found it disconcerting how the author seemed to use chunks of prose and dialogue from the original novel. I did however, think the use of quotes from famous poets and playwrights was a clever touch that showed how much research had gone into the novel.

The vampiric elements of the novel were cleverly interwoven into the storyline so that the reader can almost believe that Jane Austen herself must have known Mr Darcy was a vampire and forgot to tell us.

I was shocked by the love scenes between Darcy and Elizabeth because there were none in the original version and I hadn’t expected there to be any in the new version.  While said love scenes brought the novel into the modern world I felt that these, along with the other intimate moments between Elizabeth and Darcy helped to  portray a closer connection between them. The intimate scenes also fed the readers appetite for the romance that many felt to be lacking in Mr Darcy and Elizabeth’s declaration of love for each other close to the end of the original novel.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this novel it seems a shame that others might read it before reading Jane Austen’s version and assuming Colette L. Saucier the genius who invented such interesting characters. Other than that I loved this novel and can’t wait to read it again.

*Please note that while I was able to read this book for free for review, I will always express my honest opinion.  If I don’t like a product or an item I review I will say why and be honest about it. *

Bright blessings,

Mama R

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