Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies takes Jane Austen's classic romantic tale of first impressions, and twists it into a fun mess of action, romance, and gore.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

A mysterious plague has fallen upon England causing the dead to rise from the grave and devour the living. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennett is determined to rid her country of this fearful curse and wipe out the zombie menace. But she is soon distracted by the arrival of the arrogant Mr Darcy. Can Elizabeth rid her country of zombies and overcome the social prejudices of her class-conscious society?

Part of the new Quirk Classics collection, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, was an entertainingly twisted retelling of Jane Austen's original romantic classic. It's basically just the same story, but with the added element of action and gore.

It's written to be not as challenging as Pride and Prejudice, which I personally found rather difficult to follow when I first read it. The language is not as dated as the original tale, making this book one that you actually wanted to read. I sort of wish we'd studied this in year 10 as oppose to Pride and Prejudice, I would have actually understood what was going on.

The book features illustrations that can be a little bit too detailed at times, especially the ones depicting the Unmentionables devouring the bodies of those whom they've just killed, but this just goes hand in hand with the graphic scenes the write has created with words:

"She delivered a vicious blow, penetrating his rib cage, and withdrew her hand - with the ninja's still-beating heart in it. As all but Lady Catherine turned away in disgust, Elizabeth took a bite, letting the blood run down her chin and onto her sparring gown."

How can you not be intrigued by that? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a an exciting book filled with action, romance, ninjas, sword fights, cannibalism, and of course, thousands upon thousands of zombies. A brilliant, albeit grim and twisted retelling of the original tale of first impressions and overcoming prejudice in society, I was completely enthralled the whole way through.