I read this über popular, utterly strange adaption of Jane Austen’s classic around Thanksgiving. Do I think it improves upon the original story, one of my favorite books of all time? No. Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes. But I’m not really sure if I enjoyed it because of all the extra zombie mayhem, or if it was just rereading the wonderful text by Jane Austen that still remains in this book (85% of the original text remains).

I love a zombie apocalypse as much as the next gal, but I’m not convinced I need it invading my beloved works of literature. I was tickled by Grahame-Smith’s colorful descriptions of Lady Catherine’s ninja army and the Bennet sisters’ training in China, but then when the book jumped back to Austen’s writing I found myself wishing I was just reading the original. The zombie bits were popcorn, just over-the-top fun. But I quickly started feeling like they were just getting in the way of the classic Austen novel, which I absolutely prefer. I’m glad I read it, but I’ll take the original any day.