The Season
-
-
4.2 • 21 Ratings
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
“A fun, modern take on Pride and Prejudice.”—Jojo Moyes, bestselling author of Me Before You
In this hilarious reboot of Pride and Prejudice, Megan McKnight is a soccer star with Olympic dreams. When her Southern belle mother secretly enters her as a debutante for the 2016 deb season in their hometown of Dallas, she’s furious—and has no idea what she’s in for.
Megan’s attitude swiftly gets her on probation with the mother hen of the debs, and she’s given a month to prove she can ballroom dance, display impeccable manners, and curtsey like a proper Texas lady or she’ll get the boot and disgrace her family. The perk of being a debutante, of course, is going to parties, and it’s at one of these lavish affairs where Megan gets swept off her feet by the debonair and down-to-earth Hank Waterhouse. If only she didn’t have to contend with a backstabbing blonde and her handsome but surly billionaire boyfriend, Megan thinks, being a deb might not be so bad after all. But that’s before she humiliates herself in front of a room full of ten-year-olds, becomes embroiled in a media-frenzy scandal, and gets punched in the face by another girl.
The season has officially begun…but the drama is just getting started. Find out for yourself why this pitch-perfect blend of scandal, romance, and humor is being hailed as the best Austen adaptation since Clueless.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Megan McKnight (standing in for Elizabeth Bennet) is a college soccer star and tomboy whose mother demands she go through the prestigious Dallas debutante season with her twin sister, Julia, representing Jane. Megan and Julia are debutante royalty all of the women in their family have been debs and live on a struggling cattle ranch, which their mother hopes to sell to solve their financial woes. The Dyers, a married screenwriting team, send the twins to party after lavish party, with suitors swirling around them, including two for Megan (Hank, in place of Mr. Wickham, and Andrew, a Darcy figure). The authors paint Megan in broad strokes, portraying her as the unlikeliest of debs and playing up the physical comedy (Megan goes to her first event of the season with a wicked black eye) before giving her a dramatic transformation from clumsy tomboy to polished but not too polished debutante. Austen fans will enjoy recognizing classic Pride and Prejudice moments and appreciate the message about staying true to oneself. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
The Season
This is a page turner for a mother of a young reader! So much fun!
New Adult - NOT Young Adult
I received an ARC of this book from Penguin First Reads in exchange for an honest review.
When I saw this book up for grabs on Penguin First Reads, I had to have it. Pretty girl in a dress? Debutantes? Yes and YES!
And then I received the book and started reading. Wait a minute…. She’s in college? Wait… How could her parents FORCE her to do this whole debutante thing if she’s a legal adult no longer living under their roof? I was confused.
Early on there is a legitimate reason for Megan going along with her mothers desire for her to make her debut among Texas society, but it still felt like sort of a stretch.
As I read in another review on Goodreads, the targeted audience for this book is confusing. It’s listed as a young adult novel, but it deals with a lot of adult themes that I don’t think most high school kids would identify with. There’s also a lot of sex talk, nothing too graphic, but also really not something all that appropriate for teen books. (Yes, I believe in clean teen reads! I don’t like casual sex in books at all, especially teen books!)
Anyway, once I was able to get past the whole NOT REALLY A TEEN BOOK thing, I started to enjoyed the book. It’s not one that’s going to stay with me forever, but I certainly enjoyed looking for the parallels between this book and Pride & Prejudice. I thought the chapter headings were the best part of the book, witty little one liners such as, “In Which Megan Takes a Long Look in the Mirror” and, “In Which Megan Puts Away Serious Groceries.”
I did appreciate that Megan, who was incredibly prejudiced in the beginning, looking down on the debutante society and all they stand for, was able to gain a new perspective in the end. As I said before, this story won’t stay with me forever, but I always appreciate when the protagonist of the story grows into a better person, and that was very much the case here.
The other thing that bothered me was the lack of interaction between the “Elizabeth” and “Darcy” characters. I wanted more interaction between them, especially earlier on, to really base their relationship/interactions on.
So, would I recommend this book? Yes and No.
I would not recommend The Season to younger teens, but those nearing 18 and through their early 20’s would probably enjoy this book.
Special thanks to Penguin Publishing for the chance to read an advanced e-galley for review.