Header image with four cats and the text: Pussreboots, a book review nearly every day. Online since 1997
Now 2025 Previous Articles Road Essays Road Reviews Author Black Authors Title Source Age Genre Series Format Inclusivity LGBTA+ Art Portfolio Purchase Art WIP

Recent posts


Month in review

Reviews
All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo and Vanessa Johansson (Narrator)
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 3: League of Shadows by James Tynion IV
Blind Descent by Nevada Barr and Barbara Rosenblat (Narrator)
Book, Line and Sinker by Jenn McKinlay and Allyson Ryan (Narrator)
A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle
Clammed Up by Barbara Ross and Dana Rosenberg (Narrator)
The Collectors by Jacqueline West
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer and Tamaryn Payne (Narrator)
Every Bird a Prince by Jenn Reese
Galaxy Next Door, Volume 1 by Gido Amagakure
Harmony and Heartbreak by Claire Kann
Kowloon Generic Romance, Volume 1 by Jun Mayuzuki and Amanda Haley (Translator)
Lead-Pipe Cinch by Christy Evans
Mazebook by Jeff Lemire
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
Passion, Betrayal And Killer Highlights by Kyra Davis and Gabra Zackman (Narrator)
Picturing a Nation by Martin W. Sandler
Prancer the Demon Chihuahua by Pam Pho and Cloris Chou (Illustrations)
Pulp Friction by Julie Anne Lindsey and Amy Melissa Bentley (Narrator)
Reserved for Murder by Victoria Gilbert
Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton and Tibor Gergely
Socks by Beverly Cleary
The Stolen Show by Carolyn Keene
Sweetness and Lightning Volume 2 by Gido Amagakure and Adam Lensenmayer (Translator)
A Tale of Two Kitties by Sofie Kelly and Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)
The Vanderbeekers Make A Wish by Karina Yan Glaser
Wedding Day Murder by Leslie Meier and Karen White (Narrator)
Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White
The Wrong Kind of Weird by James Ramos

Miscellaneous
December 2022 Sources

December 2022 Summary

Previous month


Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish


Privacy policy

This blog does not collect personal data. It doesn't set cookies. Email addresses are used to respond to comments or "contact us" messages and then deleted.


The Wrong Kind of Weird: 01/23/23

The Wrong Kind of Weird

The Wrong Kind of Weird by James Ramos (2023) is a YA update on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). It's set in Minnesota in a high school, with protagonist Cameron Carson taking the role as Jane Bennett.

To drive home the pastiche, or at least clue the reader in, Cam's school is putting on a play based on Austen's novel. This isn't, though, a book about a play based on a book. The play is there as a thematic hook but it's not the point.

Instead the point is the culture class between different high school cliques. You find your spot and you stay in your spot and the different subgroups don't mingle — ever. That's how these stories are set up (even if my experience as both a high schooler and parent of two high schoolers never bore this trope out in reality).

Cam has broken this cardinal rule by dating a popular girl on the down-low and later making friends with another popular girl when she reveals her true geeky nature. The popular girl geek, Mackenzie, is of course, our Mr. Darcy for this retelling.

Although I'm still not much a fan of the source material, nor have I seen the Colin Firth version, I think The Wrong Kind of Weird falls short as a novel by not leveraging its connection to Austen more. There's so much more that could have been done to discuss class, race, cliques, etc that are only brushed upon here. Instead, much of this novel gets distracted by Cam's mixed feelings about becoming sexually active when his secret girlfriend suggests it.

Three stars

Comments (0)


Lab puppy
Name:
Email (won't be posted):
Blog URL:
Comment:

Tumblr Mastadon Flickr Facebook Facebook Contact me

1997-2025 Sarah Sammis