TL;DR: I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since I first heard about it and I’m glad that I finally read it. While there were elements I wanted more of I found myself enjoying this a lot! I especially loved the chemistry between Dorsey and Liza and I ate their romance up. The angst, tension, the way the atmosphere in the room changed when they came into contact, their peak horniness—honestly, it was a fun sexual vibe! 🥵 The Bennett family was a mess in their usual way but I appreciated the inclusion of modern issues such as gentrification and the way the story was conveyed through alternating POVs and mixed media. Overall, this was a witty, funny, and entertaining P&P retelling and I can’t wait to read more by this author!

I admit that it took me a minute to get into the story and feel invested in the characters but when I did, I sped through it and finished it in less than a day. This does rely heavily on the original but I enjoyed the way Payne implanted the story into a modern setting with a few twists to the character arcs. I loved that we got dual POVs because it gave so much more insight into Dorsey’s and Liza’s characters, particularly Dorsey’s and the very cold, confused, snobby exterior that he presents throughout much of the story. I loved Liza’s radio host gig and the way she used her social media popularity to effect change in her neighbourhood. I admired her grit and tenacity and while I always rooted for her to grow and find success, there were also more than a few times when I wanted to give her a couple of good shakes when her stubbornness and pride kept getting in her way.

In lots of ways, Dorsey is similar to her with his pride and prejudice and for a while there, he was truly an insufferable prick. 😂 But as his arc evolves, we learn about his insecurities being the Filipino adopted son of a rich white family, and his struggles to fit in and live up to the family name now that it’s just him and Gigi. Deep down, under all that uppity persona, he’s just this incredibly nerdy bundle of nerves and anxiety, who’s doing what he doesn’t want to do only to keep his family legacy alive. He’s a completely besotted fool for Liza and I loved seeing him unravel every time she came near him.

While the story revolves around the protests against the gentrification of Liza’s neighbourhood, their romance also takes centre stage. The insatiable longing, lust and feelings they keep hidden from each other and the public had me in a heckuva hold! First of all, these two were horny AF and Dorsey especially so. 😂 But Payne wrote their chemistry so well that it was off the charts! The mutual pining, the secret text messages, the 36 questions to fall in love, and the passion… All of it was just so well written and the combination resulted in some incendiary moments that I swore would have my Kindle melting from all the heat.

As I mentioned before, there were some elements I wanted more of and while I think it would’ve made this a solid 5-star read for me and perhaps even a new favourite this year, it didn’t end up influencing how I felt about this too much. That said, I wish that the relationships beyond the romance had been explored more. Liza and Janae traditionally have a very close bond but in this book, it felt very distanced and I missed their connection a lot! I also wished that Gigi, who was incredible, got even more page time. I loved her arc and I wanted to know so much more about her and see more of her relationship with Dorsey because they had such a great sibling connection. Some side characters got their ARCs fleshed out a bit more here (Deya) but most of them were props to push the story along and I’m bummed that the whole WIC storyline felt so undercooked and unbelievable. I didn’t for a second believe that WIC had a hold over Liza and yet the arc went on for so long! The man couldn’t even fake investment in a second and neither could I.

Overall, I’m so glad I finally read this. It gave me all the delicious butterflies that I hadn’t felt in a while and it was so good to feel! 😍 I can’t wait to read the next retelling by Payne. I wonder if we’ll get any cameos from some of these characters and if so how many we’ll get—I’m eager to find out!

Have you read Pride and Protest? Is it on your TBR or does it sound like something you’d enjoy reading?

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