Book Review: Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne

Pride and Protest
Publisher: Berkley
Pub Date: 15 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Retelling

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

๐Ÿ“– SYNOPSIS

Liza Bโ€“The Only DJ That Gives a Jamโ€”wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But her planned protest at their corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering hot CEO for the waitstaff. When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks flyโ€”but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but sheโ€™ll settle for getting him out of her head.

At first, Dorsey writes Liza Bennett off as an over-caffeinated woke weekend warrior. As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family, heโ€™s always felt a bit out of place, and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Lizaโ€™s protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionist is the most real woman heโ€™s ever met.

โš ๏ธ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Family death (recounted), racism, microaggressions, classism, incarceration (briefly recounted), explicit sexual content

TL;DR:ย 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 horninessโ€”honestly, it was a fun sexual vibe! ๐Ÿฅต 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!

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