ARC Review: Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta
Published by Scholastic Inc. on April 19, 2022
Genres: YA Contemporary Romance, YA Retelling
Pages: 320
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

This Pride & Prejudice retelling brings New York Timesbestselling Sayantani DasGupta’s trademark wit and insight to her bright and funny YA debut!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Leela Bose plays to win.

A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile. But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can’t stand him. Unfortunately, he’ll be competing in the state league, so their paths are set to collide.

But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated, though, and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically misjudged the debaters — including Firoze Darcy — and more than just her own winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too.

Debating Darcy is bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta’s reinterpretation of beloved classic Pride and Prejudice — imaginative, hilarious, thought-provoking, and truly reflective of the complex, diverse world of American high school culture.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. I have to point out once again that I’ve never actually read Pride & Prejudice. I’ve seen the movies, and so I can follow along with these books that follow the story pretty well. And this book did such a great job and followed the story so well. The way it delved into the debate and forensics world was so good! It made me think of the team at the last school I worked out and how involved they were in everything. I had to reach out to the teacher at that school who coached those teams and recommend this book to her. The characters all fit into their roles perfectly, and the way some roles were kind of updated or changed to fit the modern day story kept the story new and fresh in that way. For the most part I enjoyed the way the author kept original lines and parts in this. There were a few lines though that seemed a bit too old for high school aged characters in these days though.

Even with those little things, this was such a great book and I can’t wait to recommend it to my students when I purchase it next school year to put on the shelves!