The story was fun and lighthearted and I had a good time reading it.
This was a wonderfully written romantic comedy.
I absolutely loved these characters and really enjoyed getting to know them.
A sweet, funny and heartwarming read!

Why can’t Jane Austen just be a little smuttier? Look our dear Jane was writing in the early 1800s- she wanted to be salacious. She wanted kink. But there was no such thing as smut back then! But in the lord’s year of 2025, we have smut, it is growing in trees and falling from the sky. Why on earth are all the Jane Austen re-tellings devoid of dirty dirty smut?? I need my regency romance remakes rife with ravaging!

This little book is a modernized retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the gorgeous and remote Pippi Beach in Australia. It has all the similar cast of characters as the original Pride all of whom are late teens/early 20s. An interesting twist is that the older generation of mothers and aunts all share the same names and personalities of the original Bennett sisters, which was maybe the most interesting part of this entire book. While I read this from start to finish because I love P&P and am willing to trudge through even the most unexciting retelling, it def wasn’t my fave. The characters were too young, too chaste, too one dimensional. I’m not even convinced any of them actually own genitalia. At times I wondered if this took place in the 1950s or the 2020s based on how vanilla and virginal these youngsters acted.

If you love Jane Austen, this may be worth a perusal, but I wouldn’t rush. However, if you want to introduce a Jane Austen inspired novel to a younger romance reader, this may be good option. But in the future please, baby Jesus, can you give us a little more filth with these Jane Austen re-dos?!

Smut- 0.11 stars
Romance- 2.91 stars
Story- 2.05 stars
Rate R Jane Austen spice- 12.86 stars

2.5 stars ⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and, Angourie and Kate Rice for providing me with an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review

‘Stuck up and Stupid’ is a modern-day reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice which follows Lily and in the beachside town of Pippi Point.

While Stuck Up and Stupid had potential with its clever Austen-inspired premise and modern setting, it ultimately fell short of making a lasting impression. The plot lacked excitement, and the story often felt like it was going through the motions rather than offering something fresh or engaging. Most notably, the characters didn’t feel fully developed, making it hard to get emotionally invested in their journeys. Though there are glimpses of charm and humor, the book didn’t quite deliver the depth or spark it seemed to promise.

DNF at 53%.

Too many characters with not enough personality to them. It made this being in third person POV even worse. The dialogue fell flat. Even with the story's Pride and Prejudice similarities, I wasn't invested enough to see where the characters would end up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun idea that needed a little polishing.

While I definitely love a good Pride and Prejudice retelling, this one might be a little too close; it follows the inspiration almost beat for beat.

I do like the updates: Lily is the daughter of Lydia, who is very like the Lydia of the original novel, right down to the personalities of her four sisters. It is very easy to see who is the Collins character, the Charlotte character, etc. The new version of the story, set in a small oceanside Australian town, does work. The characters work in their modern setting, and the problems flow naturally.

As with the original story, this one comes to a satisfying conclusion. This time, Lydia actually learns a lesson and is penitent, which I like.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Lying, irresponsible parents, drinking, sex outside of marriage. LGBTQ representation. Mild swearing. There’s nothing here I wouldn’t want my teenager to read.
Who Might Like This Book:
Pride and Prejudice fans, of course. But also those who like interesting family dynamics and the enemies to lovers trope.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my opinion.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-good-week-for-readers.html

Thank you to Candlewick Publishing for the advanced E-ARC of this book.
Unfortunately, the format was such that I couldn't finish this book. There were missing letters and words that made it extremely difficult to ignore.
What I did read, this felt like it had good bones, but not enough layers to the characters. The flow felt really rushed and it seemed that each paragraph jumped from one idea to the next. That could have been the formatting issue, however.

I love an Austen retelling. This one has some interesting twists. The main characters don't spend a lot of time with each other and their relationship development is a little weak. That could be said of Pride and Prejudice too but our expectations for romance novels has changed. I liked the quirky setting and strong female characters. The Collins reimagining in particular was my favorite. I love celebrity romances and liked the Hollywood/film industry backdrop.

Thank you to Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink | Candlewick and NetGalley for this eARC.

Unfortunately, I ended up DNFing Stuck Up & Stupid. While I appreciated the concept—a modern, Aussie take on Pride and Prejudice with timely themes like fame and social media—the execution didn’t work for me.

I struggled to connect with the flow of the story. The pacing felt jumpy and disjointed, making it difficult to stay engaged. Transitions between scenes lacked smoothness, which took me out of the narrative more than once. Despite the promising premise and relevant themes, I just couldn’t find the rhythm that would pull me into the characters’ journey.

This one just wasn’t for me, but I can see how younger readers or fans of contemporary YA retellings might still enjoy the unique setting and concept.

I wanted to love this. Australian setting, Pride & Prejudice retelling, Hollywood guy meets local girl, it should’ve worked but unfortunately it didn't for me and I'm reallysorry about it. Everything felt shallow. Dorian was not that charming, Lily was underdeveloped, and the side characters were pure chaos. The romance felt forced, like they argued a few times and suddenly it’s love. The writing style was my biggest issue.

I don't want to sound harsh but this wasn't really for me. So sorry. Thank you so much to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early. I’m sharing my thoughts voluntarily and with genuine appreciation

I have so many thoughts on this book! Some of them fun, some of them less positive but I shall rip into my review right now...

Let's start with the positives, there is an absolutely gorgeous sense of community and genuine family chemistry/dynamic that is woven throughout this whole book. I find it's rare, particularly in romance books, to have such a focus on the characters that surround the two love interests (let alone the entire community) but it really felt like Lily's family and community were such a central part of this story which was refreshing. Also the family characters are all so funny! 'Mum, he's an Oscar nominee', 'So? Let me know when he wins' was particularly funny to me. I also enjoyed when Lydia is talking about Cecilia and Lydia barks 'Ha! She couldn't influence me to stand on one leg!' Another witty line came from Lily when Nicola is teasing her and she says 'you should be a chef, Nicola. Always stirring the pot.' Nicola has a great retort to that comment too ('you should be a dad, Lily. Always making terrible jokes and avoiding talking about feelings.')

A couple plot points that I wasn't crazy about. Firstly, it felt wildly unrealistic that Juliet had to stay over with Casey at his house after literally falling over. Especially since she lived so close! I get this was to develop the Juliet/Casey romance subplot but it felt so silly that she was playing damsel in distress because she'd twisted her ankle and thus ends up staying at Casey's for ages. Also, another thing that bordered on unrealistic for me was that Lily immediately believes what Alex says about Dorian, the first time she meets him. She both defends and is gullible to a literal stranger? C'mon Lily!

Also, on the topic of plot, it did kind of feel like nothing happened. We essentially follow Lily having a chill time in Australia to Lily then having a chill time in America. All the girls, for the majority of the book were either holidaying or vibing which is cool but it just felt like the book floated above the realms of reality and real life responsibilities. Despite being easy to fly through, I think the plot lacked depth overall which lessened my affection for the book overall. It also felt like the men all had serious film-related careers but the women (with the exception of Stacy) existed without any career or life outside of gossip - similar to a Victorian woman. Nicole literally agrees to pack up her life in Aus and move in with Wilson in America immediately...huh?

Another area that I wasn't particularly blown away by was the character development. I felt like, due to the third person POV, we didn't really get under the skin of how any of the characters were feeling or their personalities. Because of this, I didn't really feel attached to Lily or Dorian or even any of the side characters. Saying that, some characters did make strong impressions (I'm looking at you, Wilson) but for awful reasons. Wilson was a memorable character but that is because he possessed this weird, delusional, overpowering brand of obsession with Lily that was impossible to miss. He literally assaults her and lunges at her to kiss her - like was that really necessary? I really don't understand the importance or relevance of having a character that was consistently so awful. Also, why doesn't he have to take responsibility for his actions? I was absolutely fuming when Charlotte warns Lily to keep her distance because Charlotte can get Wilson 'to leave you alone. But I can't get him to like it.' He's a grown man and she's literally 18, please.

I also really wasn't a fan of Lily's mum, Lydia. I know she became more likeable towards the middle-end of the book but she is frankly intolerable throughout. Not only is she straight up mean to Lily in multiple scenes, the most notable is when she tells Lily - who is 18, just to remind you - that some guy is out of her league! What? Pure insanity. I could dwell on her abandoning Lily's younger sister but I think I would run out of life by the time I finished that rant.

I think one of the biggest contributing factors to my 2 star rating was the lack of chemistry and banter between Lily and Dorian. For the first half of the book, maybe even longer, Lily and Dorian are enemies. But I'm not even sure if you could class their relationship as 'enemies' because it just consists of Lily hating on him constantly and him being awkwardly shy. There was no chemistry and no good vibes that would even set the foundations for a spark later down the line. Because of this, when Dorian is into Lily it feels so silly and out of place. He asks her to be with him after she essentially gives him the cold shoulder and it's so bizarre to me. Don't get me started on when Lily confesses her love for Dorian after there being no hint whatsoever that she seems him romantically let alone full on loves him...what?!?! Also there's a miscommunication trope where Lily essentially doesn't see Dorian for who he really is because she's based her entire impression of him off of gossip from people she doesn't even know! It's insane.

At times, this book felt like a fictional encyclopaedia of problematic men but at other times it felt fun and light. It definitely had moments of humour but the pacing of the plot and shallow character depth didn't do it for me personally.

im not sure on this one. im not sure it hit the write notes. but i never quite new why. i didnt know whether it really was too young so the depth i crave was lost, or couldnt be added because it needed to be plicable for a younger audience.
it felt like it was trying to be a take on the pride and prejudice but in name only. i didnt get many or any of the links really. but again was that to make it relevant for a younger audience.
it wasnt bad. it just wasnt enough or it didnt grab me.
the thing is i didnt not enjoy it. and looking at it now i do think my younger self would have enjoyed it. and it is for that age group so all in all its a success.
i think im far too used to young adult hooking me in.

The ARC that I received was impossible to read. It had letters missing from words every line and disjointed sentences. I could not get one sentence completed. I know that is a formatting problem and obviously no reflection of the book or the authors. I will have to wait and read a completed and edited title for this one.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A lighthearted YA Pride & Prejudice retelling set in Australia that is sure to hit great for the summer beach reading teens. I enjoyed this North American re-release as a die-hard Austen fan and found it fluffy and funny with the perfect amount of snark/banter between the two love interests. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was a brilliant book!
As soon as I saw it listed I was hoping I would be accepted! Thank you for the ARC copy of this I really appreciate it!

What a fun light-hearted summer romance. It’s based on 'Pride and Prejudice' with the main characters being in the generation after the five Bennett sisters. The mothers share the same names as the girls in Jane Austen's classic – Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary and Catherine – but it does get a bit complicated with all the cousins in the next generation. Lydia's daughter Lily is our heroine and she is a gem! Lydia might be shallow and a bit flighty but Lily is certainly not. The setting reminded me of Palm Beach, north of Sydney, and the long summer school holidays where all the wealthy Sydneysiders landed for weeks at a time - so nostalgic 💕

With so many characters, it’s all pretty light and there’s not a lot of depth in anybody but it’s still a promising romp. Essentially film star people come to the beach and the various plot elements of 'Pride and Prejudice' play out. This is a debut for mother-daughter team Kate and Angourie and it’ll be fun to see what they come up with next.

Thank you Kate and Angourie Rice, and Candlewick for the ARC. Opinions on my own.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I did not enjoy the story, unfortunately, and could not continue. Thank you for the opportunity and consideration.

This was really poorly written, super hard to understand what was going on, no real introduction to any characters, really shallow plot line as well

I found this book to be quite challenging to engage with. Despite my hopes that the story would improve as I continued reading, it unfortunately didn’t resonate with me. It felt like the authors were attempting to portray characters with mindsets reflective of the 1700s, which didn't mesh well with the modern setting, making the story feel somewhat inauthentic.

Additionally, I struggled with the romance between Dorian and Lily. Given their age difference—she's in high school and he's 24—I found it difficult to relate to their connection. Their feelings seemed intense, yet their interactions were minimal, which left me questioning the authenticity of their love. Moreover, the subplot involving Lily's mother running away with a 22-year-old felt like a major turning point that I found hard to accept. Overall, I believe the story could benefit from a more cohesive approach to character development and age-appropriate relationships.