Book · 1813
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
A prideful landowner insults a woman at a dance, then spends the rest of the book making it up to her.
What does Reddit think of Pride and Prejudice?
r/RomanceBooks has a whole vocabulary for what makes a fictional apology work, and Pride and Prejudice keeps coming up as the standard nobody's topped. One long comment (↑396) uses it to explain why 'the grovel' usually fails elsewhere: too often the apology centers the male lead's feelings, not righting the specific wrong. Austen's version, by that account, gets the order right. r/suggestmeabook runs a plainer argument: one comment (↑409) just calls it 'the canonical example,' another (↑401) walks through Darcy starting 'as an ass' and earning his ending through actual behavior change, not a grand gesture. Not everyone's warmed to it the same way, though. A separate r/RomanceBooks thread is openly sick of 'gimmicky Jane Austen retellings,' a complaint about the adaptations, not the book. A ↑429 tangent about a bad fan-sequel, Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife, exists mostly as its own bathroom-spider horror story.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · the grovel done right: apology as changed behavior, not a grand gesture
- · Darcy's arc from insult to earned respect
- · Austen as the romance genre's reference point
- · fatigue with the retelling industry the book spawned
Common praise
- + One r/RomanceBooks comment uses it to define what a good literary apology actually requires, and credits Austen with getting there first.
- + r/suggestmeabook keeps calling it 'the canonical example' without needing to justify the label any further.
- + Darcy's arc gets cited specifically for showing change through behavior, not a speech, in one detailed comment (↑401).
Common criticism
- − One RomanceBooks thread is openly done with 'gimmicky Jane Austen retellings,' fatigue aimed at the adaptation industry the book spawned.
- − A fan-written spinoff discussed in one comment, Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife, gets called 'profoundly bad' by the person who tried it.
- − Some of the goodwill here comes from readers admitting they expected to dislike it, which reads as relief more than a ringing endorsement.
Who it's for
If you've rolled your eyes at 'enemies to lovers' as a trend, r/RomanceBooks points to this as the version the trope actually earns its keep in. Give Darcy the full book before judging him: one detailed comment tracks his change from 'an ass' to someone who's actually done the work, not just apologized for it. Steer clear of the spinoffs unless you enjoy secondhand embarrassment; the one fan-sequel discussed here didn't survive eighty pages. Come in expecting a 'weird hangup' about assigned classics and you might leave, per one comment, pleasantly wrong.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
- r/suggestmeabook 4,826
- r/RomanceBooks 2,217
- r/booksuggestions 2,048
- r/Fantasy 236
- r/YAlit 217
- r/TrueLit 143
- r/printSF 33
- r/horrorlit 22
Which Reddit comments matter for Pride and Prejudice?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“*Pride and Prejudice* is darn good, as someone who had the same weird hangup as a younger person.
“This feels silly. Pride and Prejudice is hilarious and has scenes that made my jaw drop from the drama.
“{Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen}
“I once read about 80 pages of a Jane Austen fan fiction sequel to Pride and Prejudice, called Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife. Think Lydia tells all her sisters about sex. It was so profoundly bad, and I remember I was reading it in the bathroom, a spider fell on me and I had a big startle response, and the …
“It's old but tbh "Pride and Prejudice." The male protagonist starts off as an ass (in my view not quite an a******), but a big part of the book is how he and the female protagonist become better, more empathetic people.
“**I’ve always been uncomfortable with the grovel because too often the act becomes about the ML’s desires and the FL capitulating to them rather righting the original wrong that hurt her in the first place.** This is why no one will ever surpass **{Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen}**. The ML fuc…
“Pride and prejudice hands down- It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife
“i hate myself for this but...have u... tried......what about {pride and prejudice}
“Oh, Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet, of course... they’re the ones who got me into romance in the first place {Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen}
“Pride and Prejudice fits the bill, if you haven't read it yet!
“Pride and Prejudice. I hadn't read any of Austen's works, and while she is very highly acclaimed, I was expecting a very stuff classic but found the wittiest, most timeless rom com instead!
“You know what? And I’m not at all being facetious here: Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is told that there’s an onus on her and her sisters to get married to secure their future; but as the sole, principal reason for marriage, she’s not having any of it. We know how it all ends of course, but nobo…
“Pride and prejudice. Funny, witty, sweet. I'm a Jane Austen fan.
““Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility” capture the experiences of women who are just past young. Still marriageable, but heading toward spinsterhood. “Persuasion” portrays a couple whose road to happiness is blocked at every turn and it’s almost too late. It’s masterfully done.
“Jane Eyre is a personal favorite that I read a couple year before it was assigned reading. Pride and Prejudice is a crowd-pleaser.
Convinced? Pick up Pride and Prejudice
Readers also mention
All books like Pride and Prejudice →Books that share discussion threads with Pride and Prejudice — counted from the comments, not curated.
Pride and Prejudice — frequently asked
Is Pride and Prejudice actually good, or is it just a classic you're supposed to like?+
Actually good, per multiple independent threads. One r/suggestmeabook comment (↑612) says it's 'darn good' despite the commenter's own resistance to assigned classics when younger. Another (↑409) just calls it 'the canonical example' without further argument. Nobody in these excerpts frames it as an obligation read; the praise reads like people who expected less.
What does r/RomanceBooks mean when it calls Pride and Prejudice the best 'grovel'?+
It means Pride and Prejudice sets the bar for how an apology arc should work. One detailed r/RomanceBooks comment (↑396) argues the trope usually fails because the grovel centers the male lead's feelings instead of righting the original wrong, and credits Austen's version with avoiding that trap. That's a specific technical compliment, not general praise.
Is Mr. Darcy a good romantic lead in Pride and Prejudice, or does he stay an ass the whole book?+
He starts as one, and the book is Reddit's evidence he doesn't stay that way. One r/suggestmeabook comment (↑401) describes him starting off 'as an ass' before both leads 'become better, more empathetic people,' crediting the change to demonstrated behavior rather than a single speech.
Are Reddit readers tired of Pride and Prejudice adaptations and retellings?+
Some are, specifically about the adaptation industry rather than the book itself. One r/RomanceBooks comment (↑396) says it's 'gimmicky Jane Austen retellings' that have gone too far, not Pride and Prejudice. A separate commenter (↑429) tried a fan-written sequel and called it 'profoundly bad.'