Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is exactly what you would think it to be.  Take Pride and Prejudice, add zombies, and whah-la, you've got yourself a hit!  In theory, it sounds like a humorous idea.  In execution it just didn't quite click with me.

Don't get me wrong.  There are definitely funny parts.  Instead of quaint things like reading and piano playing, the Bennet sisters are now trained in the deadly arts of zombie destruction.  And unlike Pride and Prejudice, where the army just sat around flirting with women, they actually have a reason to be around all the time.  This all leads to various zombie antics throughout the story, some of which can be quite entertaining.

Yet, on the whole, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just doesn't seem to work.  For one reason, the book is very literally the title.  95% of the book is the pure Pride and Prejudice text with very little originality thrown in.  At most you will get a page of new material or a few words tossed in, but overall you are reading Pride and Prejudice.  Now, that is not a bad thing, but it is odd considering the target audience of this book.  It certainly doesn't seem to be aimed at Pride and Prejudice fans (the back of the book says it, "...transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.").  But for those people who detest Pride and Prejudice, I highly doubt they would enjoy this book.

The reason the book doesn't work for me is due to how jarring the "zombie" aspect of the book can be.  As mentioned above, you could be reading pages of original Pride and Prejudice material when suddenly the book makes a quick mention Elizabeth wanting to bite into the beating heart of a defeated enemy.  It just doesn't fit right.  These occurrences sometimes stand out so blatantly it is like reading a Mad Lib puzzle.  Too often the new text is not spliced in seamlessly and it breaks the illusion of the book.  It should be noted that as you progress through the book the jarring feeling does wear off a bit, but whether that is due to a better execution or just getting used to it, I'm not sure.

In the case of this book, less does not seem to be more.  Perhaps if they took the Pride and Prejudice story (as opposed to the straight text) and added zombie elements, it would have flown better.  Or even just trying to intersperse more of what they already did so it isn't so clunky would have been an improvement.  As is, I would estimate there are twenty pages at most of original content.  I cannot help but feel it comes off as a little lazy and a little gimmicky.

If you don't like Pride and Prejudice, I would skip this book for sure.  If you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice, and don't mind having a light-hearted laugh, then this might be worth a read.  As I said, it does indeed have some funny parts and improves the further you read, but it is a joke that quickly grows old.