first line: As his beloved Elizabeth shattered the nearest zombie's skull with a perfectly placed axe kick, Fitzwilliam Darcy saw in her eyes something that had been missing for a long, long time: joie de vivre.
rated: 4 out of 5 stars
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and its prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, were both New York Times best sellers, with a combined 1.3 million copies in print. Now the PPZ trilogy comes to a thrilling conclusion with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After.
Dreadfully Ever After is the third and final installment in the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trilogy. What can I say, other than this trilogy has been a fun and quirky ride?
Dreadfully Ever After starts off with a happily married Elizabeth and Darcy visiting the Bingley's, who I might add have four children. Elizabeth is no longer allowed to slay zombies in public especially, since she is now a married woman and doing so is frowned upon when she has a perfectly capable husband to slay the undead for her.
On the walk home, Darcy is bitten by a zombie child. Lizzie refuses to do what she is supposed to do to anyone who has been bitten by an unmentionable. She cannot bear to slice her beloveds head off with her katana. Instead Lizzie contacts Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, since there is rumor she has access to a cure for the disease.
Lady Catherine agrees to help Darcy, but she does have a few stipulations, the first being she take him back to her home and away from Lizzie, who she still hates. Elizabeth and her sister Kitty are supposed to be seductresses as well, getting the zombie cure from its creator, Sir Angus MacFarquhar, and his son Bunny.
Lady Catherine sees this as an opportunity to get rid of Lizzie and ruin her reputation once and for all. It's also her chance to get her sickly daughter, Anne, near Darcy.
I thoroughly enjoyed Dreadfully Ever After. Having read the first two books in this trilogy, I was eager to get to this one. I laughed out loud as I read and the book kept me hooked wondering what would happen next. The illustrations within the book add that 'special touch'. Author Steve Hockensmith combines two of my favorite things: Pride & Prejudice and zombies. What's most impressive is that what started as inserting zombies into Austen's beloved novel Pride & Prejudice, has spurned two other books that have a life of their own.
I think this is a great conclusion to the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trilogy. It was funny, quirky and Austen's beloved characters stay true to form, though most are highly trained warriors. Lizzie's dainty parasol conceals well hidden razor blades and a small sword in its center. I'm actually sad to see it all end.
Not everyone in Derbyshire had accepted the warrior woman of inferior birth who had married their precious Fitzwilliam Darcy. Even after years at Pemberly House-years in which she'd never once worn her katana in public-she still caught the occasional whiff of disapproval. The resentment seemed to stir up most whenever her mother visited, yet Elizabeth could never be sure when it might arise.
-p.22
Giveaway:
Quirkbooks has commissioned Etsy artist SpecialMeat to create Dreadful Antidote pendants.
If you go to Facebook and 'like' the Dreadfully Ever After page, you will be signed up to win a special Dreadful Antidote pendant. Eight winners will be chosen! Good luck!
