I've always been intrigued by Shakespeare; particularly his tragedies, histories and sonnets. A retelling of Romeo and Juliet intrigued me and I knew I had to give this one a shot. The major changes to the story are that Juliet is 18 rather than 14 and it takes place in Florence rather than Verona.
I was not overly impressed with this one. I couldn't really get into the voice of Juliet. At 18. she doesn't sound like a woman but her actions seemed very immature. I can put up with such behavior from a 14 year old, but at 18, it seems a bit much. I wasn't expecting to have such a strong reaction to that though.
Some of the chapters are told from Romeo's perspective, which I liked more than Juliet's but it still didn't mesh with me. What I did like about the novel was that Juliet was quite obsessed with the works of Dante. I love when characters in books love literature. It's a weird paradox, but I do love it.
I do think that the plot of the novel is pretty good and that there will be tons of people who would love this book. I am quite willing to concede that I am probably the exception and not the rule. I also wouldn't rule out reading more titles from this author. I think that reading a retelling is very hit or miss especially when it's characters that I've adored, I'm quite biased to preconceived ideas.
I was not overly impressed with this one. I couldn't really get into the voice of Juliet. At 18. she doesn't sound like a woman but her actions seemed very immature. I can put up with such behavior from a 14 year old, but at 18, it seems a bit much. I wasn't expecting to have such a strong reaction to that though.
Some of the chapters are told from Romeo's perspective, which I liked more than Juliet's but it still didn't mesh with me. What I did like about the novel was that Juliet was quite obsessed with the works of Dante. I love when characters in books love literature. It's a weird paradox, but I do love it.
I do think that the plot of the novel is pretty good and that there will be tons of people who would love this book. I am quite willing to concede that I am probably the exception and not the rule. I also wouldn't rule out reading more titles from this author. I think that reading a retelling is very hit or miss especially when it's characters that I've adored, I'm quite biased to preconceived ideas.
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