Author: Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: purchased
My grade: B+
Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush will relish this intense paranormal love story featuring Romeo and Juliet, literary history's most tragic couple, who meet again, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.
The most tragic love story in history . . .
Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.
"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (cover and description from www.goodreads.com)
Initial reaction
Whew! There for a bit I was really worried about just how this book would end!!!
Cover story
I love the cover on this. It is beautiful and it is evocative of Juliet. In this case, because of the character, the girl in a dress actually works. I also like the title. It grabbed my attention right away.
What’s the story?
Let me preface this review by saying that I am a total Shakespeare buff. How I love The Bard! And even though it is over done and totally cliché, I still love Romeo and Juliet. So when I read the tagline, “The greatest love story ever told is a lie”, I knew I HAD to read this book.
And I really, really liked this book. It was such an interesting twist on the story. I love the way Stacey Jay took just bits and pieces of Shakespeare and turned it into something completely different. Which is great because isn’t that what Shakespeare himself did? He took other stories and made them his own and that is what has happened in this book.
I can’t really say that I loved any of the characters in the book, but I can state with absolute certainty that these are some very interesting characters. I probably like Juliet better than the rest, but at times I even got frustrated with her. It was very much like the original though. Sometimes Romeo and Juliet were so stupid and the same holds true in this book.
The book pulled me in at the very beginning and I dove right into it. There were some places in the middle that felt a little convoluted, hence the B+, but then the storyline started to reach a climax and the novel was gripping! The ending? Perfect! I was literally holding my breath for pages and pages, worried about how it would all turn out. I also like the way that a minor character from the play makes a big splash at the end and I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers!
This was a darn good read and I immediately picked up the sequel, Romeo Redeemed.
The Soundtrack
Breath by Breaking Benjamin
From the Inside by Linkin Park
Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik
Linger by The Cranberries
Now for the happier songs….
Check Yes Juliet by We the Kings
Heaven Can Wait by We the Kings
The Final Grade
My grade for this one is a B+. Honestly, I waffled back and forth between B+
and an A-. I went with the B+ just
because I didn’t squeal like a fangirl when I reached the end and because the
plot felt just a little dense in the middle.
But make no mistake—a B is above average and this book is definitely
above average!
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