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amberinpieces's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
leahkarge's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This wasn’t as subversive as it wanted to be.
Juliet keeps her love, which is a perfectly valid option, but is completely judgmental of anyone else’s “choices” in the story and only lends support when called out by Cordelia or Ophelia. Ophelia somehow managed to make her story even more about a man who uses and undervalues her and still dies in the end. Cordelia redeems her father but her sisters, who arguably deserve redemption more, are still vicious, heartless harpies. Lavinia gets nothing, doesn’t even get to contribute, really, and the story wouldn’t change if she wasn’t there.
There’s so much catty fighting between Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia that it never reaches that “women supporting women” vibe the author is apparently going for.
There’s so much catty fighting between Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia that it never reaches that “women supporting women” vibe the author is apparently going for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
victoria_elaine's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
The idea and execution of this verse novel are immaculate. Changing the narrative of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies is genius. Only reason I can’t give 5 stars is because I lost focus at points (not uncommon lol).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Blood
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not only does this give voice to a lot of the female characters often silenced in Shakespeare's works, it allows them to re-imagine their own stories. The premise of this book was fascinating to me--four women from Shakespeare (Juliet, Cordelia, Ophelia, and Lavinia) are in a sort of chat room under a stage. When they get to talking, they realize that maybe their stories aren't that different after all.
My favorite thing about this book was the way that it can make Shakespeare accessible for teenagers. I know reading Shakespeare can sometimes be a daunting thing, and this book brings up different themes and such that come up in a lot of Shakespeare plays. It would definitely work as a good companion to any of the plays that are brought up in the book.
While I'm not sure how much actual teen appeal this will have, I certainlly appreciated it as someone who has a literature degree. The verse format also makes it a bit more accessible, in my opinion. Hard-hitting with an interesting narrative structure, I definitely appreciated this from beginning to end.
My favorite thing about this book was the way that it can make Shakespeare accessible for teenagers. I know reading Shakespeare can sometimes be a daunting thing, and this book brings up different themes and such that come up in a lot of Shakespeare plays. It would definitely work as a good companion to any of the plays that are brought up in the book.
While I'm not sure how much actual teen appeal this will have, I certainlly appreciated it as someone who has a literature degree. The verse format also makes it a bit more accessible, in my opinion. Hard-hitting with an interesting narrative structure, I definitely appreciated this from beginning to end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
spinesinaline's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thanks to Penguin Canada for an ARC to review! I highly recommend picking this one up, especially for Shakespeare fans.
I’m familiar with a lot of Shakespeare’s plays but haven’t read or seen a couple that are referenced here (namely King Lear and Titus Andronicus). I think you’d be able to enjoy McCullough’s take without knowledge of the plays but personally I preferred looking up some quick plot points to understand how the author has reimagined these girls’ stories. The main plays referenced are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Titus Andronicus so if you’ve got those already, you’re good to go. This book exposes the brutality of these plays, as the blurb mentions that all of these girls die. We don’t see much of these deaths on the page but they are referenced so the reading does feel gory at times.
In McCullough’s telling, these girls are somewhere between character and actor, meeting each night below the stage after their character has been dispatched and prepared to face their death once more when the curtain rises on a new day. But when we meet them offstage, they start to question if this is the only end that could exist for them, if these girls might not deserve something more.
The book is presented almost as a play, or several plays, itself and I would love if it was actually adapted for the stage. It’s poetic and beautiful and devastating, and will certainly give you a new way of considering Shakespeares’ tragedies.
I’m familiar with a lot of Shakespeare’s plays but haven’t read or seen a couple that are referenced here (namely King Lear and Titus Andronicus). I think you’d be able to enjoy McCullough’s take without knowledge of the plays but personally I preferred looking up some quick plot points to understand how the author has reimagined these girls’ stories. The main plays referenced are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Titus Andronicus so if you’ve got those already, you’re good to go. This book exposes the brutality of these plays, as the blurb mentions that all of these girls die. We don’t see much of these deaths on the page but they are referenced so the reading does feel gory at times.
In McCullough’s telling, these girls are somewhere between character and actor, meeting each night below the stage after their character has been dispatched and prepared to face their death once more when the curtain rises on a new day. But when we meet them offstage, they start to question if this is the only end that could exist for them, if these girls might not deserve something more.
The book is presented almost as a play, or several plays, itself and I would love if it was actually adapted for the stage. It’s poetic and beautiful and devastating, and will certainly give you a new way of considering Shakespeares’ tragedies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and War