Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - That Way Madness Lies: 15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined

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That Way Madness Lies: 15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined by Dahlia Adler

10 reviews

peggy_racham's review

4.75

Its hard to find a collection of short stories that seems so well put together. But this is truly nearly perfect. This will make me read all of Shakespeare

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trishupaper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a creative and ingenious collection of reimaginings of Shakespeare’s works. Each story is innovative and intriguing, breathing new spirit into Shakespeare’s work, but staying faithful to its spirit.

Favorites:
Severe Weather Warning
Taming of the Soulmate
We have seen better days
I bleed
Partying is such sweet sorrow
Dreaming of the dark

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meganelise's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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collie98's review against another edition

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2.0

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carlyoc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I think I would have appreciated this more if I was familiar with more of Shakespeare's works. The only ones I really know well are A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet, so those were the only ones where I was able to truly appreciate the parts where the authors called back to the original story and the places where they deliberately departed from it.
Some of my favorite stories were the contemporary hurricane retelling of The Tempest, "Severe Weather Warning" by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka; a version of The Taming of the Shrew where people can only see the world in black and white until they meet their soulmate, "Taming of the Soulmate by K. Ancrum, an imagining of what it would be like to be the dark-skinned stolen child of the fair-skinned fairies of A Midsummer Night's Dream, "King of the Fairies" by Anna-Marie McLemore; and a vampire retelling of Hamlet, "Alsinar" by Patrice Caldwell.
There was diverse representation of characters who were trans, asexual, nonbinary, etc.

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maggies's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First buddy read, and this was a great foray in to the world of buddy reads! Because Shakespeare is ubiquitous in my life, whether I know it or not, the adaptations were not only good reminders of Shakespeare works I had previously studied but also helpful entry points to learning more about the ones I had not. Some stories were better than others imo, but that's par for the course with collections of short stories. Overall, would recommend!

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sarah984's review

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Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This anthology of Shakespeare retellings was pretty hit or miss for me. I really enjoyed some of the stories but others felt superficial in terms of not engaging with the themes of the original in any way, or they could be kind of corny in that way where YA authors really want you to know How Diverse Their Story Is. Most of the stories do also presume a familiarity with the original so I wouldn't really recommend this if you're not already at least vaguely familiar with the plays listed in the summary.

Favourites: Severe Weather Warning by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest), I Bleed by Dahlia Adler (The Merchant of Venice), Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow by Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet) and The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History by Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus)

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sallysimply's review against another edition

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4.5

What a delightful surprise this was! I loved so many of these stories!

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alwaysshure's review

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Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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caidyn's review

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dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Yet again, Dahlia Adler compiled an amazing set of stories! I've loved Shakespeare since I was in high school, which was when I decided to read all the plays that he wrote. And this set of stories just was amazing. I felt like all of them were good, but I definitely have my favorites. Which are the retellings of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear. Definitely some great retellings that took the stories and made them unique, yet stayed with the core. I can't wait to have a finished copy in my hands for my shelf!

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