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jenny_librarian's review
4.0
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warning: homomisia, bimisia, transmisia, violence
4.5 ⭐️
"Please note that this is a hi/lo title intended for reluctant and struggling readers. As such it is fast-paced, short, and uses high interest content with simple vocabulary to keep these readers engaged."
This is the note that was at the end of the summary for this book on NetGalley. I am putting it here because all the bad reviews I saw make no sense when you read that sentence. Yes, it is a fast-paced book with very little character development, because reluctant and struggling readers don't want a 300-pages book that moves slowly and spends a lot of time on each character. They want something that keeps them entertained because they aren't able or don't want to read 5-pages long descriptions.
That being said, this book had the perfect amount of fluff and realism. The boys were absolutely adorable together and I think it's good they had Julian out and proud while Romeo was struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. All through the book, you could see the silver lining at the end, the "it gets better".
It's not a Romeo & Juliet retelling per se, because their families don't even know each other. The author mainly took the "not able to be together" aspect and added a bit of queermisia (homomisia, bimisia, transmisia, etc.) in terms of hate. Don't go in expecting anything like the Shakespeare story apart from the names.
I loved that there was so much positivity for the whole LGBT+ spectrum. when Lyla tells Romeo he "might be bi, pan, ace, or queer. Or something else altogether!", my heart soared. Queer positivity above the usual gay/straight/bi boxes! What's not to like? Very little, actually.
What's not to like are the simple mistakes Romeo makes that can appear rude, when not downright homomisic. Of course, we can blame it on his upbringing, jerks of friends and very conservative parents. Some phrases like "my safe, normal, straight neighbourhood" and "Sami was... strange" and (the worst, in my opinion) "it wasn't a woman. Or even a man. It was a person" are offensive even when you consider where he's coming from. At least, though, he learns. And he's very open-minded. He quickly starts to use queer vocabulary and question what he thought he knew (like Lawrence being gay, but since his partner got pregnant, he could be bisexual, or his partner could be trans).
This is the kind of book I would recommend for people (especially gay folks who identify as men) who are struggling with their sexuality and aren't sure about coming out. Romeo's story isn't easy, and the last 20% of the book can be hard to read because he is a victim of hate, but the silver lining is there. And a lot of characters are actually queer positive and are happy for him. It's a cute, fluffy book about an important subject, a kind I which we had more of.
Trigger warning: homomisia, bimisia, transmisia, violence
4.5 ⭐️
"Please note that this is a hi/lo title intended for reluctant and struggling readers. As such it is fast-paced, short, and uses high interest content with simple vocabulary to keep these readers engaged."
This is the note that was at the end of the summary for this book on NetGalley. I am putting it here because all the bad reviews I saw make no sense when you read that sentence. Yes, it is a fast-paced book with very little character development, because reluctant and struggling readers don't want a 300-pages book that moves slowly and spends a lot of time on each character. They want something that keeps them entertained because they aren't able or don't want to read 5-pages long descriptions.
That being said, this book had the perfect amount of fluff and realism. The boys were absolutely adorable together and I think it's good they had Julian out and proud while Romeo was struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. All through the book, you could see the silver lining at the end, the "it gets better".
It's not a Romeo & Juliet retelling per se, because their families don't even know each other. The author mainly took the "not able to be together" aspect and added a bit of queermisia (homomisia, bimisia, transmisia, etc.) in terms of hate. Don't go in expecting anything like the Shakespeare story apart from the names.
I loved that there was so much positivity for the whole LGBT+ spectrum. when Lyla tells Romeo he "might be bi, pan, ace, or queer. Or something else altogether!", my heart soared. Queer positivity above the usual gay/straight/bi boxes! What's not to like? Very little, actually.
What's not to like are the simple mistakes Romeo makes that can appear rude, when not downright homomisic. Of course, we can blame it on his upbringing, jerks of friends and very conservative parents. Some phrases like "my safe, normal, straight neighbourhood" and "Sami was... strange" and (the worst, in my opinion) "it wasn't a woman. Or even a man. It was a person" are offensive even when you consider where he's coming from. At least, though, he learns. And he's very open-minded. He quickly starts to use queer vocabulary and question what he thought he knew (like Lawrence being gay, but since his partner got pregnant, he could be bisexual, or his partner could be trans).
This is the kind of book I would recommend for people (especially gay folks who identify as men) who are struggling with their sexuality and aren't sure about coming out. Romeo's story isn't easy, and the last 20% of the book can be hard to read because he is a victim of hate, but the silver lining is there. And a lot of characters are actually queer positive and are happy for him. It's a cute, fluffy book about an important subject, a kind I which we had more of.
bookishlybecca's review
2.0
I've already reviewed this book's companion, Just Julian, so I won't be delving too deeply into my thoughts on it, as I feel roughly the same about the pair. (In fact, I almost wish they'd been combined into one book, with both boy's perspectives included in it, but I get why Markus chose to do two separate short books, both from his standpoint as the author and for the sake of his intended readers.)
Romeo's an interesting character. I didn't enjoy his perspective or journey nearly as much as Julian's, but I still found it fairly satisfying and relatively enjoyable to read. My main issue with this book though - particularly in comparison to its companion - was that its writing/pacing and plot felt even more disjointed and rough to me. The scenes/chapters didn't always flow very well together. It was even a bit jarring at times. It was interesting to see the differences (and similarities) in the two varying perspectives of the boys though, I will say that.
If you decide to give both books a read, I'd highly recommend reading this one after Just Julian. You'll understand the story a lot better if you do. >_
Romeo's an interesting character. I didn't enjoy his perspective or journey nearly as much as Julian's, but I still found it fairly satisfying and relatively enjoyable to read. My main issue with this book though - particularly in comparison to its companion - was that its writing/pacing and plot felt even more disjointed and rough to me. The scenes/chapters didn't always flow very well together. It was even a bit jarring at times. It was interesting to see the differences (and similarities) in the two varying perspectives of the boys though, I will say that.
If you decide to give both books a read, I'd highly recommend reading this one after Just Julian. You'll understand the story a lot better if you do. >_
nyphren's review
2.0
it's been some time since i read a romance. let's just say the whole hassell business left with a bed taste in my mouth and an wariness of everything that just kept away from books in general for a few weeks. when i saw romeo for real and its companion novel, just julian, on netgalley, though, i was cautiously optimistic. a light, romantic read seemed to be just what i needed.
but romeo for real ended up being not quite the book i thought it would be. it's very blatantly insta-love, which maybe i should have expected since, you know, romeo and juliet retelling and all, but that's when the book lost me. this aroace has very little to relate to or care about in insta-love romances.
what really made me dislike this book, though, was the weird transphobic vibes woven into what was supposed to feel like a progressive, open-minded story. some examples: a trans woman is the target of a transphobic attack just to establish a character as bad, and her name is only mentioned much later and she never stops being a non-character. non-binary characters who are androgynous are referred as "boy/girl" by the main character sometimes because they can't tell which gender they are, and a party full of queer people is portrayed as "maybe boys, maybe girls, boys looking like girls, etc" in a very "isn't this bizarre, y'all?" kind of way.
i was thrilled when ace ppl were mentioned, but honestly? most queer identities were portrayed as too weird to baby queer (gay, i mean) romeo, and even other aspects of gayness were seen by him (and not debunked by anyone) as too much.
in conclusion... this book also left a bad taste on my mouth. i have its companion, but honestly? not sure if it's worth the risk.
but romeo for real ended up being not quite the book i thought it would be. it's very blatantly insta-love, which maybe i should have expected since, you know, romeo and juliet retelling and all, but that's when the book lost me. this aroace has very little to relate to or care about in insta-love romances.
what really made me dislike this book, though, was the weird transphobic vibes woven into what was supposed to feel like a progressive, open-minded story. some examples: a trans woman is the target of a transphobic attack just to establish a character as bad, and her name is only mentioned much later and she never stops being a non-character. non-binary characters who are androgynous are referred as "boy/girl" by the main character sometimes because they can't tell which gender they are, and a party full of queer people is portrayed as "maybe boys, maybe girls, boys looking like girls, etc" in a very "isn't this bizarre, y'all?" kind of way.
i was thrilled when ace ppl were mentioned, but honestly? most queer identities were portrayed as too weird to baby queer (gay, i mean) romeo, and even other aspects of gayness were seen by him (and not debunked by anyone) as too much.
in conclusion... this book also left a bad taste on my mouth. i have its companion, but honestly? not sure if it's worth the risk.
rajnandaniwrapthefury's review against another edition
3.0
This is a short story, and by short I mean 90 pages short story. It is a story about a football player who is on the peak of his career yet he finds himself restless and kinda lost. He even has friends who are fun to hang out with but inside he is just alone. They break rules, teases others and crack jokes, but Romeo feels guilty more than fun. Something does not feels right to Romeo or Rome as his friends call him.
He wants to understand more about himself. He is just not truly happy from inside and wants to be happy. Then one day, he stumbles upon a boy in a party who seemed to accelerate his heart just by being himself. The openly gay boy and Romeo ends up kissing each other but this scares Romeo. He ran away from the party even without asking for name.
Now Romeo is confused more than he was earlier about himself and more than that he wanted to kiss Julian more. He is not ready to accept himself and finds himself stuck within himself. Finally, he gathers his courage and decides to accept himself, but will others accept him or he will be just content to be himself?
At first, Romeo seemed to hide this truth below layers of lies but eventually he comes to accept himself. The threats, japes and even violence seemed easier to bear and fight against once he completely accepted himself.
The writing style is plain and simple. There was a hollowness in the story regarding emotions. The story is good and the struggle is real but still the lack of details fails to bound the readers to story. The development of characters do not seemed complete. The other characters were left without any description. The author only focussed on comimg out of Romeo. Even his background information is incomplete which drastically affects the story. The struggles of coming out and accepting yourself has been captured perfetly but would've been better if more background story about Romeo and Rosie, his parents and his school life would've been appreciated.
Note: I was given this e-arc copy by the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review and I want to thank them.
He wants to understand more about himself. He is just not truly happy from inside and wants to be happy. Then one day, he stumbles upon a boy in a party who seemed to accelerate his heart just by being himself. The openly gay boy and Romeo ends up kissing each other but this scares Romeo. He ran away from the party even without asking for name.
Now Romeo is confused more than he was earlier about himself and more than that he wanted to kiss Julian more. He is not ready to accept himself and finds himself stuck within himself. Finally, he gathers his courage and decides to accept himself, but will others accept him or he will be just content to be himself?
At first, Romeo seemed to hide this truth below layers of lies but eventually he comes to accept himself. The threats, japes and even violence seemed easier to bear and fight against once he completely accepted himself.
The writing style is plain and simple. There was a hollowness in the story regarding emotions. The story is good and the struggle is real but still the lack of details fails to bound the readers to story. The development of characters do not seemed complete. The other characters were left without any description. The author only focussed on comimg out of Romeo. Even his background information is incomplete which drastically affects the story. The struggles of coming out and accepting yourself has been captured perfetly but would've been better if more background story about Romeo and Rosie, his parents and his school life would've been appreciated.
Note: I was given this e-arc copy by the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review and I want to thank them.
thelibraryofalexandra's review against another edition
2.0
really wish wholeheartedly that I could have adored this book - it had the makings to be a fantastic re-interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Julian's journey could have been wonderful, if not for the fact that it was too short. This rendered the overall narrative to maintain a sort of superficial quality to it; and by that, I mean, the characters, the dialogue, and unfortunately the story itself, was too shallow and lacked any sort of depth. It lacked meaning. For instance, Romeo's character was quite two dimensional; he went from denial to acceptance extremely quick and I feel, it may trivialise people's own experience with struggling with their own sexuality. Also, having to read Romeo's dialogue with his friends were excruciating, not only that, the story was built upon generalisations and stereotypes.
In terms of Romeo's relationship with Julian - where did it come from? I understand that the original Romeo and Juliet is not the greatest of healthy love portrayals, considering the instant love - but this fell into that same trope. There was no chemistry, no depth of romance nor character growth as they came together.
If the story and thus, the characters, had room to grow - in that, there was room for everything to be explored more, it may be a different story. But, unfortunately, this book fails to immerse the reader with lacklustre characters, dialogue and narrative.
In terms of Romeo's relationship with Julian - where did it come from? I understand that the original Romeo and Juliet is not the greatest of healthy love portrayals, considering the instant love - but this fell into that same trope. There was no chemistry, no depth of romance nor character growth as they came together.
If the story and thus, the characters, had room to grow - in that, there was room for everything to be explored more, it may be a different story. But, unfortunately, this book fails to immerse the reader with lacklustre characters, dialogue and narrative.
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