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spow's review
3.0
As someone who adores Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet", the premise of their love story not stopping in Verona but being relived through the generations definitely peaked my interest. "The 100 Lives of Juliet" tries to do just that, and while it starts off strong, I’m afraid it doesn’t live up to the task at hand.
Helene is changing her life. Recently separating from her cheating husband and quitting her go nowhere job, she rents a cottage in Alaska and works on taking short stories she’s written for years into her first novel. On her first night there, she runs into Sebastian Montague, a man who looks exactly like the hero in all her stories come to life. Confused how that can be, she tries to learn more about him while all he wants is to create distance between them. Being forced together, she learns why: Sebastian is really Romeo, and she is his Juliet reincarnated, her short stories not fiction but memories of their past romances that ended tragically. Trying to save her, Sebastian tries to stay away from Helene to save her from another tragic end, but will their destined love win out? And are they destined to a tragic end again, or can they end their cursed love affair and live happily ever after this time?
As I stated above, the premise of the story had great promise, and I thought this story started off strong. Our initial introductions to Helene and Sebastian give us a good idea of who they are so that the reader becomes invested in both their stories. Intertwined are Helene’s short stories, which are filled in with Sebastian’s memories of the events as they happened. As a reader, I looked forward to the moment they confront their history (the one that Sebastian remembers and Helene thinks is her imagination), but that’s when the story starts to go downhill for me.
The second the romance begins, we start to lose the character of Helene, being replaced with past versions of herself/Juliet. Her personality is now based on her past selves; her appetite matches her past selves; her desire to be a mother is tied back to the same desire of past Juliet’s; memories that Sebastian and Helene make are always tied back to who Helene was before. Helene is no longer her own character, she is just Juliet. It leaves me missing the Helene I met in the beginning of the book.
Where I really struggled was the plot twist. Through ¾ of this book, the plot centers around a curse that has Romeo living forever and Juliet meeting a tragic end once they are reunited. When Sebastian and Helene finally get together, a fear that it’s short-lived is constantly in the background of their lives, something they struggle to overcome so they can enjoy their time together. But then randomly, as a plot twist, Helene’s ex husband finds out the truth about Sebastian and tries forcing Helene to come back to him or expose said truth. Somehow Helene, who struggled to believe Sebastian was Romeo even with her “memories”, is convinced if exposed, no one would blink an eye at the story, arrest Sebastian and hold him forever in order to figure out how to be immortal. For me, this was just so random, unnecessary and unbelievable, and really took away from the original premise. I wish the curse remained the villain of this story rather than forcing the ex-husband into the role.
Overall, I gave the beginning of this story 4 stars, the middle 3 stars, but ended up at 2.5 stars. I started this story looking forward to how Helene and Sebastian would find each other and build upon their love story. I was sad when, after finally getting together, I was told more about how Helene was like other Juliet’s and their story was similar to the past as opposed to their own. I was completely disappointed when I had to read more about how Helene triumphs over her ex vs. how they both triumph over their fear of the curse.
A big thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!
Helene is changing her life. Recently separating from her cheating husband and quitting her go nowhere job, she rents a cottage in Alaska and works on taking short stories she’s written for years into her first novel. On her first night there, she runs into Sebastian Montague, a man who looks exactly like the hero in all her stories come to life. Confused how that can be, she tries to learn more about him while all he wants is to create distance between them. Being forced together, she learns why: Sebastian is really Romeo, and she is his Juliet reincarnated, her short stories not fiction but memories of their past romances that ended tragically. Trying to save her, Sebastian tries to stay away from Helene to save her from another tragic end, but will their destined love win out? And are they destined to a tragic end again, or can they end their cursed love affair and live happily ever after this time?
As I stated above, the premise of the story had great promise, and I thought this story started off strong. Our initial introductions to Helene and Sebastian give us a good idea of who they are so that the reader becomes invested in both their stories. Intertwined are Helene’s short stories, which are filled in with Sebastian’s memories of the events as they happened. As a reader, I looked forward to the moment they confront their history (the one that Sebastian remembers and Helene thinks is her imagination), but that’s when the story starts to go downhill for me.
The second the romance begins, we start to lose the character of Helene, being replaced with past versions of herself/Juliet. Her personality is now based on her past selves; her appetite matches her past selves; her desire to be a mother is tied back to the same desire of past Juliet’s; memories that Sebastian and Helene make are always tied back to who Helene was before. Helene is no longer her own character, she is just Juliet. It leaves me missing the Helene I met in the beginning of the book.
Where I really struggled was the plot twist. Through ¾ of this book, the plot centers around a curse that has Romeo living forever and Juliet meeting a tragic end once they are reunited. When Sebastian and Helene finally get together, a fear that it’s short-lived is constantly in the background of their lives, something they struggle to overcome so they can enjoy their time together. But then randomly, as a plot twist, Helene’s ex husband finds out the truth about Sebastian and tries forcing Helene to come back to him or expose said truth. Somehow Helene, who struggled to believe Sebastian was Romeo even with her “memories”, is convinced if exposed, no one would blink an eye at the story, arrest Sebastian and hold him forever in order to figure out how to be immortal. For me, this was just so random, unnecessary and unbelievable, and really took away from the original premise. I wish the curse remained the villain of this story rather than forcing the ex-husband into the role.
Overall, I gave the beginning of this story 4 stars, the middle 3 stars, but ended up at 2.5 stars. I started this story looking forward to how Helene and Sebastian would find each other and build upon their love story. I was sad when, after finally getting together, I was told more about how Helene was like other Juliet’s and their story was similar to the past as opposed to their own. I was completely disappointed when I had to read more about how Helene triumphs over her ex vs. how they both triumph over their fear of the curse.
A big thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!
gkaltam's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
kates_books's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Such a fun continuation of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Loved the Alaska setting.
ktb_reads's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
onestephatatime's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
4.75
larabrekker's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
wiwiester's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
finn22's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0