Reviews

4.5⭐️

The story of, “Romeo and Juliet”, has always been a favorite of mine. I still remember being thirteen, and constantly rereading the book because, something about the way Romeo and Juliet fought to be together made my hopeless romantic heart wish for a love like that. The tragedy, heartbreak, and loss of Romeo and Juliet’s story is one we all know of, but what if their story never truly ended. This story had an interesting twist to Romeo and Juliet’s story in which Juliet was reincarnated each time, whereas Romeo was forced immortal. Through years, decades, each time Romeo and Juliet were different people, but still always found their way back to each other. This was a story that defied the things we knew of Romeo and Juliet. With different time periods, Romeo and Juliet were forced to live different lives, and yet still be faced with the same ending, one that ended in death and sorrow.

I knew before reading this was obviously going to revolve around Romeo and Juliet, but it still didn’t take away my surprise from the beginning of the story! Simply WOW! I really loved the premise of this story! Romeo and Juliet’s story is iconic, but also filled with sadness. I had always wished for a different outcome whenever I thought of Romeo and Juliet so, to read this book and see how their story still continued was interesting. As if that wasn’t cool enough, the fact that Helene (Juliet) was reincarnated each time forever destined to meet Sebastien (Romeo) in each lifetime was so fascinating, but also sad since I knew it was bound to end in a tragic way. Having Helene feel this sense of unexplained connection to Sebastien was intriguing, but also as a reader I KNEW THE TRUTH BEHIND WHY SHE FELT THAT WAY! Meanwhile, Sebastien dealt with the grief and memories from all the past lives he and Helene had shared over the course of many lifetimes that inevitably ended in her demise. Sebastien was conflicted because, as much as his love for Helene (Juliet) was ever present, he believed as long as he stayed away then he could protect her. (Sigh) just the beginning chapters alone had me feeling the sadness and longing between Sebastien and Helene ESPECIALLY IN THOSE FLASHBACKS FROM DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS! OMG!

This contemporary romance wasn’t just your typical story. Having the story flash back to different time periods was not only an intriguing part of Sebastien and Helene’s past lives together, but it also added this historical context to the story. In a way, this story was a mix between a historical and contemporary romance which I really enjoyed! The more I read this book, the more I was fully enthralled by Sebastien and Helene’s connection together. The whole premise of Romeo and Juliet’s story being not the one we truly, but instead this one was eye opening and again filled with heartache. Once it came down to Sebastien revealing the truth to Helene, it spiraled into a new level of Helene coming to terms that all her stories and imagination of this dream man she had always thought about turned out to be real! I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Helene must have felt learning the truth behind essentially her whole live(s) being connected to Sebastien (Romeo). This was a story that definitely didn’t shy away from the emotional punches, and I often found myself feeling sad for both Sebastien and Helene in what they experienced.

This was the kind of story that not only tugged on my heartstrings, but also spoke to my inner hopeless romantic heart. Despite Sebastien’s initial plan of acting like a rude jerk in order to get Helene to leave town, he was still an utter softie when it came to her. Slowly but surely, Sebastien’s softer, kindhearted nature was revealed to Helene over the course of the story and it just made me happy to see him open himself up to her in that way. The beginning half showed Sebastien acting in a way that wasn’t his typical style, (I.e. being rude) but regardless he later showed his affections and admiration for Helene in a way that was so heartwarming especially considering the emotional rollercoaster this story was.

Speaking as a hopeless romantic, I can wholeheartedly say that you will adore this book not only for the intriguing twist on a well known story, but also the things this story expanded on. From learning to sieze the day, take advantage of the time you have positively instead of negatively, it also made me appreciate Sebastien and Helene’s romance even more. This story was truly beautiful, romantic, heartbreaking, and intriguing. The more I read, I was immersed in different time periods, getting to see different iterations of Romeo and Juliet always finding their way back to each other. This was honestly such a fascinating story with the way Sebastien and Helene’s relationship came to be, even before they met. From the way this story was written, I could see the love that emanated from Sebastien and Helene’s to the heartbreak that Sebastien unfortunately experienced in each life time of his immortal life. The ending left me feeling hopeful and again, the importance that we never truly know when our last day will be, but it’s better to focus on living your life for however long you have. I think I can confidently say this book made me reflect on my own life in terms of taking the time I do have as well. While I don’t have a love like Sebastien, I’m still holding out hope for a man that can treat me wholeheartedly like Sebastien did for Helene. Beautifully written story, loved the way the story ended, and dang this was a magical experience to read, highly recommend.

gingerhalfling's review against another edition

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hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

lizziekarpen's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

jennifer_fatula's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

spow's review

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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!

gkaltam's review against another edition

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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

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