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A review by cmdufresne
That Way Madness Lies by Lindsay Smith, Cory McCarthy, Mark Oshiro, Kiersten White, Lily Anderson, Samantha Mabry, Dahlia Adler, Emily Wibberley, A.R. Capetta, Anna-Marie McLemore, K. Ancrum, Ibi Zoboi, Melissa Bashardoust, Brittany Cavallaro, Tochi Onyebuchi, Austin Siegemund-Broka, Joy McCullough, Patrice Caldwell
4.0
That Way Madness lies is an anthology of "reimagined" Shakespeare by YA authors. As someone who loves retellings, Shakespeare, and anything YA I was thrilled for this. But the truth is they are not all retellings. Some are retellings, some are modernizations, some are "what happened next", and some are LOOSELY inspired. They are all written by different authors and I had drastically different feelings about each, so just going to have to give each a rating.
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING-5/5 Super cute YA rom-com retelling of the Tempest. I want this as a whole book instead of just a short story.
SHIPWRECKED- 2/5 Twelfth Night is such a fun, ridiculous plot line, and somehow this made it angsty and painful. More of an "inspired by" than a retelling.
TAMING OF THE SOUL MATE- 5/5 Taming of the Shrew with soulmate magic. I'm 100% here for it, and also need this as a full book.
KING OF THE FARIES- 1/5 Years later from the perspective of the child that Oberon and Titania were fighting over. Depressing and the opposite of the lightheartedness of midsummer night dream.
WE HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS- 4/5 Entertaining YA retelling of As You Like It. Exactly what I would expect and hope for.
SOME OTHER METAL- 3/5 Okay reimaginging of Much Ado About Nothing. A little confusing, but so is the original.
I BLEED- 5/5 POWERFUL modernization of Two Gentleman of Verona. Sadly far too relevant.
HIS INVENTION (SONNET) 4/5 dark and chilling
PARTYING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW-4/5 Modern Romeo and Juliet told through text messages showing how truly ridiculous they are.
DREAMING OF THE DARK- 4/5 Julius Caesar retold about girls doing dark magic. Creative, entertaining, and unique take while having the original come through.
THE TRAGEDY OF CORY LANEZ: AN ORAL HISTORY- 4/5 Not my style personally, but well done.
OUT OF THE STORM- 1/5 The only thing this has in common with King Lear is that it is about a Father who is dying and his daughters. Totally misses all the complex relationships. Basically just uses the names to create a story about daughters pulling the plug on their abusive father.
ELSINORE- 3/5 Entertaining Hamlet retelling if Hamlet was a girl and there were vampires.
WE FAIL- 2/5 Inspired by Macbeth from the perspective of the lady Macbeth character. Takes out all the magic, prophesy, kingdoms, and political battles, leaves the broken lady Macbeth, but with less brains.
LOST GIRL- 4/5 sweet retelling of The Winter's Tale, that uses The Winter's Tale within as guidance and inspiration.
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING-5/5 Super cute YA rom-com retelling of the Tempest. I want this as a whole book instead of just a short story.
SHIPWRECKED- 2/5 Twelfth Night is such a fun, ridiculous plot line, and somehow this made it angsty and painful. More of an "inspired by" than a retelling.
TAMING OF THE SOUL MATE- 5/5 Taming of the Shrew with soulmate magic. I'm 100% here for it, and also need this as a full book.
KING OF THE FARIES- 1/5 Years later from the perspective of the child that Oberon and Titania were fighting over. Depressing and the opposite of the lightheartedness of midsummer night dream.
WE HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS- 4/5 Entertaining YA retelling of As You Like It. Exactly what I would expect and hope for.
SOME OTHER METAL- 3/5 Okay reimaginging of Much Ado About Nothing. A little confusing, but so is the original.
I BLEED- 5/5 POWERFUL modernization of Two Gentleman of Verona. Sadly far too relevant.
HIS INVENTION (SONNET) 4/5 dark and chilling
PARTYING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW-4/5 Modern Romeo and Juliet told through text messages showing how truly ridiculous they are.
DREAMING OF THE DARK- 4/5 Julius Caesar retold about girls doing dark magic. Creative, entertaining, and unique take while having the original come through.
THE TRAGEDY OF CORY LANEZ: AN ORAL HISTORY- 4/5 Not my style personally, but well done.
OUT OF THE STORM- 1/5 The only thing this has in common with King Lear is that it is about a Father who is dying and his daughters. Totally misses all the complex relationships. Basically just uses the names to create a story about daughters pulling the plug on their abusive father.
ELSINORE- 3/5 Entertaining Hamlet retelling if Hamlet was a girl and there were vampires.
WE FAIL- 2/5 Inspired by Macbeth from the perspective of the lady Macbeth character. Takes out all the magic, prophesy, kingdoms, and political battles, leaves the broken lady Macbeth, but with less brains.
LOST GIRL- 4/5 sweet retelling of The Winter's Tale, that uses The Winter's Tale within as guidance and inspiration.