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ladylibrarian 's review for:
So Shelly
by Ty Roth
I love Romantic poetry. I have always thought that the lives of the Romantic poets would make a good soap opera, or at least a good dramatic novel. So Shelly is a young adult novel written in the spirit of the Romantics that deals with the main ideas of life and death. Instead of anticipating a reenactment of the Romantic poets' lives, just imagine their personalities and characteristics reincarnated in modern day teenagers. True, some of the background of those teenagers and poets are similar, but it's their human personalities and flaws that come out the most in this book. I quite enjoyed the characters. Byron is such a Lord Byron in personality and the story seems to mainly focus on him. The focus is on him mainly because Shelly, his next door neighbor and childhood friend loves him. Byron is a narcissistic playboy with a history and a club foot that he keeps hidden. Byron and Shelly's story is told through Keats, a kind of Nick Caraway of this novel. Keats is poor and aware that he is going to die, just like his parents did and his brother will. It is through his romantic style that the story is told, which makes it all the more interesting for someone who loves Romantic poetry. The story covers some tough topics, which overshadow the characters' lives. There is resolution in the end, though. I enjoyed So Shelly.