Hardcover, 256 pages
Published January 22nd 2008 by Walker & Company
Source: LibrarySynopsis:
Manhattan meets Verona in this time-bending twist on Shakespeare.
When Mimi is magically thrust into the middle of Shakespeare’s Verona, she must find a way to help Juliet fight for her future happiness. Will she be able to give this classic tragedy a happy ending?
Review:
Anyone who tries to categorize this book will be confused about which category it belongs in exclusively. This book reads like a contemporary with historical bits thrown – not to mention the slightly supernatural stuff which allows contemporary kids to land in what probably was a fictional place that existed only in Shakespeare’s mind.
I liked this book. It’s not the best one out there but it is amusing, it is entertaining and it leaves you with a warm feeling in your stomach. The main character’s Mom seems controlling and downright tyrannical but her redemption when it does come is believable. The other mother in this one? Evil to the core. And I liked that because anything else would have been cheesy as all heck.
The main attraction of this book is the narrative voice. MC is spunky, wry and with a self-deprecating humour that never spills over into self-hate territory. The love interest is also very human despite his mega star status. Instead of being a cardboard character designed for nothing but the thrills that come from kissing, this dude is flawed but not too flawed, thoughtful and charming when he remembers.
The novel is a somewhat shortened bildungsroman, well, a variant of it anyway. The main characters’ sojourn in the land of Romeo and Juliet is well narrated. I like how the author diverges from what’s written in the play and begins to make it into a realistic portrayal of life but then slips back into the highly melodramatic fictional turn. It keeps things interesting and fresh. Juliet is also charming and her personality is too endearing to allow her death. MC manages to find both herself and to do what she intends to. She also finds love along the way.
In conclusion, this is a very heartwarming novel that is perfect for a rainy day (or a sunny one). It will leave you with a smile on your face.
I like these sorts of books, they may not be the greatest book ever written, but they are books that leave you with a smile. I’ll have to read Saving Juliet.