By: Rebecca Serle
Read by: Sarah Grace
Rosaline has been waiting all summer for Rob to return. Not only is he her best friend from their infancy (practically), but they shared a moment or two before he left to be a camp counselor for the summer. Upon his return, their almost-romance is just beginning to blossom when Rosaline's cousin, Juliet, returns to town. Their last meeting didn't go well, and Juliet is bent on taking everything of Rosaline's, including her boyfriend.
Audio Review: Sarah Grace's narration was very good, with a few exceptions. Her voices for Rob and Len were both a little different than I'd imagine their personalities to be. For instance, Rob claims to want to go to Stanford (with Rosaline), but sounds just a little bit too surfer dude. And Len is very nasally, and it's hard to take him seriously in a romantic setting. But, I really liked her general narration for Rosaline, and the other characters were good too. In fact, I'm glad I listened to this one on audio, because I'm not sure that the story would have quite grabbed my attention if I had been actually reading the book.
Review: What I loved about this book was that it was an entirely new twist on Romeo and Juliette. Rather than trying to connect with and suffer through a story about star-crossed lovers that really haven't known each other that long, you agonize with the best friend that couldn't make that leap to girlfriend. And agonize I did. The absolute best character in this book is is Rose. She is sweet, loyal, and though she is a bit wishy-washy at the beginning, she really does take charge near the end. My only gripe with Rose is that I just couldn't buy the "I'm going to Stanford" thing. She is rarely shown studying or really focusing on school. She does complain about school a great deal, but I just wasn't buying that she was the excellent student.
Truthfully, I never could quite warm up to Charlie and Olivia as Rose's friends. I understand that they are fiercely loyal to Rose, but man, they were jerks. They are the kind of girls that would have made my life pretty miserable because I didn't do something essential like wear designer labels. So, while I get that they are there for Rose and support her, I just felt like I needed to keep my distance. Mostly from Charlie. Honestly, Olivia's romance was pretty cute, and she's more doofy than diabolical.
Juliet and the havoc that she brings down on Rose is really devastating. And I blame Rob just as much as I blame Juliet. Because just as soon as the Rob/Rose thing starts to get off the ground, everything changes. And the relationship that Rose just realized that she wants is slipping through her fingers. I know some have been pretty critical of Rose's knee-jerk reaction to really hate Juliet for this. But, as I read it, I feel like she was pretty equally critical of both of them, and acted in a way that was natural.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It is a stand-alone novel, has a heart-wrenching ending, and some pretty awesome character development.
Profanity: Moderate
Sexuality: Heavy. There is a great deal of discussion about sexual encounters
Violence: Mild. One fist fight
Drug/Alcohol: Moderate. No drug use, but there is underage drinking.
I'm glad you like it! I actually didn't mind Rose's friends, probably because at the time I was also reading a really crappy book with friends ten times worse, but I know exactly what you're talking about. Wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteYeah, mean friends just don't do it for me. Even if they are nice to the main character.
DeleteThis book sounds interesting, especially since it is a unique twist on Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteI think I liked it so much because it reflects how I feel about the play. Reckless kids and such.
DeleteIt seems a lot of people didn't exactly warm up to Rose's friends either. I'm in the middle of the ARC of it and what throws me is whether or not Shakespeare exists in the book's world. Do they realize they are like the Romeo and Juliet characters ?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was an audiobook version of this ! I'm always curious as to how publishers decide which books get audio and which don't.
Regarding the real-life Romeo and Juliet connection, I think that they are aware of Shakespeare, obviously. But, I think the point is to be kind of a retelling, so it's just ignored in the story. You do have to suspend your belief just a little bit.
DeleteMaybe next year for audiobook month, I'll do an interview with some audiobook publishers to get the inside scoop on which books are picked to be audio titles.