Today’s Shakespeare’s birthday/death-day depends on who you’re talking to really. Anyway, its the day we celebrate the Bard so check out the Royal Shakespeare Company’s myShakespeare Project.
What’s your favorite play? I’m a comedy girl myself: Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing, those never get old for me.
Happy Birthday Shakespeare
The Juliet Spell- Douglas Rees
Juliet Spell was in short: delightful! Just as with any Shakespeare related story all I can say was, You had me at Shakespeare. The plot was cleverly done, and I loved that it wasn’t a glorification of the bard but a portrayal through another’s eyes of a very human Shakespeare. But lest you be confused, this book isn’t really about Shakespeare, it’s about everything from theatre to language to science to friendship and of course the play Romeo and Juliet. The contemporary YA plot is classic but Rees stays true to the tragic end of the Romeo and Juliet that is central to the story. I am not a fan of the Epilogue which I think ruins the emotional blow Rees successfully pulls off at the end of the novel proper. In the end what matters is this: it was a sweet read, a smart read, full of quotes from Shakespeare, plays with language, and two main characters to fall in love with it (Miranda and Edmund).
Overall: A-
P.S. I want this dress on the cover.
The Juliet Spell is due out September 27th from Harlequin Teen. You can pre-order your copy here.
eGalley provided gratis by Harlequin Teen via Netgalley
Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston
The third and final book in the Wonderous Strange series does not disappoint. In fact, Livingston has made an art of love and war, in fact at times combining them with brilliance. Tempestuous manages the entire emotional gamut—fear, loss, love, passion, hate, revenge, temptation. Our faerie princess and actress, Kelly, has some morally reprehensible decisions (though her motivations be admirable) but Sonny’s heroics more than make up for her shortcomings. In all, a great conclusion to a must read Fae series.
Overall: A
Soundtrack Song: “Like It Is” by The Damnwells (yes my tumblies, I’m bringing back my soundtrack song feature, get excited!)
Bonus Points: for naming the source of the title quote!
Perchance to Dream (Theatre Illuminata Book 2)- Lisa Mantchev
Act I
Love triangles in literature are funny things. Inevitably, there is a love interest that you as a reader love more than the other; for instance, it results in being on either “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob.” Mantchev’s second book of the Theatre Illuminata series, Perchance to Dream, achieves what every other love triangle has not: I love both male love interests equally, just as Bertie does. There are no “OH my goodness, why do you even like him moments?” for me. Their petty jealousies, the variations in how they love her, their dramatically different personalities, it all works brilliantly. More than that, it allowed me as a reader to feel exactly what our lovely female protagonist Bertie feels.
Act II
Bertie meanwhile remains as headstrong stubborn, loyal and foolish in the best ways possible just as she was in Eyes Like Stars. Moreover, Mantchev’s writing thrills me with it’s inclusion of lines of Shakespeare and other theatrical references. Reading feels more like watching a play complete with scene, set and costume changes. I can only hope that this isn’t the final curtain, but merely intermission in the Theatre Illuminata Series.
Exeunt Verb Vixen
I LOVE hiptix! You can see a Broadway show for $20. My favorites were Pygmalion with Clare Danes and A Man For All Seasons with Frank Langella and maybe Hedda Gabler with Mary Louise Parker. The worse was Pal Joey.
