Nothing against this book, but I should have known better. I can never make myself love a book written in play format, no matter the content. However amazingly executed.

If I were teaching high schoolers Shakespeare, I would have them watch the movie, read this and then get into the actual work. This was a really fun way in. I know Quirk books is there to have a laugh, but honestly, this is just what high schoolers need. It has been a long time since I've seen Mean Girls, so I forgot some of the plot, but this seems to hold pretty firmly to the original story. Thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for the ARC.

Publication date: April 23, 2019



Description:


Power struggles. Bitter rivalries. Jealousy. Betrayals. Star-crossed lovers. When you consider all these plot points, it’s pretty surprising William Shakespeare didn’t write Mean Girls. But now fans can treat themselves to the epic drama—and heroic hilarity—of the classic teen comedy rendered with the wit, flair, and iambic pentameter of the Bard. Our heroine Cady disguises herself to infiltrate the conniving Plastics, falls for off-limits Aaron, struggles with her allegiance to newfound friends Damian and Janis, and stirs up age-old vendettas among the factions of her high school. Best-selling author Ian Doescher brings his signature Shakespearean wordsmithing to this cult classic beloved by generations of teen girls and other fans. Now, on the 15th anniversary of its release, Mean Girls is a recognized cultural phenomenon, and it’s more than ready for an Elizabethan makeover.



My thoughts:


The 2004 movie Mean Girls is a classic hyperbole about the subgroups in a suburban high school. The story is about the innocent, sheltered Cady, fresh from her home schooling experience in Africa coming across the politics of this very vicious social experience that is called American high school where the haves and have nots exist best when everyone understands the role they play and no one tries to move amongst social groups.



I think Shakespeare would love this modern take on his comedy and use of bawdy jokes built into this Shakespeare style rendering of Mean Girls. Although I think the original Much Ado About Nothing still hold up after centuries as a classic comedy, perhaps this will bring more students to Shakespeare on their own. After all, who doesn't want to see the bullies taken down?



An advanced digital copy provided by Net Galley and the publisher for an honest review

So do you love Shakespeare? How about the movie Mean Girls? What happens when you have a mash-up of the two. Well, here you go - Iambic Pentameter rules. This book is a retelling of the movie Mean Girls using Shakespearean language. It is a total hoot. It truly follows the movie quite closely, except it is written as if Shakespeare had wrote the screenplay.

Fun and quirky. An enjoyable read.

Received as an arc from Netgalley.

This was a very interesting book. It’s basically just mean girls but written in the structure of a Shakespeare play. I don’t know if the writing style of it really hooked with me. I think I was so used to the movie that this really threw me off. I still like the story and the writing provides an interesting way to read the story, but I’m not sure if this is a book I would reread. I would definitely suggest it at my store to people interested in Shakespeare and things like it, cause it would fit that style very well.
Overall 3/5

Shakespeare made easier. Awesome. Perfect for my students. Modern retellings make Shakespeare accessible to today’s youth.

This book was HILARIOUS! I was initially VERY nervous about the idea of something so brilliant being translated into Shakespearean language but It was genius. I am not a dedicated Shakespeare fan, if I'm honest I haven't picked up a single sonnet or play since I was in college, but something about this just screamed READ ME!
This is most definitely a book I never knew I needed! Doescher takes a modern tale and spins it into a marvelous drama with language that is dramatic, lyrical and foreign while also being satirical, hilarious and savage. After reading this novel, I instantly know how to get my kids immersed in Shakespeare's world - this is a modern tool for a classical era! A novel that no classroom (or bookshelf!) should be without! 5/5 stars!

This is a fun adaptation of the Mean Girls movie - although it fell somewhat short of my expectations. Which I should possibly have expected as Elizabethan is all but a different language to modern English. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC.

An interesting concept but the language felt forced and was difficult to read. It didn’t have the rhyme and rhythm if Shakespeare.

If you are a fan of Mean Girls and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing... then this is definitely your book!
I've read the Star Wars versions of these classics, and I've enjoyed them, so it was no surprise when I enjoyed seeing my favourite mean girls in this setting.

I really love that Ian Doescher is taking well-known stories and rewriting them into Shakespearean language. I think this helps middle school/high school students connect more and are able to decipher the older English and so are able to comprehend the text more. For high school, I could see teachers using this book to introduce Shakespearean language before moving on to a true Shakespeare work.

As soon as I saw this on netgalley, I knew I had to request it! I’ve seen Ian Doescher’s Star Wars books, but have never read them. Now I have to! I loved the way he turned Mean Girls into a Shakespeare play. It was so much fun and definitely a quick read. I really enjoyed it and I am excited to read more from him!

This novel is a great twist on the infamous movie Mean Girls. It is a great way to introduce readers to the world of Shakespeare with a well known and loved plot that is very relatable for everyone.

I really didn't expect much out of this, aside from a good laugh.
It wasn't bad, but it was a little weird to read.
I love Mean Girls. I love Shakespeare. But I didn't really love this.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I love Mean Girls. This book combines the Elizabethan language with the Mean Girls script. A quick read that is sure to get teens into reading and understanding Elizabethan terms in an easier and fun manner.

This book was very fun! I love the concept and I think that anyone who loves Mean Girls AND Shakespeare will love it! Those who think Shakespeare is boring have another thing coming!

The minute I saw Much Ado about Mean Girls offered on Netgalley, I put in a request, and I was delighted when it was granted. How could I wait til the release date? It is the book I never knew I always wanted. A hilarious modern movie meets my love of Shakespeare? Perfect! And frankly, it really is kind of perfect. If you’ve seen Mean Girls, you know the plot (the connection of Much Ado specifically is pretty tenuous). The book seems to follow the movie very closely. So the charm is in the language, and how it brings Mean Girls’ plot to life in a whole new light. The author did an excellent job capturing Shakespearean-sounding language, and the characters, in all their catty, shallow glory, were well suited to Shakespearean treatment. I wasn’t always sure about how he incorporated quotations from Shakespeare’s plays into the work–sometimes they worked better than others. But mostly they worked well, and the author explains some of his rationale for their inclusion in a charming afterward, wherein he also waxes poetical about his gratitude to the women in his life and of his admiration of Tina Fey. Such a refreshing lack of toxic masculine posturing. Reading this was just a wonderful, cheerful way to unwind at the end of the day. If you have come to see some of the problematic racial elements of Tina Fey’s style of comedy, you will unfortunately still see them in this story. But that is a critique of the original writing, not of the loving recreation of it in this book. If you enjoy Shakespeare, even without having experienced Mean Girls, I think you could enjoy this. If you’ve enjoyed both Shakespeare AND Mean Girls, get thee to a bookstore as soon as this is released!

Thank you, #Netgalley, for letting me read an advanced copy for free.

Ever since I first heard of Ian Doescher's Shakespearean adaptations of cult classic films, they've been on my to-read list and wow, this did not disappoint. I don't know Mean Girls amazingly well so probably missed some clever adaptations of key scenes, but I had a lot of fun playing "Spot the Shakespeare quote" and the ones I recognised were hilarious in the form of iambic pentameter. I was particularly amused reading Gretchen's rant on Julius Caesar (well, Regina, really) in the same style of the play she was commenting on. Doescher has assigned a different Shakespeare character to each Mean Girls one too, which is a lot of fun, thinking about how well the parallel works e.g Janis speaking lines from Beatrice from "Much Ado about Nothing" is sheer perfection. Definitely one to check out if you are a fan of Shakespeare and/or Mean Girls.

Librarian: Question, how do you get kids interested in learning the basics of Shakespearean literature? How do you get them to understand the idea of iambic pentameter, or get them introduced to the way that Shakespearean language sounds, or how it looks on the page? Well, if you're Ian Doescher, you take classic films and rewrite them into plays that read exactly as they would if the Bard himself had written them.
Many students actively resist the idea of studying Shakespeare. They think that his plays are boring, and difficult to understand. They don't see the point. I believe that at least a part of this stems from the fact that they don't know HOW to read Shakespeare. Doescher's books can help to rectify that. By telling stories that students are already familiar with in Shakespeare's style, these books can provide a gateway into the way that Shakespearean literature is written. That in turn can make it easier for students to understand Shakespeare's actual plays.
Highly recommend that any teen and any school librarian keep a copy of both the books in Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars series, as well as this book and future books that he may write in this series on hand. I think that they may prove themselves useful as not only a form of entertainment, but also as a teaching aide.
Reader: I am not a fan of Mean Girls. Never have been, probably never will be, frequent humming of "I'd Rather Be Me" from the Mean girls musical notwithstanding. I just have never been all that in to Teen/High School movies. I knew that going in.
However, I am a HUGE fan of Ian Doescher's Willam Shakespeare's Star Wars series. as well as his delightful Shakespearean retelling of A Christmas Carol. I also knew that going in. So the question became, could Doescher transform a story I'd never really cared for into a book that I enjoyed reading? The answer is yes. Mostly. Oh, I still don't love the plot. And much like his Star Wars series, there is tendency to rely slightly too heavily on Shakespeare references and jokes. Those jokes can way the text down slightly, as they require the reader to have a decent level of familiarity with Shakespeare's plays. If the reader doesn't have that familiarity, much if the humor could be lost. Still, it's a good book, if slightly uneven feeling. I don't love it, but I did enjoy it. And I suppose that's good enough.

What a fantastically funny read. I didn't really like the William Shakespeare Star Wars books, I couldn't get into them, but here the style seemed to fit perfectly. My only regret is that I couldn't source the movie itself to watch; I think a readalong would have been amazing. Ah well, next time it's on!


REceiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.