A story that meets various adolescent themes, but above all how much a simple acting by Shakespeare can change your life. A small summary of the author taken from the book: Dani Jansen is a high school teacher. She should probably be embarrassed to admit that she has run as part of his school's Glee Club for eight years. She should also probably be ashamed to tell people he called his cats after punctuation marks ... Ampersand and Em-Dash, in case you are curious. She lives with her family in Montreal. The story is about Alison, a well-organized and studious high school girl who, to have more credits that will help her fulfill her dream of being a Valedictorian, agrees to direct the performance of the school. This decision, however, will give an opportunity for growth both to her and to her friends who will accompany her in this venture. The main characters, in this book from the genre "YA romance" placed in first person, are: Alison, the protagonist; Becca, her best friend responsible and in good control of her emotions;  Annie, the younger but rebellious sister and all the others who participate in the play. Each of them has its own story that will somehow affect Alison's life. The characters are not very developed, few descriptions and many dialogues, which in fact have not managed to arouse me much. Most of them were also a bit of a cliche, in fact there are a lot of stereotypes, like "gothic" or various phrases about gay, lesbian, korean and japanese, all things that I didn't like very much, but rather they bothered me a little. On the other hand, I have not noticed any narrative expedient, which perhaps has let the story flow too quickly. The themes encountered vary from love, especially LGBTQ, to friendship and adolescence that encompasses a little bit of both. The story is not very original, rather a bit obvious. Thanks to some features of the protagonist, which are similar to mine as her mood of being very organized and always wanting to be perfect, I was able to reflect myself in different dialogues. The part that I liked most is the date, which she had with her crush, it was really fun, like the rest of the book at the end. The conclusion was very predictable, but satisfactory in its simplicity. If I could change something, I would go deeper into the setting and the characters, creating more suspense and twists that, together with the fun, can glue the reader to the book. Honestly, I don't know if I would read another book by the same author because her way of writing does not completely satisfy me.
Do I recommend it?
I would recommend this book only for those who want to read something not too complicated, thanks to her colloquial way of writing, fresh and fun!

First, I would like to thank NetGalley for the Arc and letting me read and review this before the publication date.

The story is simple: Almost-certain-valedictorian girl decides to accept the opportunity to produce her schools Midsummers Nights Dream, and things go array.

GR Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3323961350?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

The good: Shakespeare references, lgbt representation and romance, and collection of quirky characters.
The less-good: The writing and pacing felt weird a few times. The first two chapters were hard to read and slow for lack of any important action. It got a little in my nerves because every paragraph was filled with "I this and I that" it got a little annoying after 11 Is in one paragraph.

But then things started picking up, as more the MC became more active and started her journey trying to convince people to participate in the play, and that was a lot more entertaining, especially with the new comic characters started popping through the page. And while the conflict of characters making the MCs life harder felt a little .. forced. But I cant really blame theater kids for seeming overdramatic, can i?

Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable read, it made me giggle and made me smile several times. Overall solid and funny enough to get 4 stars, but not memorable enough to get 5 stars. If you like contemporary romances, coming of age stories, and shakespeare, this will certainly work for you.

Bit of a disappointment. There could have been a very endearing story here but it ot swamped by the stilted writing style, the lack of much actual Shakespeare (ok I am trash for the Bard but still with that title I was led to expect more) and worst of all the pushiness of Alison's friends and potential girlfriend to be publicly 'out'. The forcing a person t come out trope is old and we should be past it. It made the book uncomfortable reading. I am saddened that I could not like this more when it had such a promising premise.

I think the story was really cute, but the writing wasn't engaging to me.; it was dry, and didn't give me a good sense of the characters or setting. It also felt short - maybe with a longer book, the characters would be more fleshed out. Thank you for the review copy.

I really wanted to love this book - I'm a queer theater nerd, so a queer book involving high schoolers doing theater seemed right up my alley. I also especially loved the cover.

Unfortunately, I am DNFing this book about a third of the way through. I wasn't a big fan of the writing, and this book seemed much more middle grade than YA. I think younger readers would enjoy it more than I would, however.

I also didn't really connect to any of the characters, and many of them were very stereotypical. At one point, AP English is mentioned, but there is no such thing as such AP English - there is AP English Language and AP English Literature. I also didn't really like when the main character said coming out to her family wasn't brave because she knew they'd be supportive. Coming out is always scary and brave and even if you think people will be supportive it's still scary because you never really know.

<i> arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

DNF.

I really really wanted to love this but sadly, I really just didn’t. I could’t connect with the writing or the characters and I was just bored whenever I did pick this up.

I think my age definitely factors into me not enjoying this so I think if you’re a younger reader, you’ll have a blast with this book!

Even apart from a writing style that seemed clunky and the main character being pretentious & insufferable, this book had no chance of becoming a favourite of mine. And that's because it does some things which I find hurtful, especially in literature for the younger audience.

What i mean is, the book is very clear about the rhetoric that not coming out is the same as being a coward. It makes characters force their significant others to come out, it makes characters break up with people because they're not ready to come out. It's 2020. We really should be over this discussion. Coming out is a very personal thing and no one, not your parents, not your friends, not your significant other, NO ONE, should ever have a power to force you to come out or to shame you for not coming out.

So no, I didn't enjoy The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life and no, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

There was a cute story at the heart of the book, unfortunately, it just took a while to get there and often strayed a bit too far from it. I was really confused by the mafia subplot, I definitely felt like it either should have been a lot bigger or should not have been included at all, I kept wondering if they were going to go somewhere with it but they never did. The romance started off cute and strong but quickly deteriorated. With the main character who we are repeatedly told wants to be valedictorian and is obsessed with her grades, she seems to forget about them a lot unless it matters directly to the subplot at that particular time.
One of my biggest issues with this story was the teachers. The novel seemed to flip from them being wildly supportive to them not caring at all about this student who they choose to exploit. I felt like the novel would have benefited from a Ms. Darbus type character who cared about the musical and dragged the student along with her.
Overall inconsistent plot, writing, and characters make this a 2/5 read.

DNF 34% - I have been trying to keep reading this book for almost a week, but it is just not clicking on me. I believe if I had read it like 3 years ago I would probably have loved it, but right now I find it a bit childish and boring... Also, due to the current circumstances, I am having a hard time to find a book that actually keeps me holding on to the pages, and this one is not helping. The writing style is good and the characters pretty well depicted, but the storyline and plot are just not my cup of tea at the moment. I am actually sad because I though I was gonna love it. Maybe I will give it a second chance in a few months.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. The writing wasn't really for me, and I could easily see me getting frustrated very quickly with this book (if I wasn't already).

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a preview of the book The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life!
I enjoyed this book's cute and often relatable characters. Particularly I liked Alison, her growth, and the friendships that were portrayed between her and Becca and Annie. However, while I did enjoy this book's main character, the side characters and relationships felt bit weak to me. It felt at though this book could have added on another 50 pages or so to fully give the background characters and the plot line the time it needed to be fully fleshed out. Additionally, the writing felt a bit clunky at times, particularly with the dialogue. Overall, despite these factors, I found it to be an enjoyable read!

Thank you Netgalley and Second Story Press for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alison Green has a lot on her plate, she's desperate to be valedictorian, she has a crush on the coolest girl in school and she's somehow been tricked into producing the school play affectionately named "Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster."

I've never read a book centred around a play before and while I felt like there was slightly too much rehearsal for my personal taste, I really enjoyed this story overall. It was cute, funny and entertaining and I loved the casual diversity and representation. Alison struggles in a very relatable way to balance school life, friendships and a budding relationship, making mistakes along the way but working hard at making up for them. There was a few things I'd have liked more time spent on such as the final performance and the side characters stories, but overall I really liked it!

This was such a sweet book. I loved the plot. I will be writing a longer review in the publishing date. Thanks for the opportunity ❤️

Guys, you know that book that had everything to work out, but is it right there on average? The book has an opening with super funny passages and a very cliché plot that could have been much more used. But from the moment the protagonist accepts the meeting with Jack (which in itself was a step bigger than her leg and totally out of the context of the author's plot), the book goes downhill until it stagnates in that limbo where readers don't they want to abandon reading, but they also don't want to finish it. The protagonist has soooo many communication problems, simple things that could be solved with a good conversation generate an unnecessary drama in Alisson's mind, and the ending is a little rushed. You look like that, like, "hmmm, I don't know what will happen to the characters, but I don't want to know either". Anyway, I believe that the author has potential and I understand that one cannot charge too much for an initial book.

This was a pretty cute book!

Alison is pretty much forced to produce her high school playing - because she aspires to be valedictorian, she doesn't push back. Between the underfunding, the difficult actors, and the immense amount of schoolwork she has, she starts to feel stressed. Her relationships suffer, her grades suffer. And somehow she has to figure it all out.

I absolutely loved the friendship Al had with her sister Annie, her friend Becca, and her friend Jack. I wish we'd seen a tad bit more of her friendship with Jack, but I enjoyed what was there.

I loved reading the drama of getting a high school play together. I wasn't involved in drama in high school, but I was in the pit orchestra a couple of times and this book took me back to those days.

Unfortunately, the romance fell a little bit flat for me. Charlotte seemed like the perfect cookie cutter, ideal, cool without trying character, which made her pretty boring. I feel like the book would have been just as good without it. Sometimes friend relationships are just as fun to read about as romantic ones.

Good debut book from a promising author. Great for upper middle/high school age ranges. Positive representation of the LGBTQ+ community.

The story and plot itself were simple, many subplots involving Allison's friends and family, and that's where this book really shined, though some of the characters delved into stereotypes. It was hard to get into Allison's head at times and be sure to suspend your disbelief because the adults in this book put a ton of responsibilities on the shoulders of a teenager (and one who has no clue about theatre, to boot).

Overall, an entertaining story. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

A huge thanks to Netgalley, Second Story Press, and Dani Jensen for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

3 stars for this one. This was a short, cute read, and I enjoyed the overall story line. Alison was an enjoyable MC, though she could have been a bit more fleshed out. In fact, despite liking the characters in this book, I didn't LOVE any of them, and they just didn't quite stand out on the page as much as they could've.

Alison gets roped into producing the school play her senior year, while vying for the Valedictorian title. Of course, things turn out to be far more difficult than she could have imagined and has to question what's important to her. She drags her best friend, Becca, and her little sister Annie into the play as well, both of whom I enjoyed for their bluntness with Alison, she needed it at times. I won't say much more on the storyline, but it was a good read.

The plot flowed well over the course of the book, and I did like seeing how the story progressed, BUT, I also feel like it was predictable. It was short, I feel like it could've been fleshed out just a little and hit some more stuff more solidly on the head. That being said, I did enjoy it and it was a cute read, it just fell a little flat for me.

First of all, I want to thank the publishers for providing me when a free copy in return for my honest review.

The premise of this novel and the cover were a huge draw in for me. I loved the idea of directing a school play mixed into a coming of age story.

I feel like most of the characters weren't really flushed out and their relationships between each other weren't as solid as I would have liked. The romance was a little unconvincing to me, they didn't seem to have much chemistry.

The plot did seem a little inconsistent to me, it was slow to get into and felt rushed towards the end. In my opinion this LGBT+ novel has been done before and it didn't really bring anything new to it.

I think I may not be the target audience for this particular book (which is in no way the authors issue). I believe that I would have devoured this if I were back in high school.

This was quite a fun read, and I really enjoyed the fact that things don't get nicely wrapped up for all involved. While the book has wacky elements, much of the story still felt grounded and real.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life has a very fun and interesting premise - uptight valedictorian hopeful Allison gets coerced into producing the school play (alone? A high schooler with complete control over the school play without even one single teacher advisor?), which happens to be Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lots of things go wrong, causing Allison to rethink her perfectionist ways and learn how to go with the flow.

This young adult story is light and easy to read. That being said, most of the characterizations were pretty shallow, and while some of the plotting was interesting, the lack of much depth led to a surface-level understanding of most character's motivations and personalities. Allison's sexuality (she's gay) plays into the story without becoming the entire story, which was nice to see. There is probably a lot left on the table with this book, with more of the themes begging to be explored. Overall, a fun idea with a bit of lackluster execution.