Kathryn Barker's WAKING ROMEO is an interesting and creative mash-up retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Everything ends up tying together quite well with all the time travel. but I never really connected with Jules or Ellis. While this particular story was not for me, I am certain that there are many readers out there who would devour and love it. I appreciated the nods to Taylor Swift's "Love Story".

I was immediately drawn to this book by the multiple descriptions indicating it was a blend of Romeo and Juliet combined with Wuthering Heights. Then add in the sci-fi twists and I was over the moon excited about this storyline.

It wasn't just any mere alternate take of these classics. This book literally takes the original plots and scatters pieces of them into this story. The parts used may not exactly resemble the original story a great deal, but there is just enough of them each to be noticeable. I liked that the author took the characters and gave them her own interpretation and characteristics. They don't resemble the originals at all, in my opinion, which makes the story even more interesting. When you don't know exactly what to expect, the plot is so much more enjoyable.

Taking this story and giving it a science fiction base. Well, that was quite creative and clever. It was an inventive plot I hadn't seen before. It was heartfelt and emotional while still delivering a sense of adventure and intrigue as well. At times, the twists created by traveling to different time periods got a bit confusing for me, but I managed to keep up and it was well worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I love Shakespeare, and my master's thesis was about YA adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, so when I saw that Australian author Kathryn Barker had a genre-bending retelling of the old standard Romeo and Juliet, I had to give it a read. And I'm glad I did!

This book is told in a dystopian future, where time travel is possible, but only going forward. Some families have elected to stay in the "now" in The Settlement. Two of those families are the Montagues and Capulets. In this retelling, Jules, a.k.a. Juliet, is our main voice, though many of the names of Shakespeare's characters are present as well. In Jules' reality, there never was a Shakespearean version of Romeo and Juliet; instead, she's writing it as a seventeen year old who is enamored of the Bard's style. Only in this version, Juliet had attempted suicide, unsuccessfully, and Romeo is in a coma.

The twist in this tale is in the alternating chapters - a character named Heathcliff Ellis is a Deadender. Deadenders can go back and forth in time, and Ellis's mission is to wake Romeo. It seems that the offspring of Romeo and Juliet is the one who saves the world, and if Romeo doesn't wake up, the future will cease to exist. And yes, Heathcliff is one and the same in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

I love the angles Barker takes in weaving this tale through two fictional characters from different works. She skillfully incorporates a multitude of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, but the ending is perfect. A worthy read for sure!

Romeo and Juliet + Wuthering Heights + time travel? Taking two stories about star-crossed lovers and putting them into a futuristic world with time travel is one of the weirdest concepts I've read in a while, but somehow it worked?

The concept was insanely creative, and I loved how all the pieces from two very different stories fit together. The dystopian setting that most of the story took place in was also incredibly fascinating, and the worldbuilding was very well done.

However, it felt like there was so much packed into a single sentence that it was sometimes difficult for me to keep track of what was going on. I kept having to backtrack and reread chapters because I'd completely glossed over seemingly unimportant details that turned out to actually be important. How everything tied together was decently well-done, but it was sometimes confusing.

I'm also not a huge fan of time travel stories where things are only done because that's just the way they have to be done to preserve the timeline. There were a lot of things that the characters did only because they were told they had to do those things to preserve the integrity of the timeline, and that got frustrating after a while.

There's certainly a lot going on in this. I honestly wasn't sure how to rate because there's a lot I like and I lot I don't like, but ultimately, I went with 3.5 stars because, if nothing else, it was entertaining. I think fans of futuristic YA and / or time travel stories would enjoy this, even if they don't like Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't bad either.

I want to say that I loved this one but sadly I just didn't. It was still worth the read but I don't think I would be getting it in print. Wording was very repetitive and slow. In your head monologue and thoughts. The idea of time travel in this one was interesting but it just didn't work out fully for me. I would say this is one of those books that if you want to try it out check out the library.

I wanted to read something outside of my preferred genre. The premise for this book sounded interesting and I thought it would be something I could really get into. Unfortunately I was wrong. I couldn’t get into the time travel and found it hard to follow. I’ve read some really great reviews for this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

There is a LOT going on in this book, so much so that I had to keep stopping and figuring out what was happening. Retellings of famous stories can be tricky, and I think combining Romeo and Juliet with Wuthering Heights and then adding the always-complicated twist of time travel might have been a tad ambitious. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book and its characters.

I read the entire book, and I liked the first 20%. I kept reading the rest (and it took me weeks) because I was hoping to rediscover my enjoyment of the story, but it was a struggle. The time-traveling concept is difficult to follow, and only a very small niche market in my library would be interested in even trying this book. I appreciated the effort made to create twists on some of my favorite literature, but the novel overall was not one I would recommend to my students.

Apparently because I love both Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights, I read the synopsis and thought--"this will probably be (super strange but) TOTALLY AMAZING!" I was...mostly right. While I wouldn't call this book TOTALLY AMAZING. It's not NOT TOTALLY AMAZING....if that makes sense. Like, it totally amazed me that it was actually good and not ONLY strange. I don't know how to fully describe this but to say it is a time travel reimagining of some classic "romances"(Although they were more tragedies), where time travel is used as a plot device for the characters to "fix what went wrong"(Like "futuristic dystopian Romeo and Juliet"s botched suicide attempt). So as you can imagine. WEIRD. But, it actually had some decent writing and plot points and character developments.

This book was such a fun read! I really loved the main characters and the journey the author took them on. I was never bored reading it. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends.

You guys this is everything a Romeo and Juliet mixed with Wuthering Heights should be and more, with an HEA.

the world that was built and the storyline is just really intriguing, I couldn’t stop reading I had to find out what happened next . No don’t get me wrong it wasn’t deeply complex but it was beautiful and interesting, the way the author put everything together and meshed it all, I absolutely loved it.

Jules and Ellis are something else entirely, I loved their chemistry right off the bat. The other characters were a lot of fun as well, such a nice twist on some amazing classics.

The time travel? That was what really had me interested just the way everything flowed and how unexpected everything was. Also the way Jules was writing Romeo and Juliet and Ellis ex-lover wrote Wuthering Heights, I loved how that element was added.

All in all it was a very fun read that I recommend to anyone who loves these stories with a little time traveling.

Honestly this was insane in a really good way - I probably should've expected that from the description itself but the magnitude of the pure insanity didn't really hit me until about halfway through. The beginning was a bit slow and confusing for me, but after that it was absolutely incredible - twisting both Romeo & Juliet and Wuthering Heights combined, two of my favorite classics. At first I was thinking I wouldn't like it too much because of the very obvious love triangle coming into play but there was a moment at which I went "OH" and knew immediately that I'd actually like this. I rarely see time travel executed in a manner that ends up working continuously and at least a bit logically (can time travel ever ~be~ logical?) and I really enjoyed the time aspect - "Everything is connected." The characters were also written well - I liked Juliet and Ellis a lot more than I usually like YA protagonists (and Iggy and Henry and Beth !!) - and the relationships, good or not, well-drawn.

I have been struggling with how to write a review for this book. I loved this book like I loved this book, but for the life of me I am having a hard time explaining this book to anybody I talk to. It is so different and so unique than anything I have read recently. It is the mash up of two powerhouse romance stories, one obviously being Romeo and Juliet, the other I won’t share so as not to spoil things. But beyond that it’s also got time travel, gender disparity discussions, climate control and environmental issues, and I’m top of all that it’s got love! It is sooooo good and for some who loves Romeo and Juliet as much as I do it was even better!

Juliet "Jules" Capulet lives amidst the ruins of the human civilization after it was ravaged by irresponsible time-traveling. Her boyfriend, Romeo, lies comatose in the hospital, unable to wake. However, a destined encounter with a mysterious time traveler might hold the key to waking Romeo, and so much more.

As far as premises go, this one's a weird one. Romeo & Juliet x Wuthering Heights x time travel? Juliet as a depressed teen living in the 2060s and Heathcliff as a time traveler? I was definitely thrown off a lot by the beginning, as it was full of exposition and didn't seem to make a lot of sense until later. But boy, once the plot started rolling, I just couldn't stop.

Time travel is always tough to pull off, and I'm not sure that anyone, even Barker, could have executed it perfectly. There were definitely parts that made me confused and parts that felt convenient, but despite all that, the heart of the characters and the deep themes of love and loss were enough to keep me invested.

I loved Jules's character journey. Her growth is just wonderful to watch, even if you almost have to watch it in pieces as the narrative plays around with time. At first, I found her almost pretentious, but I definitely warmed up to her and felt for her sorrow as the story went on. Ellis's own journey of healing was handled really nicely. I was genuinely rooting for these two the whole way.

I did say that some parts felt too convenient, but others just felt so clever that I was mentally applauding Barker for setting these up so well. They were able to work in the themes of cycles and time and healing so well, fully capitalizing on the time travel element to tell this story. I just had to keep turning the pages to see how it would all end, and it was a glorious ride there.

It's a book that I didn't think would work, but dang if it didn't pull that off with some flair.

This was a well written story with engaging characters. It was a different take on the whole time travel trope. I loved the mix of literary characters. My one quibble is with the set-up of the local community, there was a line about there being little to no crime. Human nature makes that hard so believe.

This was an interesting story. Original plot with engaging characters and a poignant message. Look forward to more from this author.

4/5
Wow, I am usually not a science fiction reader, but the title caught my attention. I'm so glad that I got a chance to read this and I would definitely recommend it! The story was good and I loved how the author conveyed the story of Romeo and Juliet with a twist.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This book was amazing, the plot was well thought out, and while there were parts of the book that were a bit confusing if you think to much, for the most part it worked really well. The time travel was well thought out, and most if not all of the loose ends were tied up. I will also admit that it had been years since I have read Romeo and Juliet, and I never read Wuthering Heights. But I didn't feel like I was missing anything, or that I had to go back and read both of those to understand this book.

This thrilling book, took a new twist on the all time classic, “Romeo and Juliet”. This was a interesting story with so many unique aspects. I flew threw this book, and could not put it down! My favorite thing was how different it was from any other similar book I’ve read. I could tell the author took time to create her own ideas, and invent a unique plot I haven’t seen. I would definitely recommend this book to all! Thank you to the author, and “NetGalley”, for giving me a eARC.