As someone whose least favorite Shakespeare work is Romeo and Juliet, I figured a little queer remix might change my mind slightly. Instead, I was fully blown away and deeply reconsidering that maybe I don't hate the classic R&J because it's so popularized in modern media, but because it's simply too straight for me. (Kidding, of course.)

This book fully changed my perspective, and made me adore this new perspective on the story. Roehrig's writing style encapsulates the Shakespearean script style and blends it with a classic YA-friendly beat so well, I was immediately swept into the timeline and swoony lovestruck feeling without needing to sit and process the meaning behind the poetic words. The romance is so beyond swoony that I was also falling in love with the LI. I just adored this book so, so much.

Teach the Torches to Burn: A Romeo & Juliet Remix by Caleb Roehrig is a captivating reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic tale, retold from the perspective of Rosaline, the often-overlooked character in the original play. Roehrig brings a fresh, modern voice to the story, diving deeper into Rosaline’s emotions and conflicts. The novel adds complexity to her relationship with Romeo, exploring the intensity of first love, betrayal, and societal pressures. This remix blends the timeless drama of Romeo and Juliet with contemporary themes, making it a compelling read for both fans of the original and newcomers alike.

A reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, but with two teen boys who must keep their growing fondness a secret from their feeding families who do not support relationships of their kind.

Slow moving at first, but gained momentum after the boys become reacquainted.

Absolutley loved this book. I loved everything about it. It has been a while since I read the book so I feel I cant do the review justice but I do remember loving it and that the fate of our Juliet and romeo and his lover was a pleasant surprise. Everyone knows the tragedy and how it ended and though this plays off of the original story down to character names it doesn't end in such tragedy and is more of a happily ever after.

Admittedly I have never read Romeo and Juliet, so reading a remix even was out of my comfort zone. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the read. The author did a very good job describing the scenary and the era without making it seem like information overload.
Romeo and Valentine's romance was sweet and swoon worthy. I will say I thought Valentine was Juliet and the remix was welcoming and definitely added to the story.
That ending. That's all I'll say.

Very very cute! I always love a good retelling so I was super excited to read this. Thank you so much for the early review!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for the eBook.

I love Shakespeare, I love queer retellings, and I think Romeo & Juliet is the perfect Shakespeare play to get a queer retelling. I think Romeo & Juliet is one of the most misunderstood Shakespeare plays, and I think Roehrig nails why in his author's note: "Shakespeare’s original play is not a romance meant for young readers to swoon over; it is an urgent warning aimed at adults. It contains some of the bard’s most beautiful, lyrical meditations on love … but it is, at its core, the story of two young people who are so neglected and manipulated by their selfish, self-involved parents that their lives end in senseless and avoidable tragedy. It is a wake-up call, meant to remind us that life is short and love is precious, and that we disrespect our children’s self-determination at great peril to their safety— as well as to our own happiness and moral welfare. It is a message that I think contemporary society could benefit from."

Overall, I loved this story, and I think it did a beautiful job of sticking fairly true to the source material while making enough changes to be fun and fresh. I feel like the beginning is a bit slow, and it takes a while to get into the action, but once the plot truly begins, it takes off and I was hooked. 4 stars.

I loved this remixed version of Romeo and Juliet. It is one of the plays that I had to read in my high school career but could not remember all of the details for. That was not necessary as Caleb Roehrig does a great job of weaving in the characters of the story along with some plot lines while also changing and creating their own version of the story. Romeo really unfolds on the page as he begins a new romance and explores standing up for himself. Juliet is also a force in this book and I enjoyed her moments of time to shine. This book ran like an emotional roller coaster for me and I was here for it! Thank you to Felwei and Friends for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing a review copy.

Lush prose, a timely retelling on a classic tragedy. The Remix Series is doing excellent work in it's finding authors and adaptations of classic literature.

I am loving the queer retellings! They make so happy.
The timeless feud between warring families. The timeless love between two young adults.
Oh I needed this retelling when I was a teenager - gorgeous, lovely and so romantic.

Loved this twist on Romeo and Juliet. Surprised I haven’t seen an LGBTQ retelling until now. It was handled with a lot of thought.

I'm loving these remixes so much. This one did not disappoint! I am glad to see a more modern take on this shakespeare title and I think teens who maybe aren't super interested in Shakespeare will still be able to enjoy this one.

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig is my favorite Romance read so far this year.
Described as a Romeo and Juliet retelling this book starts off with a young Romeo sneaking back in to his room and rolls right in to dialogue and banter that has a definite Shakespearean feel. Not only did this story have me so immersed that i walking right along Romeo and his friends it also had moments that I could picture playing out on stage.

Between Ben & Mercutio’s posturing, Juliet’s antipathy over her situation and Romeo’s introspection there was not a moment in this book that did not have me fully engaged. And the LOVE STORY in this book, the desperate need to be accepted, the reaction to the love between the two characters, my heart ached and rejoiced for them.

I thought about this book at work, I read it on my lunch break and with my kindle showing 25 mins remaining, I rushed home to finish. And then I had to pause and set it down with 10mins left because although I was eager to finish, Romeo & Juliet is a tragedy and I was not ready for the end. It is a beautiful book and was very well done. I finished this book days ago and I am still thinking about it.

I am in love with this book.

This is the perfect remix: just enough of the original, beautiful writing, and its gay. What more could you ask for?

Thank you to NetGalley and to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends for an ARC of this book.

I didn't realize that this was a series (they are all stand alone, remixed classic books) but I love all things Romeo and Juliet. When I saw this book I knew I had to request it.

I was certainly not disappointed. This was my favorite book that I have read in a long time. I have already started to recommend it to people.

The twist on this book is that Romeo falls in love..not with Juliet but with Valentine who is the brother of Marcuccio. Juliet is also here with Romeo helping him along the way.

The language in this book has the old Shakespeare feel to it which I also loved.

All around this was a win for me... I loved it!

Teach the Torches to Burn is the seventh book in the Remixed Classics series which takes the classic tales we grew up with and adds exciting new ideas and diverse casts of characters. While I haven’t read every book in this series yet, I’ve immensely enjoyed all the ones I have read, and Teach the Torches to Burn was no different. This book was inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and did a great job of including original source material while allowing it to completely stand on its own if it wanted to.

My absolute favorite part of this story was the writing style. I’ve read several historical reads or retellings that try to embody the style and voice of classic works while still keeping the language what we have today, but most of the time, it comes across as overly flowery. Not here, though! The way that Roehrig so expertly captured the feeling of fourteenth century Italy, while making the words modern and understandable, is a skill I have to applaud. It would have been easy to overdo the elaborate sentence structure he utilized, which would have fallen into purple prose category (which is not my favorite), but Roehrig managed to convey the perfect balance. This really heightened my enjoyment of the story! I felt so immersed in the setting, which allowed me to connect with the characters and plot even more than I think I would have had the writing style been more simple.

I also love that as a queer retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s love interest is Valentine, Mercutio’s younger brother. This meant that Juliet herself still got to appear in the story as she normally would have, just not as Romeo’s love interest. I’m obsessed with the fact that Juliet was portrayed as such a strong woman who’s also aroace. The representation was everything! The way she described her feelings for others and how she thinks she feels differently than most people do was just excellent. It would have been easy to just change Juliet’s gender and have her be the love interest still, but with the addition of Valentine, we were able to get some extra plot points and relationships that rounded out the story that much more.

Speaking of Valentine and Romeo…those two were everything. Their love for each other was soft and gentle, and all-consuming. Their chemistry was evident the moment they laid eyes on each other, and with everything going against them, it was impossible not to root for their happiness. I don’t usually like insta-love, but considering the original Romeo and Juliet story is just as guilty of this, it made sense to happen here. Also, they really were just too sweet, so I couldn’t be anything but attached to their relationship.

While the first half of the story is more of a slower build up to all that’s coming in the second half, the sense of foreboding hanging over the characters made the tension perfect. And once all of the action did pick up, I could no longer put the book down. I had to finish it because I needed to know how it was going to end. Knowing the outcome of the original story had me stressed! There was so much anxiety and uncertainty for the characters in the final part of the book, which kept me on the edge of my seat.

I was a little worried to reach the end, because regardless of whether it would be happy or sad, I wanted to be satisfied with it, and thankfully, I was! Roehrig wrapped it up almost perfectly, and I closed the book feeling like I’d just finished a great adventure.

If you haven’t read any of the Remixed Classics yet, you definitely need to! Teach the Torches to Burn is a good place to start, I feel, since Romeo and Juliet is such a well-known and beloved story.

I find Caleb Roehrig to be such a fun author, telling stories that I don’t think I would have thought of myself and approaching them from such a unique angle. Like this one. When I heard it was a Romeo and Julie remix, I assumed this it was going to be something like Romeo and… Julian.

But no! Roehrig remixes what you think the remix is going to be. Romeo falls for Valentine, the younger brother of one os his best friends. Don’t worry. Juliet is in there, too.

I loved this with my whole heart and soul. I think I finished it in about a day and a half because I was so invested. Romeo has always been that lovesick teen who jumps from crush to crush without abandon. Having him navigate his sexuality with all of the drama you’d expect from feuding families wasn’t too much.

What a wonderful retelling of this classic story.

I knew I would enjoy this but I didn't realize how in love I'd be with these characters! It's a story full of so much raw emotion and longing, and I would love to read a story with Juliet as the protagonist. She was so cool!

4 stars. Great remix of the "Romeo and Juliet" story. Recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Bought for our library.

Super cliched and felt really weird for a Romeo and Juliet remix/retelling? I had no interest to keep reading and all the characters were just so, so boring. I would not recommend this to anyone who believes it to be a gay version of Romeo and Juliet because there are so many better options out there.