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.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

An excellent retelling of Romeo and Juliet that went a route I was not expecting. It was great to see a love story with not just a gender-swapped Juliet, so this was a nice surprise!

This is exactly what I’d want from a Romeo and Juliet remix! I love that this isn’t just a retelling but a whole remixing. I adored the romance and the hopeful ending. The characters were easy to connect with and the atmosphere was perfect!!

Okay I loved this :')

I thought it was a really unique retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and so well-written. It was tender and so funny and engaging throughout the entire story! I also thought it touched on some really thoughtful, sincere topics that felt relevant even to a thirty-something not living in ancient Verona. It was hopeful and weaved a truly adventurous and enjoyable journey in a message about claiming happiness for ourselves courageously.

I'm kicking myself for not having read this sooner, and I'm so glad this book was written!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. TEACH THE TORCHES TO BURN is out now!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I loved the nods to the original Romeo and Juliet story in this remix, but the fresh new take from a queer lens was everything the story always needed!

This installment in the series is absolutely PHENOMENAL! As someone who always criticized the original R&J for NOT being a true lovestory, I LOVED what they did with THIS. Amazing.

Dnf at 30%. Had to give up on it. I really tried but I couldn't make myself interested, which is disappointing bc I usually really like LGBTQ+ romance.

The Remixed Classics series is the much needed facelift for a lot of classics. For too long the "classics" have been presented as a comprehensive representation of ALL lives. This is not the case. Which is why having the old stories given a new life, and lots of diversity, is an amazing addition to bookstores and libraries. This book included. The only thing that was missing from Shakespeare was two raging gays, and finally, this book delivers just that. If Shakespeare were here today, he would be proud of this work,

Thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic addition to the reimagining of classics! I really enjoyed the writing and characters in this one. I don't want to say too much because it gets into spoiler territory but I liked the decisions made by the author in this one. I hope it gets more teens into Shakespeare's works!

Sweet and romantic! I really do love Romeo and Juliet retellings so much and this one didn't disappoint. I think I just love the overall tone of the whole book. Once again, I love the remix retellings and I will love and read every single one that gets put out!

This is a clever retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story with the twist that Romeo is gay and falls in love with Mercutio's brother, Valentine. Juliet still plays a part, as a woman looking for a way out of an arranged marriage. I thoroughly enjoyed how this impossible love found a way!

With such a beautiful cover I couldnt help but be drawn in to Teach the Torches to Burn. With it being a Romeo and Juliet remix I was originally nervous as, like many, I want more of a happy ending and this book (without any spoilers) delivers on that! The characters were very compelling and I really enjoyed our two MCs. A stunning retelling overall and I look forward to more of Caleb Roehrig's works in the future!

Such a stunning take on the star crossed lovers classic. This book does a wonderful job of telling the original story in an innovative way that preserves the reasons for why the original was amazing yet adding it’s own depth and value to a classic.

Loved this Romeo and Juliet retelling. It did such a good job of using moments from the original but spinning it into something else.

Romeo and Valentine were so tragic but sweet. I do wish we got more of Valentine. I feel like he was more in the background of scenes but Romeo's love of him made him into a character..

Juliet was a freaking badass and I loved her in this book.

First, thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for an eArc for this title in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I really enjoyed this one; there were some moments where I was taken out of the story, though that doesn't speak on the book itself. Overall, it's a great romance and a fun Shakespearean remix. I think I personally wanted a little bit more, but that's no fault of the author or the book!

If you haven't read any of the books in the Classics Remixed series, I'd recommend changing that. Some are better than others, but Teach the Torches to Burn is one of my favorites! Roehrig manages to stay fairly true to the story Romeo & Juliet even while removing the biggest plot point: the romance between Romeo and Juliet. The basics of the story are still there: romance, death, faked death, etc, but this time Romeo is gay and falls for his friend's younger brother Valentine while Juliet becomes his aromatic friend who also feels trapped by societal expectations. I felt the narrator was a little too dramatic at times, but I still really enjoyed listening to Teach the Torches to Burn!

Teach the Torches to Burn honors the themes from the original – the pressure of a name, of a legacy, and the intensity of the family conflict – while exploring new interpretations and layers. Roehrig examines the pressures we feel to “be” something, to have an identity that has been thrust upon us and is not ours. All the labels and stereotypes that are heaped upon us limiting the potential of our expression, of being who we truly are.

These remixes have been my favorite thing since they started. They are so so good. We all know the old stories but adding the diversity aspect to them is just making them so much more welcoming and interesting for the new age of readers.

Dare I say the gay remix of Romeo and Juliet is better than the classic? I do dare. Look, when I had to read the classic in high school, I just didn't care. I wasn't invested in the characters or story. *Enter Caleb Roehrig* and all of a sudden I am on the edge of my seat and turning pages faster than ever.

I genuinely cared about these characters and what happened and while yes, it is a retelling and some things are wildly predictable because of that- the spin and twists that are woven into this one was just *chefs kiss* perfection. The story takes the classic taboo of the main characters love and splashes some updated taboo onto it and makes it that much more enticing. I paired this read with the audio and I can't go without saying that the audio adds a performative flair of fun to the book.

If you're a fan of retellings, if the classic just didn't scratch an itch for you, if you simply love to read queer and breaking the norm reads- don't miss out on this one.