A wonderful read. I loved the story's language and approach while still guessing how true this would stay to the classic.

I actually really liked our main character. Although his main problem is his love life, and I think he could've been expanded on beyond that, I guess that is the whole point of this story.

I love how the author approaches retackling this classic. As he says, the original Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, but not because of the inst-love story. It is a tragedy of teenagers having to deal with their parents' poor choices and pointless rivalries. I'd have to agree; very well said.

I really liked what Roehrig did with Mercutio and Juliet in this story, and I really liked the new character Valentine. Valentine and Mercutio's brother relationship definitely stood out the most, and I love the aro/ace rep that was Juliet. She was one of my favorite characters.

Now, this story is still insta-love, and I get why it would be. Like, it's Romeo and Juliet, for crying out loud. However, the love story was not expanded time-wise, which is my only complaint. If it could have been a little less insta-love, I may have given it five stars. I love what was done with the rest of the story however, and I think this was a very enjoyable read, used good language that felt true to the time, and still like teenagers at the same time, and is a story that will stick with me for a while.

Dear Netgalley and Publisher,
Thank you so much for letting me read this book.

Let me say this first :
I hated Romeo and Juliet!! So much!!

But...

Turned out I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet if they didn't up together! Yeay!!
I enjoyed Romeo and Valentine so much in this book. And definitely love the ending.
However, the writing style of Caleb Roehrig was so so. It wasn't beautifully prose like how I Imagined, since this book was retelling from Shakespeare's famous work.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't really special in my heart.

“Something I have learned, both through observation and personal experience, is that happiness is not guaranteed to anyone. If it finds you, if it seeks you out, it is best to revel in it for as long as you can. It is perhaps the greatest gift fate has to offer.”

This book was so lovely and beautiful!! It was definitely insta-lovey, which I didn’t have a problem with. I really enjoyed the spin on Romeo and Juliet, especially seeing so many different characters shine. The plot resolved fairly quickly, and the pacing of the book was well done!

I love all of these remixes, I find them clever and I can see teen readers getting inspiration from them and seeing themselves in literature that previously excluded most groups. I especially loved Juliet not as some shrinking violet, but as a woman who wanted more out of life than what everyone wanted to give her. The romance between Romeo and Valentine was fine--appropriately insta-love, and I maybe would have liked more in Valentine's POV, but otherwise, I flew through this and I enjoyed it.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. It has a pretty cover. I love Romeo and Juliet and have been teaching it for 20+ years, so I am quite familiar with the play. But this. I'm not sure what this is. It's not a remix that I expected. Romeo isn't likeable. No one really is. There is no flowery language. And Act 3 scene 1 of the play? With Tybalt and Mercutio dueling? It doesn't happen. After the first 40 pages or so, I really didn't care what happened. Romeo was ridiculous. And they just ruined Benvolio here. Juliet was a bit interesting. Really, this whole story was disappointing. Maybe for someone who doesn;t know the play, this might make sense. But when they changed around people's personalities and family lineage, I just found it confusing.

Romeo and Juliet is one of those stories that is so well known in western literature, that you almost can't escape it. If you're like me, there's a strong chance that you probably read it during a high school literature class. So, when I saw this book available in Netgalley, I thought I'd request a copy and see if I could give it a try. And for the first few pages or so, it was an enjoyable read. But, after a while, I found myself slowly losing interest in the story. I don't think I can point to any one aspect in the story that made me lose interest. I think it was one of those things where I found that the book just wasn't for me. However, if you happen to be a fan of Romeo and Juliet, or even a fan of Shakespeare himself, I would suggest giving this book a try when it's published later this year.

I thought I'd love this book because it had everything I enjoy, Shakespeare retellings and queer characters, but sadly I didn't. There was just something off about the writing and I felt like it was really weak.

Oh. My. Gosh. I read this book alongside Romeo & Juliet and found myself resenting every page I read that wasn't from this book. I absolutely adore this romance and it will be well used at Emerson.

I thought this was a bad retelling. Doing a retelling of Shakespeare is probably not the best idea. I felt like this writing was very weak. If you are doing a retelling the goal is to make it somewhat different from the original. I did not feel like this retelling did that. I just felt like the same story badly written.

Did I like this book? It was okay, slower than I would like from a book. I felt like there was a lot of potential and not a lot happened. I found it hard to stay engaged with the characters, and didn't really care how the story ended. Would I recommend this book? No I don't think I would recommend it. I love LGBTQIA books and this one just didn't do it for me.

I love all these remixes and this is no exception! An amazing remix of Romeo and Juliet. I loved every minute.

One of the better remixes. For me, it's up there with Clash of Steel and Self-Made Boys.

You can never go wrong with a (queer) Romeo and Juliet story, and this book hit all the right elements. Especially because of the happy ending. I adored the platonic bond Romeo and Juliet created during their few interactions, both of them struggling with being different in different ways and having to deal with society’s expectations. Also, since I had not expected to see it, I really loved the aro/ace rep with Friar Laurence and Juliet as well.

Overall, I enjoyed this story very much!

Romeo and Juliet is a play that I have taught many times. I always try to approach it through the lens of teenagers and poor life decisions. I am pleased that this retelling also includes teens making some poor life decisions, just not as many as the source material. Romeo finds love at the Capulet's party. Same set up, but he finds love with Valentine, Mercutio's brother. However, he does find a friend in Juliet Capulet at the party. When Tybalt (completely the same as the source material) becomes his angry self and acts out in rage, Romeo, Juliet, and their friends find themselves trying to figure out a way to both stay alive and to be able to live the lives that they want, not simply living the lives their families want. When Valentine is seriously hurt, Romeo and Juliet have to think quickly in order to figure out how they can be the people they want to be while staying alive. I am pleased that, unlike the source material, this has a less tragic ending. One of the best retellings of Shakespeare I have ever read.

Bravo!! In some ways this feels like it changes the least from the canon of the Classics Remixed series, but also it changes everything. (view spoiler)

It did feel a little draggy in the middle but having an overly-convoluted plot is core to the R&J experience I suppose.

I have only read Romeo and Juliet once in high school, so my knowledge of the plot is now over a decade old. There were bits and characters in this book that I did not remember at all, but overall, this was very recognizably a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The twist here being...Romeo is gay and falls in love with Valentine, Mercutio's brother. Here was my first stumbling block with the story, as Valentine (Google tells me) is mentioned in the play, but has no real role in it. Instead, the author has elevated this character and had him take on some of Mercutio's plot beats, and while it threw me off at first, I did end up thinking this was a clever way to remix the plot. By far, my favorite part is that we get not just one, but TWO major characters who are asexual in some manner, with both Friar Lawrence and Juliet proclaiming a lack of interest in romantic affairs. Juliet's declaration surprised me, but I was so happy to see it, we so rarely get good, interesting ace spec characters, and to have their sexualities respected and recognized by other characters was a delight. The author manages a happy ending for the main group (Romeo, Juliet, Valentine, Mercutio, Benvolio) that felt realistic and led to a satisfying ending. Not only that, but we get very good characterization of these individuals, the author has fleshed them out in a way that they are still recognizable from their source, but have an added nuance that compliments the turns the story takes.

What a gorgeous novel full of loveable characters and a storyline that I couldn't put down. This one is a must read!

In the original tale, Romeo and Juliet are immature and most of their problems actually stem from communication issues. You know going into any retelling that there’s a level of immaturity that follows. In this case, the immaturity is front and center, and it doesn’t feel like the book will broadly appeal to our patrons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC.

This was fine! I thought the writing style was a little pretentious at times, and I generally just didn't find the story very interesting. I think Romeo & Juliet can be tough to retell because of the insta-love aspect of the story, and I felt that really kept me from connecting to the main characters and their relationship here.
I love this cover though!!!

Excellent retelling of a classic story with a LGBTQ twist! The author captures the adventure and tension of the original play, but the relationship between Romeo and Valentine seems more realistic. The characters are all charming in different ways - Benvolio is a rake, Mercutio takes his leadership role seriously, and Juliet is a fiercely independent young woman - which makes the story fun to read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thanks Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I am really enjoying these reimagined classics! I think I’ve always struggled with the original stories but the way these are done makes the stories come alive to me! Romeo is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and to be betrothed to a women of his father’s choosing but he does not want to take over for his father and has no interest in women. When his cousin Ben talks him into going to a masquerade party at his family sworn enemies he meets two people there a beautiful mysterious boy and Juliet daughter of said enemy. There interaction leads to trouble with Juliet’s cousin, trouble that follows Romeo. All Romeo wants is to spend more time with the mysterious boy, Valentine, but I’d emerging friendship with Juliet May just get them all in trouble. Can Romero find love? Will his relationship with Juliet lead to trouble? The story was intriguing and full of action and when not in action the reader is given tender heartwarming moments between two people who cannot be. Caleb Roehrig gives a beautiful twist to the Romeo and Juliet classic! If your a fan of the original you will love Romeo and Valentines tale! I can’t wait to read it again when it comes out!