Loved this blend of Romeo and Juliet with a modern love story. The speculative elements of the story really sing, and while I wish the love story itself had a bit more too it, on the whole, I really enjoyed it!

Despite the fact that this book does not come out until August and I usually try to wait and read my digital review copies closer to the publication date but I wanted to provide feedback so here it is: I really enjoyed this book. This is a rom-com with all the earmarks of those: the meet-cute, will they or won't they, etc. But the twist here is that there's a dash of magical realism thrown into the mix: are these two people who are physically drawn to each other really Romeo, who appears to be immortal, and Juliet reincarnated (since we know how she ended up in the play!)

I love that it's set in Alaska, a very unusual setting for a present-day work of fiction. It was very interesting that the Romeo character is a crab fisherman. There are lots of touches to this novel that excited me, kept me reading on a cross-country plane ride and will definitely have me putting this into the hands of readers this summer.

The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye
This book was so good, it was jampacked with romance, intrigue and waiting for the pin to drop. I enjoyed this book, and it held my attention. I loved the little vignettes of past lives and loved seeing how each Juliet met her Romeo. Thank you to Random House- Ballantine and Evelyn skye for giving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publish Date 1 August 2023

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this arc:

This book was unlike any I had ever read and was even more achingly beautiful after reading the acknowledgments. Romeo and Juliet may be a tale as old as time but this story isn't! Loved this unique take on soulmates past lives and everything in between! This was an interesting unique read with love heart heartbreak joy and hope.

GENERAL INFO
=======================================
Year Pub/Re Pub: 8/1/23
Indie/Publisher: Del Rey Books
Page Length: 336
Setting: Current day Alaska, but they go through many places/times in history-Pearl Harbor 1941, Versailles France 1789, Oxford England 1839, Verona 1376, Sicily 1395, The Mountains of Transylvania 1682, and Germany 1456
Genre/tropes: CR, fairytale retelling, 2nd chances
Source: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily give an honest review, and all opinions are my own.
Standalone /Part of a Series/Installment: standalone
Epilogue Included: no
=======================================
Character(s)POV Spoken: Dual between H/Sebastien and h/Helene
=======================================
BOOK DESCRIPTION
=======================================
M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: M/F
HEA/HFN/etc Ending: HEA
Contains Cheating: no
Contains Children: yes @ the end
Flashbacks: quite a bit because of Sebastien's immortal curse and Helene's romantic vignettes
Amount of Sex In The Book: enough
Overall Smex Rating: 2
=======================================
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
=======================================
HERO: Sebastien/Romeo Montague
Hero Description: a grumpy fisherman. Owns Alacrity-boat for his king crab fishing. Believes he is cursed to keep falling in love w/ Juliet through time. It always ends in tragedy, and he is left alone.
Hero Likability Rating: 5
HEROINE: Helene/Juliet Capulet
Heroine Description: 30, was an assignment reporter. Now divorced, moves to Alaska to start over. Has written stories since childhood about an imaginary lover -Sebastien. She doesn't remember him but has deja vu.
Heroine Likability Rating: 4
Secondary characters:
Merrick Sauer-Helene's ex-husband, cheated w/ interns. Worked @ same paper Helene quit.
Adam Merculief-Sebastien's BFF, co-owner of Alacrity
Colin-Adam's 18-year-old nephew
Dana Wong-Adam's gf
Katy-Helen's sister
Beth- Helene's mother
Trevor- Helene's nephew
=======================================
H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO
=======================================
OW/OM/Exes: Helene's ex husband Merrick and all the Juliets for Sebastien
Cheating Before/During/Outside H/h Relationship: Helene is cheated on by husband
Grovel Rating: 4 Merrick, has been calling and texting her. Threatens her
Did OW/OM/Ex Ruin the Book For You: no
=======================================
TRIGGERS/WARNING: harassment, suicide, infertility
=======================================
AUTHOR OVERVIEW: Evelyn Skye, 1st time author
=======================================
PERSONAL OVERVIEW
======================================
Overall Rating: 4*
Do You Recommend This Book: yes
Will You Re-read This Book: yes
Would you read more books by this author: yes

Comments/Notes: A Romeo and Juliet retelling. They fall in love and the curse (family, war, illness) takes Juliet away. Sebastien tries to stay away for Helene's sake, but their pull towards each other is too much.

A woman fleeing her disastrous marriage discovers that she is part of a legendary love story that spans lives, years, and continents in this modern-day reimagining of Romeo and Juliet.

READ THIS BOOK!!! If the concept doesn’t get you to read this incredible story, I really don’t know what will. The story is so original (ironic considering it has romeo and Juliet inspiration!) and truly captivating.
Watching as the characters navigate their hearts, minds, pasts, and futures will entertain you, make you laugh, make you cry, and root for love like nothing else
@rachelbookclub

This was a very clever plot. The story was interesting and I couldn't wait to continue reading everyday. When Helene was young, she imagined the perfect husband/life partner. She travels to Alaska ;and voila, the perfect man appears in a bar on the night of her arrival. She doesn't know it but she has been part of his life in a hundred different scenarios dating back to the 1400's. I enjoyed this book immensely and will recommend it to my book club. It would be great to hear other people's opinions.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I want the physical copy on my book shelf! This is one that I can and will read over and over again!
The way my heart ached throughout the whole thing was exactly what I was wanting.
The love story behind the characters was perfectly written and these characters will stay on my mind for a long time!
Thank You to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy to read and review! 5 stars!!

This wants very badly to be a romance-forward The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which is one of my favorite books, but the writing isn't quite as strong and the premise is a little sillier: Romeo and Juliet were real people whose story was mistold by Shakespeare. When Helene meets Sebastian, he's immediately familiar to her: he's the man she's imagined for all the love story vignettes she has ever written, and it's because they're the star-crossed lovers themselves, reliving tragic love stories over the centuries.

It's clear that this is a deeply personal story for Skye, and her afterword talks about how her own life was inspiration for Helene and Sebastian. "Life is never a guarantee, but it is harder--much harder--when fate inks that fact like a tattoo to your soulmate's chest."

I'd recommend this to lovers of The Time Traveler's Wife.

Thank you to NetGalley Penguin Random House!

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Hundred Lives of Juliet immediately caught my eye just on the title alone. This is an epic love story. Helene has just gone through a messy divorce and moved to Alaska to write her first novel when she sees Sebastian, the man who's been her imaginary friend since she was a child. Not all is as it seems. I don't want to give the story away, but if you're looking for a true romance, pick this book up. Epic love. 4 🌟. I'll definitely be picking up the physical copy. Set a reminder on your phone for August 1st!

After reading The Hundred Loves of Juliet, I realize how much I truly appreciate and love reading stories that reimagine classic tales. This one hooks you in and I think the concept of the curse and the way both characters are drawn to one another time and time again. They both face heartache, the consequences of Romeo avoiding or trying to control a situation, the list goes on.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This is a book for lovers and for book lovers. In this modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo never died and instead his curse was immortality, while Juliet’s curse was reincarnation as new people through time only to die over and over again when she met her Romeo. Now they have met again, Romeo as an Alaskan crabber named Sebastian and Juliet as an aspiring novelist named Helene. Can the curse be broken, or is Helene to die just as she had as her many earlier forms of Juliet?

This was a wonderful story, and the author’s first foray into adult romance from YA. (Readers note: do not skip the author’s note at the end!). And, I loved the references to some of my own favorite books (which also served as their own foreshadowing, if you’ve read them). So, here’s to you “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and “The Fifteen Lives of Harry August,” and I might even add my own with “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

So, yes, great story, and I won’t reveal the ending, because they are Romeo and Juliet.

Themes: 👩‍❤️‍👨❤️💔🔄♾️🗣️🗣️

My feelings: 😊😇😍🥰😘

#netgalley
@netgalley
#randomhousebooks
@randomhouse
#ballantinebooks
#TheHundredLovesofJuliet
@evelyn_skye
#readmorebooks
#readmorebooksbywomen
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ARC Ebook provided through NetGalley

I enjoyed reading this book but it's a pretty run of the mill Romeo and Juliet retelling, very similar to a "Juliet Immortal," a YA book from 2012 by Stacey Jay which I read when I was in middle school and really enjoyed! The primary thread of this story is a "what if" Romeo and Juliet were cursed: Romeo to be immortal and Juliet to be reincarnated but without any memory of her prior lives with Romeo. If I hadn't read another story with a highly similar premise, I probably would have liked this story more but there are lots of feel good moments and I enjoyed the emotional moments across the dual perspective format. I love me a good pining/angsty love interest, and the real-life experiences of the author that served as the basis of the plot were very touching.

i just want to preface this by saying i am an absolute SUCKER for anything that has to do with the reincarnation trope, and after the reading the title i was sold. this story follows helene, a woman leaving a messy divorce and who flies to alaska so she could start anew and work on her novel. in alaska she meets sebastien montague, and feels an overwhelming sense of deja vu and an attraction that she is unable to explain. the more helene attempts to pull sebashtien closer, the more he seems to push her away, it is only when he reveals that they are both incarnations of romeo and juliet does everything finally become clear.

this was a breath of fresh air, and i loved every second of it. flipping between helene’s pov who is struggling to make sense of her attraction to sebastien, and then going to his pov where he is madly in love with her and is trying to keep her away in order to save her is just too good.

my only minor complaint is the ending, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t my favorite. i felt like the explanation of how the “curse” was resolved didn’t really make sense to me, and when a certain trope was introduced around the 70% ~ish mark, it became a bit boring (at least to me!). all in all, i really enjoyed this one, and can’t wait to read more books by this author in the future!

thank you netgalley and random house publishing-ballantine for giving me an opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

“You’re right. You do know me, and our souls are intertwined, our story retold over and over for centuries. Romeo and Juliet. Cupid and Psyche. Me and you.”

Helene is a woman who loves love and loves writing vignettes of meet-cutes, true love's kiss, and other romantic scenes as a form of escapism from her drab life. She writes about her leading love-interest in different time periods, dialectics, and situations, but he always looks and acts the same. Little does she know, she is about to meet him in real life. After beginning a messy divorce and not getting a deserved promotion at work, Helene picks up her life and holes up in an artist’s cottage in a small Alaskan town. She plans to lock herself away and finally make all those vignettes string together into the novel she has dreamed about writing. However, on her first night in Ryba Harbor, she runs into Sebastien Montague—a handsome fisherman from the town, but also a direct depiction of the man she writes about in all her love stories. While he keeps her at arm’s length, she continues to push forward looking for the answers. A beautiful, legendary love story that spans lives, decades, and continents ensues.

I went into this novel not reading the synopsis. I loved the cover and I had heard of author Evelyn Skye for her previous works in YA. The moment I realized a good portion of the book was going to be set in Alaska (a bucket-list destination for me) and it had ties to Romeo and Juliet (one of my favorite archetypes in romance books today), I was sucked in, not wanting to be let go.

Now, I don’t want to say much else about this because I went into it virtually blind and I loved every minute of trying to figure out what was going to happen. But just know, I finished reading it and instantly texted my husband, “I think I just read my favorite book of the year”—so what does that tell you?

Big thank yous to NetGalley, Del Rey Books, and Evelyn Skye for sending me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I really enjoyed this book.

The idea was super interesting and not something I had read before and both characters were so compelling. I loved watching their love stories from the past even though it was heart breaking knowing how each would end.

But it was made better knowing that we were seeing them fall in love again in real time. I adored the fact she was writing their love stories without knowing it her whole life and that she may not have remembered him fully but she knew him her whole life too.

Sebastien trying to fight it in the beginning was a little humorous sometimes, in a good way, because we knew as readers how much he adored her but she was just clueless. Which is one of my favorite tropes.

This was a sweet heart warming romance and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something easy and cute to read.

I love this reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s classic. This was creative and beautiful, set my nerves on edge, and full of the plot twists and turns that make for great storytelling.

Skye brought these characters to life in a new form and created not just a new present world for them, but countless lifetimes. The research and thought required of each past story is remarkable. Evelyn Skye has left an undeniable impression with The Hundred Loves of Juliet.

A very sweet, interesting twist on Romeo and Juliet! The storytelling and romance didn’t seem at all rushed or predictable. The time-jumps and flashbacks sometimes felt out of place but not enough to make me feel disconnected from the story. The book is very much Romeo & Juliet meets The Time Traveler’s Wife.

I would like to first thank NetGalley for an ARC of The Hundred Loves of Juliet, by Evelyn Skye.

I really enjoyed this book it was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It was a very easy book to read. I recommend reading this book if you’re looking for an easy read!

Such a sweet and simple love story. I actually really enjoyed that this was a simple love story. It didn’t need anything else. The ending was perfect!