I have mixed feelings about this book. At first I loved it, then the last third fell flat for me. The ending needed to be stronger too.

Starting out, the first half is amazing and the premise is adorably unique. However, as it builds on itself we loose some of the magic. There is too much jumping around and travel without any substance being added to progress the story. Without giving away any of the ending, that too is left slightly anticlimactic and undefined.

Overall, I gave it three and a half stars; rounding up to four.

We all know the story of Romeo and Juliet. Two star-crossed lovers of opposing families, destined to fall in love but never to be. Struck down in their youth. A tragic love story to be sure.

But what if Shakespeare had it wrong?

Meet Helene. A journalist in LA whose marriage is crumbling. She whisks away to remote Alaska to write the novel she's always dreamed of. But on her first day there, she wanders into a local bar and comes face to face with her imaginary best friend. But her best friend is flesh and blood...and wants nothing to do with her.

In The Hundred Loves of Juliet, we follow Helene and Sebastien as they endeavor to break a centuries long curse. Destined to fall in love again and again, the real life Romeo and Juliet do everything within their powers to avoid a tragic end. Yet time and again, Juliet is destined to die. But maybe this time is different. Maybe this time, fate is on their side.

Evelyn Skye does a remarkable job of bringing to life two well known literary characters and giving them a story completely new. That alone is a feat, but to continue that story and answer the question "What if?" is beyond amazing. Well-written prose and the occasional book mention (which made me add to my TBR list), Skye is a master at her art.

If you're looking for an old-new love story, I highly recommend picking up The Hundred Loves of Juliet and taking a walk with some well-known characters down some not so well known streets.

I was given a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely giving this 5 stars! I wish I could give it more! What a beautiful story. I LOVED this modern day re-telling of Romeo and Juliet. I thought it was unique and extremely interesting. It pulls the reader in immediately and doesn't let go. I didn't want to stop reading!
I just loved reading about their past lives and times together through the centuries because I fell in love with them both each time as they were falling in love with each other.
The ending was perfect and everything I was hoping for.
Absolutely beautiful story and one I will definitely be purchasing for myself when it is released.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC

This was a very interesting twist on the Romeo and Juliet story! I think the story was formatted very well and it was easy to follow. Overall, it was a very cute story!

“ You fall in love with one person, and then they keep changing, because that’s what people do. If you love them enough, though, you try to keep up.”

First off, thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. It was my first Evelyn Skye, but it won’t be my last.

What I liked: the retelling I feel like was done well, it didn’t focus on the original Shakespeare version too much, but established clear lines of connection. The span of time and global travel was well explained, and I loved how they were pulled together my fate numerous times.

What I didn’t like: the ex husband….but that’s the point.

I truly felt this was a delight to read, a good length, a heartfelt story, and an interesting mash up of plots, this is one I would recommend to friends and family alike!

The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye is a really good book. It's about a girl named Helene who goes to a small town in alaska to write her book and escape her ex-husband, Merrick. There she meets a man named Sebastien who she seems like she has met before. Then she realizes that he is a book character she made up in her head and in her vignettes has come to life. But Sebastien doesn't like her and he likes everyone so she demands to know why, Turns out that Sebastien is actually Romeo, from the infamous play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. But he's cursed because Juliet gets reincarnated but every time she does she tragically dies and Helene is Juliet, the latest reincarnated version of her. This book is so different from others because it is a whole different take on a Romeo and Juliet retelling. I really love the whole central message about the book because the whole thing about this book is how can Sebastien/Romeo keep on loving these reincarnated versions of Juliet when he knows she is going to die? and I like how it also tied into Helene the recent incarnated version of Juliet because her father was diagnosed with a brain tumor and her family knew he was going to die one day but they kept on loving him anyways just like Romeo always did with Juliet no matter what happened. I think that the quote "It is better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all" really applies here because even though the heartbreak he went through every time was so horrible it never stopped him from falling in love with Juliet because there's was the greatest love story of all time and he was never going to fall in love again like he did with Juliet and at first he thought it wasn't worth it because of trying to push her away but it didn't matter anymore because he still did and I think after her it was finally worth it because of hoe she saw things differently than any other Juliet. The only reason why this book wasn't a 5 star for me is because it didn't give me that feeling. I didn't react a lot through the book so that is why I rated the book 4 stars (4.75 if i'm being honest but we can't do any other star rating so 4 it is) and overall this book is amazing and I think that people should read it.

The Hundred Loves of Juliet might be Evelyn Skye's adult romance debut, but it felt like a seasoned writer's nth book with its deep and attractive plot. There is no beating around the bush, yet the thrill of Helene and Sebastien's adventure and love to change the written fate of a classic is one to never forget. I'll definitely get this on release to savor their love on physical format, and I highly recommend everyone do so, too.

A story featuring star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet is never going to be anything but swoony, and that’s exactly what we get with Evelyn Skye’s ambitious and imaginative Shakespeare-inspired novel, The Hundred Loves of Juliet. In this story, Romeo and Juliet were not just figments of Shakespeare’s imagination, but rather living, breathing people - it was they who inspired the infamous writer to tell their tale.

In The Hundred Loves of Juliet, we have a ill-fated, reincarnated Juliet and a brooding, tortured Romeo acting out the fate laid upon both of them by Mercurtio, “A curse upon both your houses!” See, Romeo is immortal and Juliet always dies, yet is reincarnated time and time again for centuries. The two lovers always find each other again, but when they do, some terrible fate is always waiting in the wings to tear them apart. Juliet is oblivious to who she truly is and never remembers any of her past lives … until now.

Helene is fleeing her former life, leaving behind her soon-to-be ex-husband in California and settling down in Alaska where she hopes to find peace and solitude to work on her novel. What she wasn’t expecting was the man of her literal dreams; the same exact man who she has written into so many of her stories to be living in this small Alaskan town. How is it possible that her dreams could literally come to life?

Sebastien Montague knows what it means to be hurt, so when he sees Helene coming, he tries his best to avoid her. A relationship between them would only end in tragedy. The only problem is Helene and Sebastien can’t seem to stay away from each other, and Sebastien wonders if he should risk telling Helene why. How does he tell her that she is a part of the most epic, tragic love story that ever was?

Wow, The Hundred Loves of Juliet is quite the masterpiece. It took me awhile to warm up to this story, but once I was in, I was completely invested. I found this book to be wholly original and inventive. While it features well-known characters Romeo and Juliet, Skye has made this book all her own, spinning a creative tale around the most ill-fated lovers of all time. I thought that the premise of this book was quite good and was excited to see where it would take me.

So, why four stars instead of five? I feel like a book this ambitious has the potential to be epic, and while, yes, very swoony, The Hundred Loves of Juliet feels a tad bit underdeveloped when taking into consideration all of its potential. Also, I found the relationship between Sebastien and Helene to be quite sweet, tender, and endearing, but entirely lacking in passion and chemistry, which is what I most definitely expect from one of the most revered couples in all of literature.

This book honestly surprised me. I started reading expecting something about the epic love story of Romeo and Juliet that we all know, and yes, I found the epic, and the love story, but I also found something about me, something that could be very well about all of us. Love is a choice we make even if we are afraid, even if everything is telling us that the end will be bad and full of suffering. Love is the Hope we keep close to our heart and the fuel that keeps us going.
I needed this book right in this moment of my life, so thank you Netgalley and Evelyn Skye for the chance to read it in advance.
The scene I loved most, though, was the balcony one. Absolutely amazing.

Really enjoyed this magical realism read, even moreso with the authors note afterward. A lovely re-,imagining of a classic love story.

I’m always amazed when someone can take the story of Romeo and Juliet, a story that has been retold probably hundreds of times, and breathe new life into it. But that’s what Evelyn Skye has done here.
I thought of this couple and their tragic love in an entirely different way and appreciated the timelessness of their story as it happened in different eras and different places.

This book is absolute perfection for me!! I loved the retelling of star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. It’s a sweet romance story, nothing to crazy adventurous or spicy. It is just a great love story— there is love, sadness, heartache but most of all love. It will leave you with all the feels. Helene decides to leave her husband after he has been unfaithful to her and just does not treat her well. She moves to Alaska rents and airbnb and decides to work on a novel. One of her first nights there she is in a local pub and sees a man that she has envisioned since childhood. Enter Sebastien the grumpy fisherman. Through time and Helene’s persistence she learns more about him and why he is acting the way he is around her but nice to everyone else in town. She also learns some history of her past as Juliet. I love the way the story unfolds. I love the mixing in of last love stories and how they came to be, met and loved. If you were a fan of Addie LaRue or Time Travelers Wife. I think both those have similar styles to this story. However this story is very u Jair and different not like something I have read before. It was refreshing. Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve always loved a good reincarnation story. So what could be better than the two lovers being Romeo and Juliet? In this book, Shakespeare got the ending wrong because Romeo lived and went on to encounter his Juliet many many times due to a curse.

In present day Alaska, Helene arrives and encounters Romeo who now goes by Sebastien. For the previous lives, Juliet didn’t remember her past. Helene thinks they are just dreams/imagination. Oh, is she wrong.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think fellow romance lovers will fall for these two as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I unfortunately struggled to get into this book. I found that it was difficult to relate to the characters and it felt as though the story was missing something. It seemed as though Helene and Sebastien did not truly have chemistry and was a bit forced.

Overall, this book was okay, however not necessarily something I would read again.

A modern-day reimagining of Romeo and Juliet with grumpy/sunshine, small town romance, dual POV, historical romance, curses, and more? TBH my first though at the beginning of this story was the movie "Hancock" (Will Smith, superhero, no memories, lost love, etc.) but the story moves so far from that and really pulls you in. Sebastian's pain is felt so vividly but the overarching feeling this book invokes is HOPE. I loved getting to revisit several lives from both POV which really connected with both characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: August 1, 2023

This was my first book by Skye and I was initially pulled in with her writing style. When I read the synopsis, I found that I would have loved to read this book. Magical realism. Soulmates. Souls in love finding each other.

At first, I was pulled into the story and really thought I would rate it higher than I ended up choosing. This book fell in the same vein as "How to Stop Time" (Matt Haig), which was a book I loved.

Some problems I found involved that the story felt dry, the chemistry forced and the historical pieces lacking. I'm not sure what was missing but this story missed the mark but was close at the same time. Maybe more chemistry for Helene and Sebestian? Maybe more historical pieces since we follow their love story through time?

Overall, this book was just okay to me and was a 2.5 to 3 star read.

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET-Evelyn Skye

Del Rey

Hardback ISBN: 978-0-593-49924-5

E-book ISBN : 978-0-593-49925-2

August 01, 2023

Contemporary Romance



Ryba Harbor, Alaska and Europe- Present Day





After leaving her husband after he cheated on her, Helene Janssen goes to Ryba Harbor, Alaska to lick her wounds and to start that book that has been in her mind for as long as she could remember. One day she goes to a local bar and sees a group of crab fisherman come in. She sees a man and watches as he orders a drink. There is something familiar about him. Then she knows-he is the character she has written about for years come to life.



Helene approaches him and tastes honey wine on her lips, but he rebuffs her. She is slightly embarrassed figuring that she made a big mistake but he looks just like her character that she has written about for years. Sebastien Montague feels shocked that he found his Juliet, now Helene, again but he can’t be with her. When he is with her it always ends in her death. He is sorry he was mean to her but he rather have her safe without him than to watch her die again.



Sebastien is a man that has been alive for centuries. He is Romeo in Romeo and Juliet but Shakespeare got the ending wrong. He was the cause of Juliet’s death and he has suffered from it. He does not understand what happened but ever since her death he has become immortal and keeps meeting Juliet reincarnated. He knows it is her, although she looks different, by the taste of honey wine on his lips and he would know his Juliet anywhere.



THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Sebastien is a compelling character. He has suffered from the loss of his Juliet of the centuries and he has given up all hope that Helene will live. From drowning to being burned alive, Sebastien has tried to save Juliet through the years but it never works out.



Helene believes the curse, as Sebastien calls it, can be destroyed and her optimism and determination to see her relationship with him through is a complement to Sebastien’s suffering. My favorite character is Sebastien. He loves Helene and he would do anything for her and if that means leaving her he will.



THE HUNDRED LIVES OF JULIET is a nice read. The central flaw to the story is that its premise, a completely romantic one, put in “real life’ settings was problematic for me, but I think a lot of people will enjoy the story.



Avis Yarbrough

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for an eARC of The Hundred Loves of Juliet.

An absolutely heartbreakingly romantic modern retelling of a timeless classic! I absolutely loved the way the author remade this story into her own and, honestly, I have never read anything like it.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Evelyn Skye, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

ABOUT THIS BOOK:
Reincarnated Juliet (Helene) meets cursed-with-immortality Romeo (Sebastien) in a small town in Alaska. Helene is looking to rediscover her passion for writing after a messy divorce, while Sebastien is reckoning with the fact all the previous times he’s met his reincarnated love, it’s come to a tragic end. Can Helene and Sebastien finally break the heartbreaking cycle?

MY THOUGHTS:
I loved reading about how personal this book was to the author, and I think that really drives home the moral of cherishing each day with the people with love. That being said I didn’t feel the emotions of the characters in a way that was immersive to the story, which was too bad because this book had such an emotional premise. Overall, I would give this three stars. If you are a big fan of the original Shakespeare tale and characters, perhaps this will resonate with you more.

TROPES:
• Dual POV
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• Force proximity
• Fated love
• Closed-door spice

Pretty good!! (maybe more of a 3.5-3.8) The beginning definitely hooked me (an immortal Romeo and a reincarnating Juliet ?!), the middle got a little old, and there was finally some action in the end. Loved the concept of it but oddly enough I didn't feel like I had enough time to really develop a love for either of the characters. Wish there was less stories about the past Juliets tbh, but overall enjoyed this rendition of a classic!