A cute retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a twist. I couldn't quite connect with either Sebastian or Helene through, I wanted more of their characters outside of their "past lives". It feels like Skye relies a lot on the reader assuming they know who Romeo and Juliet are because their story is so prevelant in the literature world, but I feel like Sky misses out on giving Sebastian and Helene their own identies. Every step of the way I felt myself wanting more - which means there's great potential for this idea but the execution just didn't live up.

I think this book had so much potential unfortunately it fell flat for me. I think that the characters could’ve been a little more developed. I do deeply love the plot and while this book wasn’t for me, I’m sure it’ll me for someone!

After reading the premise for this creative, inventive novel, I was thrilled to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review! Big thanks to Evelyn Skye, Del Rey, and NetGalley.

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET by Evelyn Skye is a really compelling, unique premise: the story of Romeo and Juliet, as we know it, got the ending wrong. Romeo was cursed and lived, forced to find Juliet over and over in various reincarnations, only to lose her each time. The execution of this premise, however, wasn't a hit for me. I really enjoyed Skye's world building and characters, but I didn't really connect to our main duo - Helene and Sebastian, nor did I feel the chemistry between them. The writing felt really young, almost like it was written for YA audiences, and I struggled to really root for the main characters or buy into their love story and the conflict around it.

I never found my footing with "The Hundred Loves of Juliet."

I understand that the book is Evelyn Skye’s take on "Romeo and Juliet," and that in Skye’s version, Romeo (now Sebastian) is immortal and cursed to fall in love with Juliet (now Helene) over and over again, only to then watch her die an untimely death. I also realize that their souls have loved each other for eternity so they’re not really strangers when they first meet in Alaska.

But they kind of are. They’re strangers to the reader, at least. And the problem is, Skye never gives us time to get to know Helene and Sebastian as individuals before they’re thrown together and in love. Their romance only ever feels like a bad case of instalove, and I never believed in it.

It doesn’t help, either, that the villain of the story, Helene’s husband, is caricature-like in his awfulness. Or that the curse is sort of muddled, and then we’re at different times led to believe that it never even existed. But if there isn't a curse, then how can Sebastian’s immortality be explained?

It’s unfortunate that the book has problems, and it’s even more unfortunate that the problems are of the kind I couldn’t read around. Sometimes I can still enjoy a flawed story, but this wasn’t the case with Skye’s latest.


My sincerest appreciation to Evelyn Skye, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

Who doesn't love the story of Romeo & Juliet, but the real question is how deeply could you love someone if you know their time is limited? This is such a unique take on both Shakespeare's classic and a romance of soulmates. Inspired by the author's real life circumstances, this story weaves the tale of Sebastien Montague & Helene as they embody Romeo & Juliet told over centuries. With so many twists and turns to morph the classic tale into something modern day, it is so easy to become engulfed and addicted as this plays out. The writing is beautiful, and the characters evolving. Though understandable, given the circumstances, I did feel that it took a while for the characters to channel their inner strength, though I was thrilled when they did. For all lovers of Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, and believers of the premise that although you might have found your soulmate, love is never guaranteed, I would definitely recommend this one! Thanks so much to Evelyn Skye, the publisher, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this arc!

This is a cute, wholesome romance with a slight fantasy twist. I thought the world building of the small town romance was cute and the characters grew and overcame their adversity.

There are definitely some pitfalls in the book including background characters that could have been fleshed out more and sudden plot shifts. But if you want a protective male love interest whose literal purpose is worship his Juliet in every lifetime there is still plenty to enjoy.

As I struggle to put my emotions into words, to do justice to all that this remarkable story has meant to me, I will tell you that I purposely dove into this book with no prior knowledge of its storyline, or its characters, as I wished my first experience of this author’s writing to be an entirely instinctive and unbiased one, and I found my mind absolutely blown away to pieces by every single word of this extraordinary tale.

DNF at 44%

I honestly thought this was going to be my next favorite book. I tried to finish this but I just couldn't. The writing style was hard for me to read and I had no feelings for the characters at all.

I was excited to read this book but never connected to the overall plot or characters even with the interesting hook of a new type of Romeo & Juliet story

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET was such an amazing premise with a plot equal parts romantic and tragic, but the execution couldn't quite sell it.

Good book nice concept, not quite time travel, I liked it. I liked the little bits of history woven in, I like the ending

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET by Evelyn Skye had so much promise. I'm genuinely surprised that this made it to print. I generally love retellings, but this story really, really needed one last developmental edit. The novel is basically the reincarnation of Lauren Kate's FALLEN (2009) + the European vacation and unplanned pregnancy of E.L. James's FIFTY SHADES FREED (2012) with a Romeo and Juliet spin. Thus, I guess it makes sense that it feels like the execution of so many tropes feels dated and done.

The first half of the novel was actually okay, even if the characters felt a little underdeveloped. Since there's reincarnation, of course Helene and Sebastien need to have a chance meeting and have some immediate tension and attraction between them--even if things feel a bit cheesy. But it's the second half where we find the major issues. Helene and Sebastien never actually figure out the source of their curse and what exactly the cure is. They only have half-baked theories and Helene's optimism. Additionally, how everything unfolded with Merrick felt bizarre and underdeveloped. It just wasn't believable. The resolution was basically Sebastien's connections in Switzerland from being super old and wealthy solve all the problems. Too easy. Also, the conflict with Merrick that follows them to Europe really shouldn't have been an issue at all if Sebastien's connections were really that awesome--but also it should've been something Sebastien was super aware of considering the circumstances.

Despite all the criticism I've offered, I did really love the vignettes interwoven throughout. That's where there was some really great storytelling. Unfortunately, the vignettes alone cannot fix the issues in the overall plot.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The premise of this book was so interesting and it really hooked me almost immediately. I loved seeing all the different versions of Romeo and Juliet through the years.

I did read the last like quarter of the book in fear of something happening but I'm not going to spoil if my fear became a reality or not.

4.5 stars rounded up

I already loved this book, but that author's note at the end put it over the top and pushed it up to five stars for me. Seeing the story through that perspective broke my heart. My sincere wish for health and happiness for Evelyn Skye and her husband.

This was an amazingly beautiful story about love and heartbreak. To live and watch your soulmate die over and over would be agonizing. It was a wonder that Sebastien was as mentally stable as he seemed to be. His and Helene's love for each other and the stories of their past selves were poignant and achingly lovely. This was such an imaginative take on Romeo and Juliet. The ending didn't quite go like I thought it would, but I love where it went.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In this spin on the classic tragedy of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, Juliet dies, over and over again, as Romeo lives on, fated to meet his Juliet in life after life with the same tragic results. He goes by Sebastian the Alaskan crab fisherman this time around, and had gotten better at avoiding his Juliet when she inevitably returns. Helene, an aspiring writer, has just escaped to Alaska to cut ties with her terrible marriage to a gaslighting and controlling editor. When Helene and Sebastien cross paths, she is shocked to see her favorite recurring character brought to life from her pages, and he is just shocked to see her. He tries to be rude and avoid her, but resistance is futile, as the fates keep pushing them together, finally trapping them in his cabin during a blizzard. At least there is more than #Just!OneBed.

The romantic details are swoon-worthy and the narrative is compelling, richly written, and well-plotted–I’d even go so far as to say admirably meta. Helene has amassed scraps of historical fiction that she would like to piece together into a narrative, and the ridiculous story that Sebastien is claiming might be the way to do it. One can’t help but wonder if this is true for author Skye: taking all the orphaned bits of writing to turn them into a novel is a brilliant move, and it works.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheHundredLovesOfJuliet from #NetGalley.

Absolutely breathtaking and brilliant. I loved this story so much, I can’t recommend it enough. 5 huge stars.

2.5 stars rounding up to 3. This was a cute story with an imaginative and highly unbelievable premise. Helene and Sebastien could have been better developed characters and the writing was decent but it felt more like a YA novel. I'm not a big romance fan but if you are you will probably enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I wil lalways have a soft sopt for Evelyn Skye because she was one of the first authors that helped me fall in love with historical books (thank you, The Crown's Game) so I knew I wanted to pick this up. But Romeo and Juliet retellings can be hit or miss because it's such a classic and well known story it can be hard to find something fresh. But I loved the eternal.reincarnation element of the story, it really amped up the longing and desire which is so much a part of the the original play for me.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

This really was a great book. I felt it had the perfect mix of romance, magical realism, and historical fiction. I was fully engaged during the entire story and loved the message the book was sending.