SPOILERS!!!

In this retelling of Romeo & Juliet, we find the most famous star-crossed lovers living in Alaska under different names. The story starts when Helene (unbeknownst to her that she is a reincarnation of Juliet) temporarily moves to Alaska in the middle of the winter to get away from her almost ex-husband, who for some obscure reason doesn’t want to sign the divorce.
There she meets Sebastien (aka Romeo), who is the spitting image of Helene’s imaginary friend/lover and fictional character she has been writing about for years. Unlike Helene, Sebastien knows exactly who they are and how their story will end if he let her fall in love with him. This Romeo carries a twisty curse: he became immortal and now he’s doomed to wander the Earth watching his beloved Juliet become a different person in different places throughout the centuries, just to see her die over and over once they get together. Of course, Sebastien’s 700 years of grief has taught him that keeping his distance is the best, but not when he’s confronted with Helene who seems determined on not letting him go.
This is an entertaining take on the most well-known love stories of all times, so this book worked well in that regard. Some of the “flashback” parts slowed the pace a little, but in general it helps to give the readers insight into the previous lives of Juliet. Also the fact that the book doesn’t try to explain everything neatly might work for some, but not everyone. I personally think it was okay, although I would have loved to understand it all better.
What didn’t work for me:
Both POV in 1st person - It’s so rare for an author to make the voices distinct in 1st person. Unfortunately it was the case here. Both MCs sound so similar at times that I had to stop and check the name stamp to make sure who was narrating at the moment. That took me out of the story more often than not.
Since it’s implied that the curse is broken at the end, does it mean that Sebastien will now age normally or not?
I recommend this book for those who like retellings with a twist.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book gave me so so much. With author Evelyn Skye's writing style, I felt so deeply for the characters and all their iterations. Skye writes with such lush and stunning prose - her use of metaphor and imagery...this woman writes poetically.

I've always had a deep love for Romeo and Juliet. There's just something about the star-crossed that's so irresistible, and Skye's new take on these two phenomenal characters was nothing short of beautiful. Sebastian's pain, longing, regret, and deep love was felt in every moment with every version of Juliet. The repeated use of the honeyed-wine - it's such a perfect romantic Pavlovian response to the start of a new Romeo and Juliet story, time and time again in this novel. I loved how each Juliet had so many differences, but also her own distinct tells as well. I won't give them away, but I think that they were so smart and they made me feel connected to each Juliet leading up to Helene.

I've already recommended this gorgeous book to dozens of my friends. I think about it often, and I can't wait to see what else Evelyn Skye has in store for us all.

This book is Romeo & Juliet meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, or whatever other time-traveling book you can think of. Helene thinks she’s gone to Alaska to escape and get some writing done, but she runs into Sebastien, who she recognizes as her imaginary love that she’s been writing about since forever. Sebastien is avoiding Helene because he’s relived their tragic love story time and time again, over centuries and centuries. The novel moves back and forth between all the different iterations of Romeo & Juliet in different times, locales, and with different characters who are actually the same. Helene, of course, is sure that she can changes things. Like Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, this is a book about love and fate. What’s doomed, and what’s in our control. It’s an interesting retelling, and those who love star-crossed lovers will enjoy this.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

The Hundred Loves of Juliet was a really done retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I loved the concept of fated lovers finding each other in all their past lives!

I didn't love this. And I will not take into account the author's heartbreaking note after the book about her husband. Because that has nothing to do with the book and I won't let it cloud my opinion. This book was cheesy. And the stories got really annoying and too long and I ended up completely skipping them after the first handful. This was my first Evelyn Skye novel but I'm hoping her other fantasy novels are a lot better than this.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
It was a unique and fast paced story. I would recommended it if you enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Sweet and simple romances
Romeo and Juliette
Alternating POVs
Magical Realism

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The author’s note
All the different love stories

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I didn’t really feel the chemistry
I wish there was a little more tension
A little on the cheesy side

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “Perhaps a life well lived isn’t measured in months or years, but in love. In kisses and gentle twining of hands, in fiery embraces and soft, whispered affections.”
★ “being strong doesn’t mean not being overwhelmed or terrified. It means letting yourself feel those things, and then getting up and carrying on anyway.”

Skye’s own love story inspired this novel, which is already quite moving. The thrust for the story is the importance of living and loving in the moment. It’s an important reminder in this whirlwind we call life. The inspiration for this story is just as good as the idea. A retelling of Romeo and Juliet where Romeo is immortal and Juliet continuously reincarnates—star-crossed lovers over centuries. The summery gripped me in a way that the novel rarely did, regretfully. The writing was good at time and clunky others. At times I wasn’t sure if I was reading a romance, a thriller (actually one of my favorite parts of the novel), a tale of adventure, a period piece. Maybe it would’ve worked if it was weaved together differently, but I often found it disjointed. I rounded up because I really love this concept and the inspiration, I also liked the happy ending, but overall the writing and story development just don’t hold up.

i was so so excited about this because of the premise. i love a tale about star crossed lovers. and on top of that, anything that has a time travel esque / reincarnation plot as well. however, i unfortunately didn't love this book as much as i thought i would. the characters fell flat, the plot was not fleshed out enough, and the romance lacked chemistry. i thought the plot also wrapped up a bit too nicely and cleanly. i really wish i had loved this more because the premise and plot was so brilliant!!

This book had a very interesting premise. Helene goes to Alaska to write and escape her husband whom she is leaving. While there she runs into Sebastien and realizes he is literally the man of her dreams. He is exactly like a character she made up years ago and and has written about. How can this fictional character she created be real?

While I liked the overall story, I found the writing kind of simplistic and it did not work for me. I also did not like how Sebastien was controlling at times and kept things from Helene.

The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye is a nearly perfect, magical, and creative romance.

I tend to be highly critical of romance stories, especially if they are formulaic. At best, they bore me. At worst, they annoy me with third act break-ups and love triangles. The Hundred Loves of Juliet, I’m thrilled to report, is none of those things. And I adored it!

I love stories with magical elements, so this tale of immortal and re-incarnated star-crossed lovers definitely hit my sweet spot. Sebastien/Romeo has lived many lifetimes yet barely ages. Cursed with immortality, he repeatedly falls in love with Juliet re-incarnated, only to experience her horrible death anywhere from two days to two years after they meet.

When Helene encounters Sebastien in a remote Alaskan town, she is stunned. He looks and acts just like the main character in her stories. Sebastien is equally startled at her appearance. He knows instantly that Helene is Juliet. But because of the curse, complications (like Helene could now be doomed to a tragic death) ensue.

I wasn’t a fan of the secondary storyline with Helene’s estranged husband. And I would’ve loved more time in the Alaskan setting. But those are small quibbles.

The Hundred Loves of Juliet is perfect for readers who enjoy the tropes of forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine, and fated-lovers. I also highly recommend it for anyone who thinks they are too cynical to enjoy a romance.

Thank you to Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for this eARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC.

This book was an interesting retelling of Romeo and Juliet. But, it just did not work for me entirely. I can't put my finger on it, perhaps it was characters or development or plot... I just didn't find myself wanting to reach for it.

I came to this for the Alaska vibes but stayed because of a story I surprisingly cared deeply about. This modern day reimaging of Romeo and Juliet payed homage to the work, but also turned it on its head a bit, and I appreciated every choice Skye made.

I will start by saying that I was very excited to read this book. The premise of an everlasting love between Romeo and Juliet, and what those lifetimes might look like, was intriguing. I even enjoyed the vignettes scattered throughout, and it became clear to me early on that the author might be attempting to break a fourth wall with this novel (sure enough, the author's note confirmed this).

However, I did not enjoy the execution of the plot, and the lack of character development was an issue. The plot took a strange twist once Merrick became involved. The tension that was supposedly derived from his attempt to foil the HEA was nonexistent, and his actions were far-fetched. Even if the premise itself was far-fetched, I honestly did not care nor was I concerned about his meddling.

The characters were not fully developed which made it difficult to care about Sebastien and Helene's romance. There was more chemistry present in the short vignettes, and I found it too convenient that Sebastien's connections could solve all problems.

3.5 Stars but rounding up.

I loved the premise of this one. Helene and Sebastian are the original Romeo and Juliet. Or rather he is the original aging at a snails pace and she is a reincarnation.

Sebastian is working on avoiding meeting Juliet for the second time in his life- because it always ends with her death.

I thought that this was fun and interesting- I liked the dual timelines and the flashbacks to the original Shakespearean play. The characters were interesting and I think the idea that this love is greater than time- is a romantic one.

I would definitely recommend.

The title is very fitting for this book, but it was missing a few things that could have made it a five-star book based on the premise. First and foremost, the writing was a bit lackluster, and second, the main characters lacked chemistry. And since I didn't enjoy the ending, I've been left between deciding on 3 and 4 stars, so I will settle on 3.5 and round down because there was drama that added nothing to the main premise of the story, and because of the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley & Publishers for access to an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was super cute!

I think my expectations were a bit too high going into this…

The writing felt disjointed at times and I didn’t feel I knew enough about either character before we jumped in to fully grasp them, their stories, and their chemistry. We never actually got to see them fall in love, we were just told that they were.

but I really loved the idea of this story.

📖The Hundred Loves of Juliet
🖋️Evelyn Skye

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🫶🏻Dual POV
🫶🏻Multiple Timelines
🫶🏻Historical Mentions
🫶🏻Loveable MCs
🫶🏻Tragedy to Triumph

Such a cute story, and I think what really made it for me was the authors note at the end💕 An absolutely beautiful tribute to her own personal love story.

Sebastian & Helene are the original Romeo & Juliet, and this story shares how they are re-incarnated in new lives but still always find one another and have an epically beautiful love story.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of this book. It was a sweet and unique love story that stole my heart.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of <i>The Hundred Loves of Juliet</I> in exchange for an honest review.

Try as I might, I just could not get into this one. While I could get behind the premise and the Romeo and Juliet undertones, overall I found it to be kinda depressing and lacking the chemistry that draws me to reading romance.

I feel bad digging a story and writing that were clearly therapeutic for the author who’s note at the end shared her personal inspirations and struggles. She said that this story is part of her soul.

So… leaving it at that.💛

An wonderfully imaginative retelling of an age love story. Helene and Sebastian have both been scarred by love in different ways. Neither want to risk their heart again and yet they keep meeting up as different people in through the ages. Part time travel, a la “The Time Travelers Wife”, part romance, and part fantasy, but mostly a love story that was centuries in the making. A lovely sweet enjoyable read. Upped to 4 stars from what would have been a 3.5 rating if half stars available.

“I don’t think we were ever cursed, Sebastien. We were blessed. Getting to spend an eternity with your soulmate is heaven.”

-

It's a frosty fairytale of an evening in small-town Alaska when Helene and Sebastien meet for the first time. Except it isn't the first time. You already know that story, though it didn't happen quite as Shakespeare told it.

-

This book is everything I need in a romance, or a fairytale? This really was a mix of both and it was divine. The writing was beautiful for starters. There were so many lines and passages I highlighted and know are going to stick with me for a long time.

We were thrown right into the action with Helene meeting Sebastian fairly early on and then it was like a waterfall, I couldn’t stop reading or following the story along. I liked how much the story focused on these two and all their lives, sure there were different characters but those characters were different versions of Romeo and Juliet. We didn’t have additional fluff of too many outside characters - though I did love the relationship between Helene and her sister and mom. I thought this was a breathtaking read and in my opinion such a unique and different take on a retelling.

I’d seen this book so often on Instagram and am so glad that this wasn’t an overhyped book, if anything it’s under-hyped and I will be recommending this book to everyone I can to try and change that. It was an emotional rollercoaster but by the end, wow I felt like the overall underlying message was such perfection.

I really don’t have enough good things to say about this read. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc of this story - I will be needing to buy a physical copy ASAP to mark up for sure.

And for those who read it, that last line? *Chefs kiss*