Ripped from Shakespeare’s hands, this retelling was masterful and incredibly ingenious.

This book surmises that perhaps Romeo wasn’t the man depicted as he was in Romeo and Juliet, but a predatory man with an insatiable appetite for gaining live of young, impressionable women… and I LOVED it!

This is by far, the best Shakespearean retelling and one of the best retellings in general, that I have ever read. It just makes so much more sense. While it’s a fictional tale conjured from another fictional tale, the story of Romeo and Juliet had become so real, and I think this way of portraying the story was absolutely perfect.

Instead of hearing of Rosaline through passing stories, we get a story straight from her mouth. We see her go through all of the motions of falling for the man who was very clearly grooming her. The different, nobler side of Tybalt was, maybe, one of my favorite parts of this story. And then, to see as Rosaline must watch the man she loved fall for someone else, the way we all know he does with Juliet…

This book was fantastic and I absolutely recommend it!

Ladies, beware the Romeos of the world. Oh my goodness, this is how the story should have been told - this is such a refreshing and relatable perspective on what women deal with and our resilience. Bravo!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and SourceBooks Landmark for an advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Fair Rosaline is a bit of a twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet story, told from Rosaline’s point of view. The story opens with Rosaline being told she is going to be sent to a nunnery, falling into a brief affair with Romeo beforehand, and then trying to save her cousin, Juliet, when she realizes that Romeo has set his sights on her.

Overall, I think this book brought a fresh perspective to Romeo and Juliet and I enjoyed getting to see more developed personalities of some of my favorite characters. I was able to relate to the characters more in this story than I was in the original Shakespearean play and I think it was great to see Rosaline especially, who doesn’t have as large of a role in the play, have a lot of spunk and fire as the story goes on. I did think that some of the dialogue and language was a little awkward, as the Shakespearean style language seemed to be more interspersed, rather than seamlessly included. But, this was not enough to majorly detract from the story and I still enjoyed it.

I’d definitely recommend this to Romeo and Juliet fans, fans of classic story retellings, and/or fans of novels with strong feminist undertones!

A sharply seductive, fresh retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

The reader is swept off their feet alongside Rosaline when she meets handsome, broad-shouldered Romeo Montague at a party. Rosaline, enjoying her last few days of freedom before entering a nunnery, is eager for anything that could help her escape her boring fate. Her chemistry with Romeo is electrifying, he gives her sweet tokens and knows just the right words to say. When Rosaline starts to notice red flags, it's worth ignoring for another hour spent in Romeo's arms. But when Romeo turns his sights to her thirteen-year-old cousin Juliet, Rosaline is furious.

This retelling felt very fresh due to the new point of view. It's fun to see Rosaline given a voice in the story. When Rosaline turns from lovesick to sick of love, she becomes a force to be reckoned with. I love how all the original characters are there - Tybalt, Nurse, Juliet - but their personalities leap off the page in a way they never could in the original Shakespeare. The descriptions of the decadent parties, lush gardens and romantic balconies will transport the reader to another time.

After reading this feminist retelling of Romeo and Juliet, you'll never see the characters the same way again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was such a good retelling, I loved the use of Romeo and Juliet. The characters felt like the same characters from the original tale, it had what I was looking for in this type of book. Natasha Solomons has a great writing style and created characters that I knew and still be unique. It had a great overall story and I'm glad I got to read this.

"She had walked beneath this image of the wheel a thousand times and paid it no heed, but now, as she stared up at it, Rosaline wondered where upon fortune’s wheel she was fixed. Was she the happy soul, hoisted just before the midnight hour, about to marry and enjoy fate’s happy gifts? Or was the wheel turning and she already spinning, poised to fall?"