Before there was Juliet, there was Rosaline. Rosaline is head strong, independent and looking for a way to get out of being sent to a convent. She meets Romeo at a party and it is love at first sight for both of them, or is it. As charming and persuasive as Romeo is Rosaline soon starts to see right through him and all his lies. As soon as she comes to her senses Romeo sets his sights on Rosaline's younger cousin Juliet. As she tries to keep Juliet from making the same mistakes she has or worse, Juliet finds her self under Romeo's spell, unable to see the tragedy she is steering towards.

Although Romeo and Juliet was never my favourite play, I was excited to read the story from a different perspective. Although over all it did not work for me, I did enjoy aspects of the book. Rosaline was a very interesting character and she had a lot of growth, and maturity. Tybalt was also a highlight and his relationship with Rosaline was beautiful to see. What didn't work for me was the writing. It felt very inconsistent, modern at times and Shakespearian at others. I know this is Rosaline's story but Juliet and Romeo were very one note and did not feel like full characters.

Empowering feminist re-envisioning of the tale of Romeo and Juliet. A highlight was the role of the nuns and the convent life as an alternative to male-dominated society. There are some unresolved problems with Solomons’s version, and I think I would have enjoyed it more as a stand-alone story and not a retelling attached to Romeo and Juliet. I enjoyed the characters but found the Romeo characterization forced and problematic.

An interesting twist to a story most everyone knows even if they haven't actually read the play, watched the play or seen the movies. Giving voice to Rosaline's story creates a strong, if somewhat naïve character, and certainly changes how we look at Romeo. Definitely not a star-crossed lovers' story.

Gorgeous and thought-provoking, Fair Rosaline is a rare beast: a new spin on a Shakespearean classic that actually lives up to the designation of clever and sharp. Already recommending this to every woman I know who swooned over Romeo as an impressionable teen.

interesting re-telling of the classic <i>romeo & juliet</i> story with far more references to actual italy, and revolves around the likely age gap and possible power dynamic between romeo and juliet, as well as his love right before juliet - her cousin rosaline. i found rosaline to be an interesting protagonist: i enjoyed that she was never written as a "not-like-the-other-girls" type of character for not wanting to be married or join a nunnery and instead read books and cavort outdoors and find adventure. she felt well-rounded, had people she cared about, and a complicated relationship with her family. i almost would like to have read this prior to reading <i>romeo & juliet</i> for the first time, just to see the play in a new light. you could certainly read this without having read the play, but the way that natasha solomons integrates shakespearian dialogue into readable modern prose is astonishingly easy to read and made me appreciate the original play more tbh

<i>many thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy.</i>

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 4/5 My enjoyment: 3/5

A retelling of Romeo and Juliet that cleverly keeps every element of the plot of Shakespeare’s opus while completely shifting the meaning of each scene. This is achieved by making one, rather gigantic change — Romeo is a bad guy. A really bad guy.

The story is told from the perspective of Rosaline — the character with whom Romeo is besotted at the start of the play. In the play neither the audience nor Romeo ever gets to meet her, but she serves as a reference point for Romeo’s unrequited affections and is the reason he shows up at the party where he first sees Juliet. In Solomons’ book, that is all changed because as I said — Romeo is a really bad guy.

The book is very well written. The characters are well drawn, the setting is evoked vibrantly, the plot is gripping, and we get exposed to the hard truths of being a woman in the time period -- exposed to all the usual plagues and pestilence while simultaneously having literally no say in any aspect of her life (lots of discussion about nunneries with some interesting surprises). However, I really can’t forgive Solomons for making Romeo into the character she does, and her claims (in the appendix) that her Romeo is more realistic than Shakespeare’s are frankly bizarre. By attributing rapacious intent and a complete disinterest in resulting traumas and hurt to a character who was written to be noble, honorable, idealistic, and passionate — it feels like libel. I don’t honestly understand why she felt the need to do this. The story would have been much more enjoyable (to me) if it weren’t obsessed with rewriting a classic into something that wanted to point the finger to the inherent evil of men. Not to mention the fact that I still had to read through all the tragic events that I knew were coming! So overall, a well-written book, but one that left me unhappy and angry, rather than cheered by the clever way Rosaline “makes everything OK.” Really struggling to not provide spoilers here!

This book was so gorgeously written and filled with palpable tension throughout. Loved FAIR ROSALINE and will be recommending it all over the place. I also appreciated how deeply the author delved into Shakespeare's Rosaline/d(s) characters and all the callbacks to his plays. FAIR ROSALINE is clearly a labor of love—and it shows.

I’ve been obsessed with the story of Romeo and Juliet since I first read it in high school and I have to say I adore this retelling from the perspective of Rosaline! As the author said this tale had always been told from the perspective of the men in the story so this take was refreshing and probably more honest of how women were treated at the time. Rosaline tells her side of falling in love with the handsome and charming Romeo just to have him leave her for her younger cousin without any regard for her. And from there the classic story is told from her side and how she does her best to help Juliet out of a bad romance.

An interesting spin on Rome and Juliet. We get the story of Rosaline and are able to discover more about the character.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction + Retelling

This version of the well-known love story of Romeo and Juliet is a retelling, but it is presented from Rosaline's point of view instead of Romeo and Juliet's. Rosaline is a headstrong and self-reliant young lady who engages in negotiations with her father in an effort to dissuade him from sending her to join a convent. Things begin to turn around for her after she meets Romeo Montague, and the assurances he gives her give her the hope she has been searching for in her life until now. However, will he be able to keep each of his promises?

Even though I have never read Shakespeare's original play, I am well familiar with the tale and how it resolves. It was fascinating to read the story from a point of view that was distinct from that of the story's primary protagonists in the source material. Despite the fact that I had a hard time empathizing with the main character, I respected the author for imbuing her with several admirable qualities. It was fascinating to observe how she responded and conducted herself in each of the diverse and challenging circumstances that she encountered.

The story of Fair Rosaline is an honest one. It's not a terrible narrative, and it has some interesting characters. My gut tells me that the extent to which you will enjoy it depends entirely on your individual preferences and, possibly, the degree to which you are willing to divert from the novel's central love narrative.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Romeo and Juliet is my least favorite Shakespeare play for good reason. And for some reason retelling of said play does not work. I don't think there's anything that can redeem that story.

When I saw the premise of Fair Rosaline, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. As a huge fan of Romeo and Juliet, feminist retellings, Shakespeare reimagined, and the anachronistic rom-com Rosaline, I already knew that this was going to be one of my favorite reads of 2023. And then, it wasn't.

From the first page, I struggled to connect with the writing style. It's a blend between Shakespearean and modern that creates a considerable distance between the reader and the subject matter. While I did like the moments Solomons directly borrowed Shakespeare's language, I felt the blending with her own writing came off as a little clunky. I had a similar criticism of Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, and readers adored the language there, so this might just be a personal dislike.

Once I got about halfway through, when Rosaline (spoiler) realizes that Romeo never loved her, the pace picked up significantly and I actually began to connect with Rosaline. I really like what Solomons did with her character -- she's got an agency, attitude, and drive that feels realistic to what a girl could do in 14th century Verona, but also not overly modern. I love her bond with Juliet and Tybalt, and I felt that all the characters were well-drawn. In terms of the plot twist--Romeo is a honeypot for a pedophile ring run by Friar Laurence--I didn't hate it as other reviewers did, but it felt unnecessary. Couldn't Romeo have just been a twentysomething creep going around seducing teenagers, with the Friar as his oblivious friend? To me, it's scarier and more realistic that the "innocent" Friar would defend Romeo's word over the word of a bunch of teenage girls. In this alternate twist, the end where Rosaline saves Juliet and takes down Romeo still could have happened, and it wouldn't have been as head-shakingly implausible as the ending we got.

Those critiques aside, the author's note at the back shows that she definitely did her research and carefully examined the source material, two things that are important in successful retellings -- and I do think this retelling will be successful for many readers. Even though Fair Rosaline did not meet my expectations and included a few of my readerly pet peeves, I admire the care that Solomons took in stitching together various Shakespearean "Rosaline(d)s" to create her heroine.

Thank you to NetGalley, SourcebooksLandmark, and Natasha Solomons for providing me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars for this retelling I never knew I needed! I loved hearing the classic Romeo and Juliet from the viewpoint of his forgotten lover, Rosaline. Her voice is sharp and smart, although seeing her leave that behind for Romeo during their short tryst was painful. The ending was fast-paced and interesting to read. I felt that most of the prose was too flowery and trying to be Shakespearean, and there was so much I didn’t need. I wanted tighter, more concise storytelling to get me to 4-5 stars. It felt like a slog too many times. Characters were on point, though! Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a beautifully crafted historical novel. Solomons' writing is poetic, transporting readers to a bygone era. A captivating tale of love, loss, and resilience that will leave you spellbound.

This was an absolutely lovely book and I loved the twist to the Romeo and Juliet story told from the eyes of a character we learn very little of in the original. Rosaline is a quick-witted and wonderful character who I found myself really connecting with throughout the whole story. The dialog of the story was delightfully Shakespearean while mixing with the more modern writing of the actions perfectly. I also really enjoyed seeing Romeo as a villain of the story rather than a tragic hero, so bonus points for that.

Before Juliet, there was Rosaline. And she is spilling the tea on Romeo (spoiler: he’s the ultimate f***boy) Interesting, dark alternative take on the classic Shakespeare tragedy, although 90’s teenage me insists that Leo would NEVER!

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This was such a fun reframing and retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It keeps the tragic arc while showing the dark sides of the characters because it’s no longer tragic love but bad people doing bad things. It feels like so much happens in a short time frame but it gives more context than the four day play. Also the fact that for scenes that are shown in the play the dialogue is near to identical was really fun as it felt connected to the source while adding depth

Let me start by saying it has been years since I read Romeo and Juliette so I didn’t even remember that he loved Rosaline first. This is her story. While only receiving a cursory mention in Shakespeare’s play Solomons has fully fleshed her out telling the story of Romeo before Juliette. While the story started out slowly, I was soon captivated by Rosaline’s tale. A teenager of only fifteen years, Rosaline is quickly captivated by the older Romeo, whom she meets after sneaking into a party at the Montague estate. And Romeo quickly becomes captivated with Rosaline, who only has twelve days to live life to the fullest before being shipped off to a nunnery. Falling madly in love with Romeo, Rosaline ignores all the red flags regarding his character until it becomes blatantly obvious he is not the man she thought he was. Not to be deterred Romeo then sets his sites on Rosaline’s younger cousin Juliette. It is up to Rosaline to save her from Romeo’s lovable yet cunning and at times despicable ways. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Four stars

We’ve all read her name at the beginning of Shakespeare’s most romantic play — and then promptly forgotten her. But this book examines “Fair Rosaline” — and that supposedly romantic story — in a new and refreshingly feminist light. In this retelling, Rosalind is, in fact, Juliet’s cousin. When the much older and disturbingly predatory Romeo moves on the famously young Juliet, it is not revenge but love that launches Rosalind into action. The story looks the same to the outward eye, but readers end the story with a different truth.
Natasha Solomons takes ideas that have been right in front of audiences for centuries and questions them from boldly progressive and feminist perspective. In the post-MeToo era, she forces the reader to face uncomfortable facts about characters long assumed to be peers in a young, consensual love affair. However, we then are led to think more about Shakespeare’s larger intentions; he mentions Juliet’s age numerous times and Romeo’s none and leaves several gaps — not holes — in the plot. Overall, a superbly written, historical retelling that provokes far more intellectual thought than one would think. 5/5.

Actual Rating: 2.5

I’m all for modernized Shakespearean retellings from the perspective of different characters, and I’d actually watched Hulu’s film Rosaline and loved it too. The interpretation in this book, however, is not one I really clicked with.

The story is pretty much the one everyone knows. Before Juliet there was Rosaline, who just managed to convince her father to give her a week of freedom before sending her off to a convent after her mother’s passing. Rosaline grows to realize, however, that Romeo is not the romantic suitor he seems. When Rosaline confronts him, he turns his predatory gaze upon her younger cousin Juliet, and only Rosaline can stop it.

In terms of writing style, there were definitely some moments of inconsistency — sometimes it felt more Shakespearean and other times it was more modern. Still, it was passable and Rosaline’s voice, as that of a very headstrong and willful character who was still young and impulsive, was great to listen to. In fact, I felt like Rosaline’s character was rounded out really well, as was Tybalt, who barely got any screen time in the original play.

On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet are two characters that I struggled to reconcile with their original versions. Juliet’s was not so extreme, but I still felt a lack of agency. Romeo, however, felt very different. The story essentially transformed him into a one-dimensional villain, a pedophilic playboy in cahoots with the Friar. From then on, the story felt more black-and-white and one-note, compared to the earlier subtler theme of gendered social and familial expectations which I enjoyed more and felt less forced.

As a result, the book doesn’t really seem like it was made for someone who actually likes the source material. Considering how many things were changed and the way this is presented as a feminist retelling, I’m not sure fans of the original would appreciate the changes. Even as someone who never really liked the original R&J that much anyways, I still felt like the changes were hard to swallow.

Overall, I think someone who likes historical or Shakespearean era stories might still enjoy this, but it’s important to keep in mind that the modern changes are very prevalent.