not sure why everyone in the original story (except, tellingly, rosaline's male family members) needed to be pedophiles for this story to work? i enjoy reading alternate histories that fill in gaps in our understanding, much like madeline miller's "the song of achilles." i do also enjoy other retellings, such as "these violent delights" by chloe gong. but this seems neither revolutionary enough (the prose is a bit stilted, as if it's a chimera that hasn't quite decided between shakespearean frivolity or YA-esque dialogue) nor nuanced enough for me to enjoy reading it the way i wanted to.

First, I’ve never been a fan of Romeo and Juliet. Shocking, I know (not really for those who know me). It’s an overdone tragedy when there are plenty of others out there that can fit the bill as easily as Romeo and Juliet. Now, this is not a judgment on anyone if they do like Romeo and Juliet. I don’t think less of you, nor am I judging you or your tastes…okay, maybe I’m judging your tastes a teensy tiny bit.

However, one of the genres of fiction I do love reading are retellings/reimaginings of fairy tales or classic stories. Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons fits not only that genre but portrays Romeo in a way that I definitely agree with and provides a much more satisfying ending.

I love that Solomons didn’t just create her own version of Rosaline for the book but drew on inspiration from other Rosaline(d) that Shakespeare wrote, As You Like It and Love’s Labours Lost. In her author’s note at the end, she mentions that her main inspiration for her Rosaline was Love’s Labours Lost. This Rosaline and Solomons own are brilliant, powerful, and clever women. It’s a great way to introduce characters to a woman who, while she understands the world around her and her place in it, still doesn’t like it.

Juliet in the novel is an adorable, innocent, playful 13-year-old (Rosaline is 15 years old) who, of course, is going to have to marry because she is her parents' only child who made it to “adulthood.” On the other hand, Rosaline is the second child of Masseto, plus he already has a son who is married with children. Rosaline is superfluous to their lives now. Both of these characters are refreshing as they actually do feel feminist while remaining accurate to their time period. I’m thinking of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Book of Longings and how Ana is very much a modern-day woman dropped into a historical fiction novel. Her reactions to arranged marriage make absolutely no sense as this wouldn’t come as a shock to her. While upset by the nunnery, Rosaline understands that her father does not need her. She was just under the impression that she would be married off soon instead.

It was great to read a Romeo who is represented as he should be, a lecherous older man. Before anyone comments, I know I’m looking back on history with moral values and attitudes in mind. But answer me this: why is Juliet’s age brought up? I don’t recall other Shakespeare plays where the ages are mentioned, referenced, referred to, or at all important. There’s also the scene at the beginning with Papa Capulet and Paris discussing Juliet’s engagement to him, and her father remarks, “She hath not seen the change of fourteen years./Let two more summers wither in their pride/Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” One significant event girls/women go through in their life is menstruation to prepare the body for pregnancy, which I’m positive is what Capulet is referring to by her not yet being “ripe” (let’s not analyze how gross that phrasing is). I’m not a Shakespeare or Elizabethan-era scholar, so I cannot fully say what happens in the original play. But I do like the idea that in Solomons novel Romeo is portrayed as he should be a flighty, lecherous, man who preys on young girls to get what he wants (sex, the answer is always sex).

The one, tiny aspect of the novel that kept grinding on my nerves was Rosaline’s insistence that her life would be over when she entered the convent. Yes, it’s not the life she wants, but given her options are marriage, destitution, or the convent, I’d take the convent. I was hoping when she visits the convent and speaks with the abbess, she would realize that the convent is not the death sentence she thinks it is. They practice herbology, sing and practice music, and write down their history, it’s a beautiful place of knowledge. Yes, they still devote their lives to God, but practicing music and using herbal medicine is how they use their gifts to please God.

Definitely a feminist retelling of a classic story that was definitely, definitely NOT a romance, love story, or anything remotely close to that. It’s a story of young, naive people who try to experience as much as possible in this world and, unfortunately, wind up burned. Fair Rosaline does give us a twist providing a happier ending for both Juliet and our “fair Rosaline.”

I love a good retelling espesually one that takes the story and flips it on its head! This one took a bit to get into, but once you get passed the slower, historical intro it starts to move pretty quick! I definitely plan to read this author more in the future.

I had a hard time with the writing style of this book. I was hoping it would be a fresh take on Romeo and Juliet and written in modern language. Not so much. I was not able to finish this book, it just did not hold my interest. Fans of Shakespeare may enjoy.

I thought I would enjoy it. I really did but each time I picked up the book my head was immediately like "nope" I couldn't get into the story and the characters really annoyed me on a level I didn't think would be possible.

"Fair Rosaline." Who is this book for?

I really struggled to compose this review, as I truly wanted to enjoy this book. The premise itself was intriguing, and I can tell that the author put a great deal of work into creating a cohesive world.

However, I really struggled with this story. Everything in it felt obtuse and slow, as torpid as the summer heat in our setting of the plague-ridden city of Verona. The prose is pseudo-Shakespearean, so both the narrative and the dialogue feel cumbersome. The plot circles back and repeats several times. Rosaline herself waffles between trusting her instincts and following her impulses, and we spend easily a quarter of the story in her head as she debates back-and-forth with herself. The villains in the story, Romeo and Friar Laurence, are transparently evil to the reader, but it takes almost two-thirds of the book for Rosaline to reach that same conclusion. Not one character shines with humor or cleverness; I also don't think there was single redeenubg male character in the story. Even Tybalt, who refuses to accept Rosaline's rejections of his love.

The whole story is frustrating, and I was left wondering who it was written for. Is it for a literary audience? The lack of subtlety in the story and writing would seem to put that to the lie. Is it for a YA audience? While I supposed it's good to show a young audience so obviously the ways in which Romeo was grooming Rosaline and the other girls, the dialogue and slowness in plot progression would seem like an obstacle in appealing to that crowd. Is it for a general fiction or book club? Again, I don't think this story would appeal to anyone not prepared to slog though Shakespearean prose.

Beautiful cover, though.

Received a copy for review.
Although I appreciated more information about Rosaline and appreciated that Romeo didn’t cause the end of Juliet, this book went a few steps too far.
Perhaps if I hadn’t already read 2 reimaginings of R&J, I might have enjoyed this more.

10/10 would reckoned to anyone who loves romance! This book hooked me in with the characters, the plot and drama. I love the retelling of Romeo and Juliet but with Rosaline before Juliet was a thing.

This book was gifted to be by the publisher through NetGallery, all opinions and reviews are my own. #NetGallery

I love historical fiction and I was excited for a retelling of Romeo and Juliet through a woman's perspective. The first 25% is a little slow if you're not a fan of historical fiction, but I do think the pace picks up. I appreciate that this book gives another perspective into Romeo and we realize that he's really not that great of a person. I enjoyed Rosaline as a character. I enjoyed experiencing her from a teenager to a strong, powerful woman as an adult. I also loved when she eventually realized Romeo wasn't great and tricked him.

I am a fan of Shakespeare so the subject matter of this book is what initially drew me in. I was surprised at how much I loved it!! I loved the POV of Rosaline and the fact that not all stories are what they seem. I heard once that the person with the power is the version that gets told and believed, and this book made me think of that. I’ve already recommended it to my sister!!!

To read the full review and see this books mood board, click here: https://barclayann27.wixsite.com/enroute/post/a-brief-review-fair-rosaline

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark (and NetGalley ily) for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Set during the unknown days and hours before Romeo meets Juliet, Fair Rosaline gives voice and context to the character we all know of, but have never heard from. As Solomons recognizes in the Authors Note, although Rosaline is a pivotal character in the first Act of Romeo and Juliet, she never actually appears or speaks, leaving the audiences perception of her entirely up to Romeo’s opinions of her. This novel works to remedy that.

Much of the first half of the book read very similar to the Romeo and Juliet story we all know. Romeo playing out the same story, just with a different girl. There was even a moment when he, quite randomly, suggested suicide to Rosaline where she is shocked by the suggestion. These “callbacks” to exact phrases or actions, especially that of Romeo, from the original play, were interesting at first but began to feel contrived after they appeared in the narrative in ways that felt forced, like the fain double-suicide suggestion.

Alongside the cruelty that Romeo shows after Rosaline rejects him, the dramatic emotions of love he expressed before start to not add up. Is he meant to be nothing more than a sociopath predator? I’m fine with him being both, but wished his character didn’t come off as so one-dimensional. Perhaps too much was relying on our preconceived notions of Romeo’s character and our assumed empathy for him, assuming that there would be no need for it in the book…

Solomons re-examines Romeo and Juliet as the story of a predator and the child he preys upon, and exposes all of Verona as complicit in Romeo’s victimization of young girls. Ideal for Shakespeare fans who always felt a little uneasy about pop culture’s romanticization of Romeo and Juliet’s courtship, the book would make a very interesting edition to a course on Shakespeare adaptations or light reading for anyone interested in feminist criticism of Shakespeare.

The book’s strengths lie in the characterizations of Rosaline, the novel’s heroine, and Tybalt, her cousin. Tybalt’s character is expanded from the glimpses we see of him in the play, and done so in a way both satisfying and complementary to the development of our heroine. Rosaline is a fully realized and relatable character, and her deep familial love for her cousin Juliet carries the heart of the novel. I also appreciated the setting of recently plague-swept Verona, which made death and decay a constant presence in both story and scenery. The death of Rosaline’s beloved mother, whose presence looms large in the book, is also well done, and is nicely contrasted with the emotional absence of Juliet’s mother Lady Capulet and the doting over-permissiveness of Juliet’s other maternal figure, her nurse.

The writing is at its strongest when Rosaline (who never appears onstage in Shakespeare’s tale) is pictured outside of scenes depicted by the source material, for example interacting with her family, falling for Romeo, or visiting a nunnery. Solomons seems hesitant, however, to divert too much from Shakespeare’s play, and in order to convey the play’s information to us through Rosaline’s perspective she has Rosaline lurking awkwardly in the background of several play scenes, reproducing them nearly word for word in a manner that felt slightly disjointed from the rest of the novel. I think the retelling would have benefitted from standing more confidently on its own two feet, and didn’t require the scaffolding of near-exact scene reproduction.

The book is classed as adult historical/literary fiction, but I think it would be entirely accessible to YA readers and would serve well as a bridge title.

You think you know the most famous love story in the world? Think again. “Fair Rosaline” lets us imagine a different tale entirely. Rosaline, Romeo’s first “crush”, is not going to just sit back and watch her cousin, Juliet, make one of the biggest mistakes in her life, falling for Romeo.

This story does make you rethink everything you thought you knew of Shakespere’a tragic lovers.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This story was definitely an interesting one. If you remember reading/being forced to read Romeo and Juliet in high school, you will remember that Romeo's first love was NOT Juliet but Rosaline. This book goes behind the scenes into Rosaline's story and how Romeo was literally THE WORST.

I like that there were details from the play that were incorporated from this novel. I also like how the characters tied together. If I am being honest, I was at times very annoyed by Juliet until I remembered that she was just thirteen. I enjoyed how Rosaline was able to eventually see Romeo for whom he truly was, and I loved how she tricked him.

If you are a fan of the play, I definitely suggest giving this one a read. It was fun to read the story (while I am currently teaching it to students) from a different angle.

I enjoyed this book and the different point of view and take on a classic! What a great read!

Thank you #Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book!

Anyone who knows me knows that Romeo and Juliet is probably my favorite book, I teach it every year, and I think it’s a great entryway to Shakespeare for students. That being said, Rosaline has been getting a lot of notoriety recently with a TV show and books, exploring her story and her connection to Romeo. My students often become very focused on Romeos impulsivity, and the age difference between himself and Juliet, this book continues to look at Romeo as not an innocent, but maybe someone with some nefarious undertones and some questionable track records with women. While this book does require you to suspend this belief at many times, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to sharing pieces of it with my students as we continue to flush out Romeo’s character.

Fair Rosaline is such a good book! If you are a fan of Romeo and Juliet and enjoy retellings, then this book is for you. It is definitely darker than the original story and very entertaining. I also really love that Rosaline finally got her own story.

at in Shakespeare’s play - really only described by the one word, “fair” - Rosaline comes alive here as Juliet’s 15-year-old Capulet cousin. Before Juliet, Rosaline is Romeo’s crush. Both fall hard for the other after meeting at a party on Montague property. As Romeo pursues Rosaline, the reader starts to get a view of Romeo as a lover. But there is something off with the young man, as he begins to plan his and Rosaline’s get-away as a couple - because they are forbidden as are Romeo and Juliet in the original play. Rosaline becomes suspicious and starts to look into Romeo’s past as a lover and so begins a race to save herself and, eventually, her cousin.

I enjoyed this book even though the genre is not my usual. (I don’t go for straight-up romances and this is a lot of romance.) I’ll never think of Romeo again as a poor, star-struck, doomed lover. The story holds nothing back, boldly imagining Romeo as a desperate cad, hopping from one (very) young girl to the next. And, his relationship with a friar-gone-bad makes the outcomes of his affairs even more serious than what the reader imagines at first.

This is a bold retelling and it requires that the reader suspend disbelief many times, but, for all that, I enjoyed it. It is well-written and feels authentic to the original, even while going in a wild direction. And, the strong female lead is a welcome relief from the swooning females of the original. Recommended for fans of Romeo and Juliet that don’t mind some serious deviating from the well-known (and well-loved) storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this e-ARC.

A really fun book for someone who LOVES Romeo and Juliet! I liked how it took a more light-hearted turn to the original story!

Why must retellings always make villains out of the original story’s characters?

I’m torn. I enjoyed the first half of this novel without much complaint, but the moment Romeo was made to be a “player” I had a sense of doom.

In attempting to make Rosaline the hero of the story, she’s instead more of a fool than Romeo and Juliet ever were. Had she been sent off to the nunnery immediately, no harm would’ve come to anyone. By the 70% mark it was hard to dismiss her actions as naive — by that point, she was nothing more than a destructive mess.

I would hope that to tell a female side characters’ story, to make her the main character, you wouldn’t need to make villains of the original leads to provide her with a story. See Hulu’s Rosaline film for an example of playing into the nativity of Romeo and Juliet rather than completely changing their personalities.

All this to say, if you’d read/studied/enjoyed Romeo and Juliet, there’s a chance you will not enjoy this take on Rosaline. Unless, that is, you have a deep rooted hatred for Romeo Montague.