Before Juliet, there was Rosaline. In Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo is nursing the heartbreak of disappointed love with the fair Rosaline when he is persuaded to attend the Capulet masked ball, where he ultimately meets Juliet. This novel imagines the relationship that preceded that of the Bard's star-crossed lovers, and gives life to a character only mentioned in passing. However, it deviates from the source material and gives the familiar story an intriguing twist. The author describes the book as an untelling rather than a retelling, and that's the perfect way to describe what it does.

This book imagines how differently the play would resonate if Romeo were not a lovesick teenage boy, but a mature and calculating seducer of thirty, preying on vulnerable young girls until he gets bored and discards them. It's a bold spin, but it works. It certainly flips the canon on its head, but it also adds an interesting exploration of Juliet's extreme youth and how the men in her life considered her to be a marriageable age. A 13 year old married to a peer seems naiive and ill-advised. A 13 year old married to a fully-grown adult man doesn't just FEEL creepy - it IS creepy. This book takes a closer look at this uncomfortable dynamic, and explores what the story would look like if Romeo was actually a villain.

Rosaline is nearly 16, two years older than her cousin Juliet, but after a whirlwind romance with Romeo she comes to see his true nature and ends their relationship. Within hours, Romeo has moved on and has set his sights on Juliet instead, and Rosaline is determined to save her from the dangerous connection.

I enjoyed the book. The story was intriguing, and the writing was descriptive and engaging. Rosaline was a lively, vibrant character, and I especially liked Tybalt, her cousin and her beloved childhood playmate and friend. Their relationship is marked by warmth and genuine affection. Romeo is handsome, but disingenuous and cunning. When we see him use the same lines on Rosaline that we recognize from the beautiful lines of the original play, their hollowness and insincerity are deeply unsettling.

The prose occasionally seemed more historical and occasionally more modern, but it was consistently vivid, and quite beautiful in places. The setting was well developed and colourfully described. I liked that the author gave us a fresh take on an old story, and breathed life into characters that lived mainly in the shadows of the play. 3.5 stars for the story and an extra half star for the excellent audiobook narration.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Much like the current definitions of "Christian" and "patriot" I am learning to distrust the word "feminist" when applied to storytelling, for it seems to be twisted into something it was not originally.
I was hoping for a story about Rosaline, the barely-mentioned girl Romeo liked before he met his Juliet. However, this is more a story of a Verona girl boss taking down a pedophile ring and saving her cousin while turning every man in the story - except Rosaline's father and brother, of course, for she cannot be tainted by association - into a caricature villain.
Rosaline, grieving for the loss of her mother to the plague, finds out that she is to be sent to a nunnery, a much cheaper option for her widowed father than providing her a dowry. She decides that if she is to be locked away for the rest of her life she will have one last hurrah and go party at the Montague house, dressed as a boy. There she meets Romeo, who isn't fooled by her disguise and begins charming her. First into kisses and promises, then into losing her virginity and stealing from her father.. When girls begin to die after getting knocked up, and with some detective help from her friend Tybalt, Rosaline finds that she is only the latest in a long line of conquests that Romeo has loved and left. Not only that, Friar Laurence is his accomplice, making sure the pregnant girls end up dead with some handy poison, and taking the rest of the girls Romeo lures to feed the pedophile ring they run.
Of course, the moment Rosaline tells Romeo to get lost, he sets his sights on her younger, much more naïve cousin, Juliet. Then it becomes a race to save her cousin from a similar fate to all those poor girls Romeo has left behind.
What?
I don't understand why, in order to make Rosaline into a compelling character, the more well known characters in the story had to be evil. There was plenty that could have been done to make her into a fully fleshed creation without tearing others down. This is where the idea of this being a "feminist take" on a well known story falls short for me. Feminism is about equality, not about the need to pull others down in order to stand tall.

Rosaline would have the song Deja Vu by Olivia Rodrigo on repeat if she could. I just know it. For she is the first Capulet beauty to steal the heart of Romeo Montague. Let me explain - this is the story of "fair Rosaline," Romeo's first love before meeting Juliet. And yes, he totally uses similar lines on her as he did with his better known beloved Juliet. I am not a Romeo fan...I find him a bit creepy tbh and even more so after this book.

In the tragedy of Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline is Juliet's older cousin. We never really knew much about her in the original story other than Romeo is heartbroken over her. With this novel, the author expands on Rosaline's backstory and builds her up as a character by telling the tale through Rosaline's perspective.

I liked that this book pays homage to Shakespeare's original. There are familiar characters, lines, and settings but it is overall unique and fresh. Although I still prefer the original (so much drama) this was a interesting prequel spinoff of it. It's hard to produce something on Shakespeare's level especially when there are so many modern spin-offs and retellings already. I did think the audio narrator did great.

I liked the overall concept of this one but wish it was faster paced and not sure how well Shakespeare type lines work in literature when it's done by others. I cringed a bit at Romeo's words but also understand the author was trying to stay true to the original character in wording and also change him for the purposes of this story, which I feel was accomplished. I think fans of the classic story may have thoughts about the dark twist this one takes.

This is such an interesting retelling of the typical Romeo and Juliet story. It has always been noted that before Juliet there was Rosaline but this gives us an interesting backstory and an unusual ending that makes you hope. It's also interesting to see societal constructs and Romeo cast as the true villains of the tale. The narration is excellent and lends to the drama of the tale.

This is a fascinating and juicy reimagining of Romeo and Juliet. The story is from the point of view of Rosaline, Romeo’s love before Juliet, and Romeo is the villain. For the first time I hated Romeo, liked Tybalt, and my heart broke for Rosaline. I wasn’t sure what to think about this retelling when I started it, but ended up hooked!

I spent an entire work day listening to this. I was enthralled. I have never ever been a shakespeare fan, as I said in a previous review, but this was gold. I, of course, knew the story of Romeo and Juliet, but this is an untelling of that tale in a way that makes sense. Of course Romeo is a real creep, seducing young ladies and causing their destruction. That's why her parents hate his family.
He sucks.
This was just the best book. And the narrator was perfect for this role. I couldn't even believe I loves this as much as a I did.
Absolutely everyone needs to listen to this.

Our girl falls head over heels in love with a smooth talking man. She doesn't want to go to the convent, so his timing is perfect. She ends up robbing her father of her own dowry and giving it to Romeo. Like a true catfisher he takes that money and runs off. Rosaline loves her cousins so she is destroyed when the very next day Romeo is seducing Juliet, who is like 13 years old! She also found out a bunch of other dirt about him and it is gross ugly stuff.
Of course the friar is a creep as well, he would have to be to go along with this.
The end was perfect.

The narration by Sheila Atim is impeccable! She captured that Shakesperean dialogue and delivered it to us on a silver platter.

We follow Rosaline through the plague and into her brother’s house. Before she is sent away to a nunnery she decides to go to a Montague party (strictly forbidden for Capulets). She meets Romeo and their relationship is one that is complicated, high highs and low lows.

If Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of star-crossed lovers, then surely this is a cautionary tale of silver tongued suitors.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing an e-ARC and allowing me the opportunity to read and honestly review this story.
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Never in my life would I ever believe that a Shakespeare retelling would make me feel despair over a much-disliked character from Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt Capulet was the standout character of this story, in my opinion.

Fair Rosaline is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a very unique and odd twist added on. In this story, Romeo is not the star-crossed lover we all know and love; he is the villain who "falls in love" more like falls in lust easily with Rosaline, and when she rejects him after countless attempts of manipulation, he goes after her cousin Juliet and ends up "falling in love" with her and marries her in spite of Rosaline. Now the twist is that Romeo is essentially part of the friar's plan to trap girls once Romeo grows bored of them or no longer wishes to be with them and essentially traffic them to other men in Verona, and I will say I did not expect that part of the story whatsoever.

I won’t lie, this book starts off very slowly for about the first few chapters, and only once our main character Rosaline has met Romeo does the story start unfolding and picking up pace. Throughout the rest of the book, the story managed to keep a steady pace and really picked up when Romeo decided to chase after Juliet instead of Rosaline. There were also moments where the writing felt slightly too modern compared to the Shakespearean vibe it was going for, but that didn’t bother me as much, and I enjoyed the story for what it was. It may not be a favorite read for me, but I’m sure it will and can be for others, and I would definitely recommend readers give this book a try and find out for themselves.


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