Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle
"What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything.

Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet’s instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob’s heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends…"- summary from Amazon

This retelling was really interesting and a quick read. I will say though that the summary made me expect things that never came to fruition. I was expecting much more craziness and insanity from Juliet's actions and it just didn't happen. She was unstable, manipulative and clingy, sure, but I felt like it was at a more manageable level, if that makes sense.

I liked Rose as a character and she was a good narrator. I loved reading her storyline and seeing her grow throughout the novel. I didn't like her relationship with Rob at times, though she did come to realize her reasoning behind why she wanted him which I liked. I enjoyed her evolving relationship with Len though and Serle did a wonderful job handling it.

Overall, it is still a really good debut, despite my problems with it. I can't wait to see what Serle does next!

FTC: Received e-galley from S&S Galley Grab. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, that's cool, I'm glad you liked it. I just heard about this book the other day and it sounds good. :D

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  2. I just started this and I really like the concept. I remember reading R&J in high school and thinking, wait who is Rosaline ? Are we going to hear more about her ?

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