Saturday, February 18, 2012

The other girl: When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

I'm not really much for YA series that aren't in the vein of Holly Black or Pretty Little Liars, but I have to say that this upcoming release by Simon and Schuster entitled When You Were Mine sounds pretty amazing.

In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo’s original intended—Juliet’s cousin Rosaline—tells her side of the tale.

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….

I have to admit that I've loved Romeo and Juliet ever since I read a poorly written book adaptation of the play as a young girl and it reached a fever pitch after watching both the amazing Olivia Hussey version as well as the 1996 DeCaprio version. (I admit that DeCaprio is gorgeous, but Hussey's version wins by a mile.) Having an alternate telling of this tragic tale is a very natural and smart idea. After all, alternate tellings of other Shakespeare works have worked out very well (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) and the sky is the limit as far as potential goes.

If I can get my homework done on time, I'm checking this one out.

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