Falling for Hamlet

Jun 27, 2012 Giselle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, arc, contemporary

"Mistakes and miscommunications. Violent love and violent hate. Betrayals and desire. Our beginning, our middle, and our end."

First let me state that this is my first time experiencing Hamlet's story. Having gone to a French school, Shakespeare's work was not part of our curriculum, hence my unfamiliarity with it. In addition, I've never had the opportunity to see it as a play as there are no production where I live. So yes, Shakespeare… not my forte; but I'm happy to report that I quite enjoye...more "Mistakes and miscommunications. Violent love and violent hate. Betrayals and desire. Our beginning, our middle, and our end."

First let me state that this is my first time experiencing Hamlet's story. Having gone to a French school, Shakespeare's work was not part of our curriculum, hence my unfamiliarity with it. In addition, I've never had the opportunity to see it as a play as there are no production where I live. So yes, Shakespeare… not my forte; but I'm happy to report that I quite enjoyed Falling for Hamlet. Obviously I can't comment on any comparison; the author's notes at the end are very interesting, however, and showcase what she's changed, added, and modernized.

I'm not going to go into the study of Hamlet's character. Whole classes are taken up to discuss this. I actually spent a bit of time to Google Hamlet once I started it and found myself immersed by his madness and how this is actually left open to interpretation for the reader to decide what's real, and what isn't. How insane is he, really? I was obviously fascinated by his deeply complex characterization, but even moreso, how his madness seems to spread. This whole cast is really messed up! :D This can bring forth such a huge character study; like I said I won't start an essay about it. Let's just say that I have a shameless attraction to morbid tales like these. I love how incredibly tragic the characters' lives become. They're all so intense and dramatic; spiraling out of control. How can you look away? Michelle may not have created these characters, but she modernized their setting; made it fresh with some added material and extra twists that I'm confident fans of the original will enjoy.

The format - I loved it. We get the story in three different parts narrated by Ophilia: There's the story that she tells Zara during a TV talk show interview (think Oprah), there's her investigative interview, then there's the truth. The latter is our main story, the others being only short passages to begin and end each chapters. Glimpses of her interview on the Zara show set the perfect tone for what's to come. As for the investigation, it's fun and adds an extra punch to the story, but I didn't feel it was completely necessary. I will even admit to getting annoyed at the ridiculous accusations that are thrown regarding the smallest of details that are simply absurd. On the other hand it's amusing to see Ophilia's reactions to these.

I don't really have to go into the plot. I mean, I'm sure I was in a very small minority who aren't familiar with Hamlet. Michelle does modify it some while leaving the general story untouched (as stated in her notes). For instance, she begins the story before the King dies, she adds a lot of technology, and reworks how fast the media affects high profile lives with so much modern technology.

As a first experience, I can say it's a wonderfully perplexing and violent tale that while I can't compare to the original, I found myself incredibly enticed by this retelling. It's such a tragic story of love and loss, manipulation and fear. It's brilliant and thought provoking. If this is what one should expect from a modernized version of this tale, Michelle Ray nailed it.

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For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Mar 06, 2012 Sandra Howard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-novels, cover-love

Falling for Hamlet is a retelling of a Shakespearean play. I would ask you guys to guess but I think it’s pretty obvious already. Hehehe. It’s a modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I honestly haven’t read that yet so I can’t really say how close or how far Ms. Ray was with the original work. But maybe it was for the

Anyways, Falling for Hamlet is one of those books that would stick to you because it was unique. It was a retelling yes but it was done in a good way. Also, I was not expec...more Falling for Hamlet is a retelling of a Shakespearean play. I would ask you guys to guess but I think it’s pretty obvious already. Hehehe. It’s a modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I honestly haven’t read that yet so I can’t really say how close or how far Ms. Ray was with the original work. But maybe it was for the

Anyways, Falling for Hamlet is one of those books that would stick to you because it was unique. It was a retelling yes but it was done in a good way. Also, I was not expecting how this book really stuck with the play. I thought it was a cheesy love story where the main characters were named after the characters from Hamlet. I also read another retelling of a more famous Shakespeare play which was the Juliet Spell. Juliet Spell was though a tragedy (not a real happy ending) it did not follow through with Romeo and Juliet as much as Falling for Hamlet did with Hamlet.

Instead of the story being told in Hamlet’s POV, it was told in Ophelia’s who was also a character in the original Hamlet play. What was more amazing about it was that aside from Ophelia’s flashbacks on what’s happening, we were also getting glimpses of her interview with a talk show host and with the police. Cool Huh? HELL YEAH!

The characters they said were based on the original Shakespearean work and I liked them all. Firstly there’s Ophelia that I just loved to hate but can’t. She was pretty and the girlfriend of a prince. Who could compete with that? (Can you tell I’m really envious?!) Anyway what I really liked about how willing she was to protect those people she loves. She was sweet and crazy in love with Hamlet. She had to face rather difficult situations that on my opinion were handled pretty well.

If you are a fan of Shakespeare and wants to get see a version of Hamlet in the present day then I highly recommend this book.
The cover really got me fooled. I never expected this book to end up the way it did.
All the while I thought I was going to get loads of cheesiness like the typical YA romance novel but I was wrong.

3!

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Jan 05, 2012 Martha added it · review of another edition

I'll have to try and make my way back to this one, folks.
Having already read and watched Hamlet, I can't help but compare the two. And when you compare Shakespeare to anyone else - I don't care who - you lose. Shakespeare owns. Every time.

It's extremely difficult for me to read a retelling and not compare it to the original. Nearly impossible. The original is always better. Always. (In my experience)

Don't misunderstand me, I did actually like what I read. I loved the way Michelle Ray was able...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Lawral rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, ya, 2011

Let me start by saying that you should not judge this book by its cover. Or by its opening lines:

"Frailty, thy name is woman." - William Shakespeare
"Willy, thy name is sexism." - Ophelia

Don't get me wrong, both have very much to do with the story (other than Hamlet's hair color on the cover), but they really make this look like a much lighter, funnier, beach read kind of book than it really is. I mean, really, how would one make an adaption of Hamlet light? Instead, this book is everything it...more Let me start by saying that you should not judge this book by its cover. Or by its opening lines:

"Frailty, thy name is woman." - William Shakespeare
"Willy, thy name is sexism." - Ophelia

Don't get me wrong, both have very much to do with the story (other than Hamlet's hair color on the cover), but they really make this look like a much lighter, funnier, beach read kind of book than it really is. I mean, really, how would one make an adaption of Hamlet light? Instead, this book is everything it should be; it's brooding and dark and, at times, intense. It's also narrated by a strong Ophelia who is understandably worried (and sometimes so tired/drunk she's a bit loopy - how else could one explain the flower scene?) about her boyfriend's apparent loss of sanity but who also does her best to be supportive and helpful to those around her, especially her aforementioned boyfriend and her widower father, all while trying to keep her own life together in the midst of circumstances no high school senior should have to deal with. She is so at odds with both the classic and modern versions of how we usually see the character of Ophelia. I loved it.

The story stays pretty true to the original, with one major difference that is given away on the jacket flap: Ophelia survives. The motivations behind people's actions, however, are different. The "truth," what Ophelia is telling us the readers, is book-ended by Ophelia's tell-all appearance on fake-Danish-Oprah in the beginning of each chapter and her interrogation by the Danish police at the end. These three concurrent tellings of the same story, illustrate the fabrication of what we take for "fact" from the media and the reach of a government cover-up more explicitly than that paparazzi pic on the cover ever could. On faux-prah, Ophelia is sweet, in love, heart-broken, and kind of ditzy. She's the almost princess. While being interrogated, she is bitingly sarcastic, angry, and fiercely loyal to Horatio and Marcellus, the only other people to survive the bloodbath that is this story. She's accused of being the master-mind of a plot to overthrow the Danish monarchy. In between, she's just a girl doing her best to do what's right for herself and those she loves.

Really and truly, I loved this book. It sucked me into the story and kept me on the edge of my seat even though I knew, more or less, what was going to happen. The characters were well-rounded and real in ways that Shakespeare characters usually are not. I cried when the king died. Have you ever cared about Hamlet's dad enough to even care that he's dead? I haven't. And Hamlet himself made a bit more sense, not a lot, but a bit. Giving him a happy background with Ophelia, at least in flashbacks, made their whole relationship much more believable which made it all the more crushing when he becomes cruel. Michelle Ray has managed to take a story that I already knew well and liked, and she made it into something new and original that I love. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Book source: ARC provided by the publisher.(less)

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Dec 28, 2011 Snorkle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ala-2011, read-2011, young-adult, arc, willing-to-swap, own, review-on-blog

What's the one word that I had ringing through my head after I read this book?

Disturbing.

I did not like the ending. I didn't like the way people behaved. I didn't like the violence. I didn't like the romance between Ophelia and Hamlet. Basically, there were a lot of things I wished had been different.

The first part of this book was a completely different pace than the second half, which seemed to whip by. I thought there was too of the crazy relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet. I didn't see...more What's the one word that I had ringing through my head after I read this book?

Disturbing.

I did not like the ending. I didn't like the way people behaved. I didn't like the violence. I didn't like the romance between Ophelia and Hamlet. Basically, there were a lot of things I wished had been different.

The first part of this book was a completely different pace than the second half, which seemed to whip by. I thought there was too of the crazy relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet. I didn't see why there had to be so much build up, I get that they're crazy about each other, can we move on? I was tired of hearing Ophelia rant about Hamlet, I just wanted them to stop thinking of the other person. I got a little sick of the constant love/hate/love/hate turmoil between them.

I think the reason this book was so disturbing to me was because of the drastic results of corruption and the amount of people who got hurt. I just wanted the corruption to stop. I didn't see why everything had to happen like that. I know it's based on the Shakespeare play, Hamlet (and I admit that my recollection of that plot is not good) but I did not like this interpretation. I didn't like the destruction of the characters and the conclusion. I don't want to go into great details because I don't want to add any spoilers, but I just did not like the ending at all! It wasn't necessary and I felt like there wasn't a point to the story after I had finished reading it. I read the entire book to have some sort of satisfying conclusion or a moment of peace - but there was absolutely nothing and I was just left with that depressing finale. Totally Not Satisfying.

I also thought it was unrealistic how much the book relied on Ophelia and all the people that loved her. Near the end I felt like practically everyone had been driven to madness because of Ophelia. (view spoiler) Really? I didn't care for those sections of the book at all. The questioning seemed like an added filler to the story, and I didn't think it really helped move the plot along. I didn't appreciate the sexual content in this book. Needless to say, I would not recommend this book.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2011...(less)

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Apr 24, 2011 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was not sure if I would really like this book. I am generally not a romance reader, or a Shakespeare revisiter. However I am a big fan of Hamlet and this book really intrigued me. The book is set up with alternating chapter headers that focus on investigations by the FBI equivalent in Denmark, and Ophelia being interviewed by a talk show host about the incident that is slowly unfolding. These interludes really kept me reading, I really wanted to know what was going to happen to Ophelia, especi...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Teaira rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Falling for Hamlet overall is very good. I love that this book is set in our time period rather than in some unspecified century from long ago. This makes it easier to understand the age of the characters and what is going on in the plot. Michelle Ray keeps the storyline as close as possible to Shakespeare’s version of Hamlet by using the original names of the characters and maintaining the same problems and conflicts but with a twist. The one part I really don’t like about the book, however, is...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Ed added it · review of another edition

Ray, M. (2011). Falling for Hamlet. New York: Little, Brown and Company/Poppy. 358 pp. ISBN: 978-0-316-10162-2. (Hardcover); $17.99.*

Hamlet is one of those iconic works of literature that has become embedded in our culture and, indeed, in many countries around the world. Millions of words of criticism have been written and spoken about this Shakespeare play and many students have been forced to listen to entirely too many of them. What Ray has done with this book is to use it as a way to analyze...more Ray, M. (2011). Falling for Hamlet. New York: Little, Brown and Company/Poppy. 358 pp. ISBN: 978-0-316-10162-2. (Hardcover); $17.99.*

Hamlet is one of those iconic works of literature that has become embedded in our culture and, indeed, in many countries around the world. Millions of words of criticism have been written and spoken about this Shakespeare play and many students have been forced to listen to entirely too many of them. What Ray has done with this book is to use it as a way to analyze Hamlet with a sociological/feminist lens and recast the story as if it were a modern reality MTV television show. Ophelia lives in the spotlight and in the shadow cast by the handsome and Royal Prince of Denmark. When Hamlet’s father dies, the intense scrutiny threatens to drive everyone crazy. Ophelia must learn how to deal with fame, with deadly rumors, with an overbearing royal family, with sensationalistic media hounds, and, perhaps most importantly, herself. Hamlet isn’t really meant to be read; it is intended to be seen and heard on a stage, which makes me believe in the paparazzi and the very cinematic style of this debut novel. Told from the perspective of Ophelia, a much more ordinary character than the royal Hamlet, readers are privy to her doubts and insecurities. They also see her backbone and her willingness to do what she believes is proper even if her actions get under the skin of people like the Queen. Readers familiar with Hamlet will love what she has done with the character of, say, Horatio. Filled with modern technology, like iPods and cell phones, Falling for Hamlet captures some of the essence of this famous play and attempts to get readers to think about how this very old classic piece of literature still has truth for the social media generation alive today. Ray is to be commended for a very bold attempt to share Shakespeare with teen readers. What I especially appreciate about this book is that I believe that it will encourage readers to seek out the original play, maybe to discover whether Ophelia dies in it. Falling for Hamlet will fit very nicely in English classrooms and high school libraries.
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Jul 25, 2012 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In “Falling for Hamlet,” we hear the story of the tragedy in Denmark from Ophelia’s point-of-view (interestingly enough, she’s not writing it from beyond the grave. In this story, she is alive at the end to tell all). Ophelia is the daughter of one of the King of Denmark’s advisers. She has lived her whole life in the castle and been friends with Hamlet and Horatio for almost as long. I’m not going to re-tell the story of Hamlet – we all know it or you can read it for yourselves. However, what t...more In “Falling for Hamlet,” we hear the story of the tragedy in Denmark from Ophelia’s point-of-view (interestingly enough, she’s not writing it from beyond the grave. In this story, she is alive at the end to tell all). Ophelia is the daughter of one of the King of Denmark’s advisers. She has lived her whole life in the castle and been friends with Hamlet and Horatio for almost as long. I’m not going to re-tell the story of Hamlet – we all know it or you can read it for yourselves. However, what this book adds to the original play is an Ophelia and Hamlet who are truly in love, even though their relationship has been on-again, off-again, on-again. We see an Ophelia who doesn’t really like living in the spotlight thrown on royal life but loves Hamlet too much to bow out. We see an Ophelia who has her own hopes and dreams but is constantly putting them aside to do what her father or Queen Gertrude or Hamlet want her to do. We see a Hamlet who seems to be truly crazy – not putting on an act – after the murder of his father. And we see that part of his madness stems from the words and actions of Ophelia. Finally, (view spoiler) But, when all of the dust clears and things end as they end in the play, what will be left for Ophelia to come back to?

I’m really conflicted, on some level, about this book. When I read the last page, I was glad I was done; I did not long for just a little more story, a little longer with the characters. I’m not sure why. I think part of it may be the modernization of the story. This book takes place in the modern day while the real play Hamlet takes place long ago. Something about that just bothered me. Maybe I didn’t like it because I’ve never really liked Hamlet itself. I LOVE Macbeth; I LOVE Romeo and Juliet; Hamlet has always been a take it or leave it play for me. Maybe that’s part of it. Also, the book felt like it dragged in several places and/or felt redundant. I just don’t know.

There were parts of the book that I liked, though. It was interesting to see how the author used Ophelia’s perspective to fill in some gaps in the original play. Character motivations became more clear when you got another perspective on them. This book seemed to answer the question of was Hamlet really crazy or just acting – and it seems he was really crazy. We see more clearly WHY Ophelia herself went crazy at the end, and it had to do with more than just Hamlet. So, that was cool – to have the story more fleshed out. I also liked how the author managed to incorporate original lines from the play in places and how some scenes were clearly taken from the original play, but the language was modernized. Most of this book strays from the actual Hamlet play, obviously, since it is being told by Ophelia. However, I enjoyed seeing the “real thing” pop up every now and then.

So…. I don’t know. Honestly, I won’t re-read this book anytime soon. However, I still believe that it could be a good “way in” book for students – especially females. It wasn’t all bad, but the overall effect for me wasn’t good. I guess I’ll say, read at your own risk.(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Cassie-la rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads

REVIEW ALSO ON: http://bibliomantics.com/2011/07/29/i......

One of my favorite Shakespeare plays is Hamlet, so I was super stoked when I heard a modern young adult retelling was coming out. I even pimped it in my post about upcoming novels in 2011. If only I could go back in time and take away that excitement, because despite all the mind-boggling five star reviews this novel received on Amazon (who is reviewing this- fans of James Patterson), it is truly a painful piece of “literature”. Although...more REVIEW ALSO ON: http://bibliomantics.com/2011/07/29/i......

One of my favorite Shakespeare plays is Hamlet, so I was super stoked when I heard a modern young adult retelling was coming out. I even pimped it in my post about upcoming novels in 2011. If only I could go back in time and take away that excitement, because despite all the mind-boggling five star reviews this novel received on Amazon (who is reviewing this- fans of James Patterson), it is truly a painful piece of “literature”. Although it’s unfair to refer to it as literature, even in quotation marks when I’m pretty sure it’s just bad fanfiction.

Cassie-wa has a really awesome anecdote about Milton writing the first fanfiction when he penned or rather had someone transcribe Paradise Lost. Now I have read a lot of fanfiction in my time, most of it bad but a select bit of it really damn good. Unfortunately, Falling for Hamlet isn’t even boring good like Paradise Lost, nor is it good bad like less famous fanfiction. Instead, it’s merely bad. Painfully so. Having to listen to Henry Rollins’ spoken word poetry would be less painful.

The story starts off as most bad fanfiction does, with a ridiculous premise. Ophelia is on a talk show telling her story to the Oprah like Zara, minus the screaming and giving away free tropical islands. We are introduced to Ophelia’s world, which begins BEFORE Hamlet’s father’s death by a whopping 120 pages. Instead of living in a castle, the royal family lives in a giant building and for some reason the elevator opens directly into people’s apartments so it’s important not to pick the wrong floor. Why Ray added this detail is unclear. Regardless, it’s jarring, ridiculous, and might as well be a castle in Edoras. Factor in the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are frat brothers and Hamlet goes to Wittenberg University, and you have lost my attention completely. I would rather read about a girl falling into Middle-earth.

In addition to the strange setting, the novel is full of groan worthy jokes at the expense of Hamlet. Ophelia’s favorite band is the Poor Yoricks (facepalm), her ring tone for Polonius is “Papa Don’t Preach” (double facepalm), she says, “goodnight, sweet prince” to Hamlet at bedtime (triple facepalm), and rather than eating at Denny’s, the characters eat at Daney’s (WHY!?! WHY!?!). The modernity is just too much. Having Ophelia referred to as “Phee” and Claudius as “the Claw” or “Claudi-ass” takes you out of the moment, and had the jokes been funny yet respectful (rather than merely stupid) they probably would have worked a lot better.

The most painful part of this retelling however comes from the way in which Ray tries to rework the most famous scenes from the classic. In Hamlet’s famous “To Be or Not to Be” speech, Ray chooses to have him write these two phrases over and over again a la The Shining‘s “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. This is not the bad bit however, that comes when Hamlet starts to speak. “Is it better to suffer through life, to deal with all the crap thrown at you, or to fight against your problems by ending your life? To die is to sleep. That’s all.” Really!?! You pared down the most famous soliloquy of all time so an 8 your old could grasp it!?! Even Billy Madison could understand the original.

Another ruined scene is the one in which Hamlet threatens Ophelia and tells her to become a nun while Claudius and Polonius are eavesdropping on them. In this version, Polonius and Claudius are hiding behind the partition in a limo, and Ophelia is blackmailed into finding out information over threat of Claudius releasing a sex tape of her and Hamlet. With that in mind, Hamlet yells out, “Go become a nun, you whore!” before jumping out of the limo and running down the street toward the nearest “subway”. The line speaks for itself, but a subway!?! You’re writing about Denmark, in Denmark they have the metro, the subway is in New York. At least try to do some research.

As if it couldn’t get any worse in terms of plot, I found myself speeding toward the ending just so the damn book would end. At this point in the narrative, Polonius has been killed by Hamlet, and Gertrude and Claudius are holding Ophelia hostage so she cannot release this information to the public. We learn that Ophelia is not crazy, but merely gets drunk off vodka and draws flowers all over Gertrude, Horatio, and Laertes because she’s a lush. She uses this to her advantage and fakes her death, hiding herself away with help from Marcellus.

Since Ophelia is supposed to be dead, Horatio video chats with her so she can watch a charity LACROSSE MATCH with Hamlet’s team versus Laertes team (who happens to be in graduate school and is therefore too old to be playing in a high school lacrosse game). Did I mention that this lacrosse stick has a poisoned knife attached to the end of it which no one notices through the first quarter of the game? Because it does.

To make a long story short, Ophelia loses video and receives a text message from Horatio informing her: “o gd. all r dead”. There really are not enough facepalms in the world for this post. He then shows up in her hotel room to inform her how everyone and their mother died, focusing particularly on Gertrude who turned blue and foamed at the mouth, to which Ophelia replies, “Ew“.

Thankfully, there is one small redeeming quality to this novel, and it is that Ray creates a stronger, albeit a little whiny Ophelia. Whereas Bella Swan would have have forgiven Edward for killing her father, Ophelia stands her ground and escapes from the royal family. She’s not quite Daenerys Targaryen, but it’s a step in the right direction.(less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ophelia never meant for things to get so out of hand, but maybe that’s just what happens when you’re a girl in her position: Prince Hamlet of Denmark’s girlfriend. As the daughter of an important member of the royal staff, Ophelia grew up in the castle alongside Hamlet, though it wasn’t until more recent years that their close friendship turned into something more. Ophelia would be the first to admit that dating royalty is tough. Not only are they followed around by the paparazzi everywhere they...more Ophelia never meant for things to get so out of hand, but maybe that’s just what happens when you’re a girl in her position: Prince Hamlet of Denmark’s girlfriend. As the daughter of an important member of the royal staff, Ophelia grew up in the castle alongside Hamlet, though it wasn’t until more recent years that their close friendship turned into something more. Ophelia would be the first to admit that dating royalty is tough. Not only are they followed around by the paparazzi everywhere they go, but Ophelia has to deal with all of Hamlet’s family drama in addition to her own as well as all the other types of unwanted attention garnered by Hamlet’s fame. Ophelia thinks she is willing to put up with all of this for the sake of her relationship, but she doesn’t take into account how things could go so quickly from bad to worse. When Hamlet’s father dies under mysterious circumstances and his mother quickly remarries his uncle, of all people, Hamlet descends into a sort of madness, taking an unsuspecting Ophelia with him. Hamlet’s had the chance to tell his story, but now it’s Ophelia’s turn—and she’ll reveal what really happened.

I love all manner of retellings, whether they are only loosely based on the original story or follow it quite closely. Ray’s debut novel Falling for Hamlet is of the latter example and sticks quite close to the original plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, though in a more modern setting and with a few embellishments and twists. I was primarily interested in this story because I wanted to see the story from Ophelia’s perspective; she is a rather perplexing character in the original play, and I know I’m certainly not the only reader who has wondered if there’s more to her story. Ray really plays off this dynamic to create her modern Ophelia, a girl who is torn between her strongest loyalties, to her family, to the royal family, to her boyfriend, and to herself. I think Ray did a fantastic job of portraying and strengthening Ophelia’s character, but for me, she wasn’t entirely successful in translating the original Hamlet to the modern day. Some of the dialogue felt rather stilted and formal, especially the closer it came to the original Shakespearean language, and I didn’t really like how Hamlet’s soliloquies, which are lengthy in the play, were generally summed into a few awkward sentences. With that in mind, though, I acknowledge taking on Shakespeare is no small feat, so Falling for Hamlet was certainly an ambitious project.

Falling for Hamlet is an enjoyable read that will certainly be appreciated by anyone who has read Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as well as by fans of Tighter by Adele Griffin, Abandon by Meg Cabot, and The Juliet Spell by Dougles Rees.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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Dec 14, 2011 Jessica Day rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I’ve never read Hamlet, so this review may come a little short. On the upside,
Falling for Hamlet had inspired me to read the actual play for Classic Tuesdays. And I will. Sometime.
Falling for Hamlet started slow but picked up fast. I was
along for the ride. Ophelia really interested me; I loved her spunk
and appreciated her devotion to Hamlet. As I haven’t read the play, I enjoyed the surprises and turns of the story and didn’t see any of them coming. besides the King’s death. I especially l...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

First Impressions: I have a small confession to make. I’m a huge Shakespeare nut and proud of it. So many people don’t understand or dislike Shakespeare. I’ve never understood why. Yes, the writing style takes some getting used to, but once you understand one play well, all of the others come easily. When I say that I’m a Shakespeare nut, it doesn’t just mean I’ve read his works. I’ve read ALL his works at least once a year since g...more See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

First Impressions: I have a small confession to make. I’m a huge Shakespeare nut and proud of it. So many people don’t understand or dislike Shakespeare. I’ve never understood why. Yes, the writing style takes some getting used to, but once you understand one play well, all of the others come easily. When I say that I’m a Shakespeare nut, it doesn’t just mean I’ve read his works. I’ve read ALL his works at least once a year since grade school, seen just about all of the plays live multiple times, played the part of Juliet in high school, took a Theatre class in college just so I could read more Shakespeare, AND I can recite Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and King Lear back-to-front. Oh, and my dream vacation would be to go to the UK so I can see The Globe Theatre. I think all of this qualifies me as a nut. Needless to say, I gravitate towards books and movies that offer a spin-off of his works. When I found out that this book was coming out, it went right to my Amazon Wishlist and I was fortunate enough to receive a copy from the publisher for review.

First 50 Pages: My very first thought was, “Well, obviously Ophelia doesn’t end up dead.” For anyone who has not read Hamlet, I’ll give you the short and sweet synopsis of the play:

This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. The themes of the plot cover indecision, revenge and retribution, deception, ambition, loyalty and fate. Prince Hamlet mourns both his father's death and his mother, Queen Gertrude's remarriage to Claudius. The ghost of Hamlet's father appears to him and tells him that Claudius has poisoned him. Hamlet swears revenge. He kills the eavesdropping Polonius, the court chamberlain. Polonius's son Laertes returns to Denmark to avenge his father's death. Polonius's daughter Ophelia loves the Prince but his behavior drives her to madness. Ophelia dies by drowning. A duel takes place and ends with the death of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet.

Style of Writing & Plot Points: Falling for Hamlet follows the basic structure of the original Hamlet. All of the main players are included with their same basic positions in the story. The two largest differences I picked up on was, of course, the fact that Falling for Hamlet is now set in present day Denmark.

The second thing that I noticed was that, once again it is pretty obvious, Ophelia is the main character. In the original, Ophelia is not seen very much and is made to go absolutely insane after her father’s death. In this version, Ophelia is very much NOT insane and it is Hamlet that is truly losing his mind. I can’t even be positively certain that Hamlet is going insane. It seems like he is just extremely distraught over his fathers, the King of Denmark, death and wants revenge on Claudius. His father’s ghost is visiting him, just like in the original, and tells Hamlet that Claudius has poisoned him, but nobody believes him but his best friend, who has also seen the ghost of the former King. In the end of Falling for Hamlet, Ophelia also sees the ghost, which leads me to believe, if Hamlet was going crazy, it was more from everyone not believing in what he knew to be true.

One of my favorite things that this author added to the story was the use of the public and the paparazzi. The author really captures the feeling and emotions of people who are in the spot light for every minute of their lives. The judgment for every single little thing that you do, and when you are in a position that you are born into and don’t have the choice to withdrawal. Michelle Ray makes the reader feel every tiny bit of the lack of privacy these characters have. It really made me never want to be famous for anything.

In Shakespearean Tragedies, typically all of the main characters will die. The mood is very dark and full of drama. Falling for Hamlet lost me a bit at the end of the book once we got to the final death scene of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet. I didn’t care for the way the author decided to end their lives. It seemed convoluted and confusing. As the reader, we don’t get to read the death scene in a first person perspective, which I feel would have made it so much better.

Final Thoughts: This is one of the best re-telling of Hamlet that I have ever read. I actually would love to see this book be made into a movie because I believe that the final death scene will come across so much better on film then it does in the book. For anyone who is a huge Shakespeare fan like me, this is a must-read!
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Sep 06, 2011 Gemma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I guess my problem with this retelling is that it's exactly that: a retelling.

The author, Michelle Ray, did a decent job of transferring the entire story of Hamlet into modern day times, but I feel that that's all she really did: transfer. She didn't add or invent or elaborate, she just changed moved it up in time 400 years.

There were two things changed, total: 1) Ophelia is alive and 2) she and Hamlet have had sex.

As for the rest... it's all Hamlet, just in modern day times.

I suppose that co...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Pam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well…

In Shakespeare’s famous graveyard scene, Hamlet, our young and depressed Danish prince, takes up the skull of the deceased court jester to say the above quote. I couldn’t think of a better line to use, leading in to my review of Michelle Ray’s Falling for Hamlet. The book wasn’t horrible but the humor, like the famed court jester, was sadly dead. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Hamlet is a tragedy. Tragedy as it may be,...more http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well…

In Shakespeare’s famous graveyard scene, Hamlet, our young and depressed Danish prince, takes up the skull of the deceased court jester to say the above quote. I couldn’t think of a better line to use, leading in to my review of Michelle Ray’s Falling for Hamlet. The book wasn’t horrible but the humor, like the famed court jester, was sadly dead. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Hamlet is a tragedy. Tragedy as it may be, it was still born of Shakespeare’s pen and thus has this inherent humor to it in word plays and ironic minutia.

Unfortunately, the humor wasn’t the only theatrical element missing from the retelling. Because Ray chose to tell the story from Ophelia’s point of view, it felt as though many of the original scenes were left on the cutting room floor. Many of the interactions between the teens’ parents and friends were lost, as were the scenes in which Hamlet and his deceased father’s ghost. As so many historians will tell you, these are really what drive the whole story, setting the scene for the revenge and the creepiness that the original capture.

The setting also proved to be a bit of a thorn in my side. I’m pretty sure that most of Ray’s references to pop-life, while tricky and well placed, in theory, wouldn’t translate to modern-day Denmark. Because most of the “royalty” issues were similar to those of a pop-star, I think it would have been a better fit to place the story in L.A. (ala Baz Luhrmann’s 90′s Romeo and Juliet) and play it out that way, as it seemed way too fakey and American as it was written. My biggest pet-peeve in this area was the reference to a fictional Denmark State. Denmark isn’t a state and thus doesn’t have a state university. With very little research, a more believable fictional back-up school could have been created.

So, did I hate it? No, of course not. I was in an eight grade performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream and, personally, I thought it was phenomenal. I think that if a person’s heart is in it, any adaptation is worth watching or reading. Adaptation and interpretation are human instinct and Shakespeare has been subject to both for years and years. I did enjoy many parts of the story, though, I think that I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn’t read or seen the original. I made the very bad mistake of reading the original script while reading this one and I think that it really undercut the otherwise probably minor faults in the YA edition.

As a hugely positive note, I will say that where Ray stuck to reinventing exact scenes as opposed to going off script, the reworking was superb and really, quite funny in its modern portrayal. The places where she was able to most precisely translate the script to the more modern stuff seemed to really capture the essence of the play, rather than her guesses at what Ophelia (really, an obscure character in the play) might have been going through.

Well, there you have it. I think, as far as adaptations go, this one was luke-warm. I’ve seen worse but I’ve definitely seen better. I’ll definitely give Ray another chance if she promises to leave the adaptations alone.(less)

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Jun 27, 2011 Lily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-ya-and-childrens, signed-books

THIS IS A 2011 DEBUT!!!

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course....more THIS IS A 2011 DEBUT!!!

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.
Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia. (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

First off let me say that Hamlet is my work by Shakespeare.
I LOVED this re-telling. Ray's Ophelia is a fun witty coffee obsessed character. I loved being able to see the story through her eyes and see how she delt with everything that was going on. I never saw Hamlet as a sympathetic character in the original play, but Ray portrays him as one. Seeing how her Hamlet deals with the murder of the king, the remarriage of his mother and his relationship with Ophelia was truly enjoyable.
The twist with having Ophelia on a talk show telling her version of the events was interesting I loved how Ray told the story and the way her version of the classic characters came to life on the page. I would love to hang out with her characters all of them had a new fresh life about them.

I really liked how Ray incorporated some scenes and lines from the original play, I was particularly interested to see how she would incorporate Hamlets famous "To be or not be." I was so excited to see that also included Hamlet telling Ophelia to be a nun and Ophelia's speech when she goes crazy about flowers and the line 'Rosemary that's for remembrance'. It was a very cool way that they were included. I absolutely loved the whole story and I look forward to more of Ray's works, I really hope she writes more re-tellings of Shakespeare.
This is one of my favorite reads this year!

Overall rating ***** 5 out of 5 stars
Cover art Love the cover art the black and white contrasted by the gold and red of the throne is awesome.
Obtained: My personal book shelf. (Received my pre-order a few weeks early)(less)

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May 27, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to admit that I have never read Hamlet before (I know....gasp right?). In high school I had to read King Lear and after that I never wanted to read Shakespear again! So, it was with great fear and tripidation that I picked this book up!

I LOVED it! Ophelia was a very realistic character! She was strong and yet she loved Hamlet so much that she would almost do anything for him. There were times when I thought she was a little dumb but hey, aren't we all when it comes to love?

Hamlet was swe...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the page before the prologue you were given a quote. One by Shakespeare and one by the character Ophelia from this book:

"Frailty, thy name is woman." ~William Shakespeare
"Willy, thy name is sexism." ~Ophelia

Oh yea... that set the stage for my enjoyment of this book.

The whole plot of this book does follow the play quite well. Better than I expected. It's set in modern times, but the main players names remain the same. There are a few extra characters thrown in because this book is expanding O...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 01, 2011 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fractured-fairy-tales, teen-fiction, arc

Full disclosure time: I love Shakespeare and anything Shakespeare-related, which includes adaptations. I'm a sucker for a really good adaptation of one of my favorite plays. Now that that's been said, I've gotta say that this particular adaptation of Hamlet was one of the better ones I've read, but by no means the best. There quite a few things that I really liked about the book: Ophelia lives (!) and she's got considerably more, um, character (for lack of a better word) than she does in the ori...more Full disclosure time: I love Shakespeare and anything Shakespeare-related, which includes adaptations. I'm a sucker for a really good adaptation of one of my favorite plays. Now that that's been said, I've gotta say that this particular adaptation of Hamlet was one of the better ones I've read, but by no means the best. There quite a few things that I really liked about the book: Ophelia lives (!) and she's got considerably more, um, character (for lack of a better word) than she does in the original play. I've always felt like Ophelia needed more of a voice, so I love that authors are giving her one. I also liked the setting and incorporation of details from the play. For the most part. But I'll get to that a bit later. As you may recall, Ophelia's dad, Polonius, works for the royal family, so they live with Hamlet's family in a huge castle. Although this has become more of a modern castle, with security cameras and guards, elevators and various other deluxe amenities reserved for the very rich. The setting gives plenty of wiggle room for working through most of the famous scenes in some rather clever ways. Also interesting are the snippets of Ophelia on an Oprah-like talk show, telling her story of the events and the bits of the police interviews from after Ophelia's reappearance.
There are a few things that prevented this from being a great adaptation, however. Mostly, the end. Eesh. I'm sorry, the climactic duel between Hamlet and Laertes just didn't work for me. I get what Ray was trying to do, but it just seems...not right. I don't know how to describe it without giving anything away. Anyway, it was a fun read with many clever features. It will likely help teens get more of a grasp on the original play as well. I have no doubt that many will read it and enjoy it without balking at the ending. And it still makes me happy that Ophelia gets to live a life of her own by the end. Good for her.

FCC disclosure: I received a copy of this ARC from the publisher and am in no way financially compensated for my reviews. Shucks.(less)

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Jun 11, 2012 Hope rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, guilty-pleasure, surprised, stand-alone

Well, that was unexpected. My initial thoughts for this book was that it would be a quick, compelling read that had an interesting take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Then I started it. And I found myself annoyed and bored by it, it was not what I expected and I did not enjoy it. However, I kept reading hoping it would get better. And boy did it get better! Once I got to Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' scene everything about the book changed I started making the connections with the play and chaos abo...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: death-and-dying, sibling-rivalry, relationships, young-adult-literature, retelling-of-classic-literature

"He leaned back and closed his eyes, his voice distant. 'Is it better to suffer through life, to deal with all the crap thrown at you, or to fight against your problems by ending your life? To die is to sleep. That's all. And by sleeping, we escape everything that tortures us. That's the dream, then, isn't it? The perfection of nothingness.'"

Ophelia seems to have it all - a romance with the Prince of Denmark, an apartment in the royal palace, and all the adoration the public can offer. But all i...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Maggie Hargrave rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, ya

Michelle Ray writes an interesting re-telling of the original. Obviously there are some changes (Ophelia is alive to tell the story), but Ray stays very close to the original (I kept hoping that the ending would be different since Ophelia "cheated" death). The modernization works well although Denmark State College was a bit confusing, but I understand the idea of a private university versus a state school. And intertwining the TV talk show, police interview, and “true” story was interesting and...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Shakespeare since I was very young and I did love Hamlet. So when I saw this book, in a way I was excited for a modern twist on a classic, but in another way, I was scared because I was afraid it was going to ruin the story. But I was pleasantly surprised as I truly enjoyed this book. I loved how all the character names were the same but that we got more in-depth character building and that the story focused more on Ophelia than the original Hamlet did. I found Michelle Ray...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved Hamlet when I read it in tenth grade, so I always like reading contemporary versions of this famous play (like Ophelia by Lisa Klein). Though not at all comparable to the original, Falling for Hamlet is a cute and fluffy version of the original.

I really liked how closely Michelle Ray kept Falling for Hamlet to the original. Even though the book takes place in current day, everything matches up. The book still takes place in Denmark in Elsinore castle and everyone has the same names and r...more I loved Hamlet when I read it in tenth grade, so I always like reading contemporary versions of this famous play (like Ophelia by Lisa Klein). Though not at all comparable to the original, Falling for Hamlet is a cute and fluffy version of the original.

I really liked how closely Michelle Ray kept Falling for Hamlet to the original. Even though the book takes place in current day, everything matches up. The book still takes place in Denmark in Elsinore castle and everyone has the same names and roles, but some things are changed. For example, the duel at the end becomes a lacrosse game. If you've read the play (which I suggest you do because it will make your reading experience more enjoyable) you will be excited to see all the little things that are in the original. Hamlet's soliliquys aren't copied word for word but some of his lines are used which was nice to see.

I didn't like that this book was pretty fluffy, even though Hamlet is technically a tragedy. I didn't like how generic the setting was; Ophelia still attends high school and even though they were in Denmark it felt very American. Nothing was very Danish in the book and it felt more like a story of American royals if we had some. There was a big emphasis on the media and tabloids, which I guess you would suspect in a book about a royal family.

What was interesting was that in addition to Ophelia narrating her story to the reader, there was also parts where Ophelia was being interrogated by the authorities (they think she had something to do with everything that went down in Elsinore) and where Ophelia was being interviewed by a talk show host. It was neat to see how Ophelia changed her story slightly to make herself sound better (this mostly happened on the talk show; in the interrogation room Ophelia was a bit of a smart aleck).

So, I think if you enjoyed Hamlet the original, you will get a kick out of this contemporary adaptation. I highly recommend the original so please don't read Falling For Hamlet in place of that, even though Michelle Ray did a good job of translating events to the modern world.

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Dec 24, 2011 Alexandra Hunter rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: already-own, dofthea

Hamlet is a story of betrayal, dealing with grief, politics and madness. In the play, Shakespeare is able to hit on many themes and emotions, giving actors much to work with leading to some intense performance from talented actors.

Then there is this book.

Falling for Hamlet takes the story of Hamlet, sloppily butchers it and stuffs the remaining corpse with teen fiction tropes. The book is told from the perspective of Ophelia and how she is so in love with Hamlet... etc... etc... Hamlet is so ho...more Hamlet is a story of betrayal, dealing with grief, politics and madness. In the play, Shakespeare is able to hit on many themes and emotions, giving actors much to work with leading to some intense performance from talented actors.

Then there is this book.

Falling for Hamlet takes the story of Hamlet, sloppily butchers it and stuffs the remaining corpse with teen fiction tropes. The book is told from the perspective of Ophelia and how she is so in love with Hamlet... etc... etc... Hamlet is so hot... etc etc. The usual. The core of the story, the atmosphere and the depth has been removed and sacrificed to make the story flashy and hip. Don't get me wrong, rewrites and novelizations of Shakespearian plays can work (For example, Fool by Christopher Moore) but the author needs to take care with what they are doing and how they approach it.

In the case of this novel, it is modernized. It takes place in Denmark probably present day. Ophelia is still the daughter of Polonius, an advisor to the King. She has been friends with Hamlet and Horatio forever. She also has dated Hamlet off and on again, recently getting back together with him at the distain of Gertrude Hamlet's Mother.

So Ophelia? Is she likeable? Meh. Is she relatable? Not in the slightest. On many occasions it is shoved in the Reader's face that Ophelia is hot. She's so hot that she doesn't have to do anything and she will look hot. She's blond, well dressed and lives the celebrity life. But she doesn't want to celebrity life, she wants to be normal. Ophelia is madly in love with Hamlet, which we are constantly reminded of. In the play, Ophelia is a side character. She is in love with Hamlet and Hamlet loves her too, but this isn't that crucial to the story line. Ophelia's purpose is to act as a foil to Hamlet's character and to be a comparison to him and his "decent into madness". In this novel Ophelia comes off as being unbelievable. She reminded me of Bella from Twilight judging her existence on how much Hamlet loves her. Which makes me wonder... Ophelia acknowledges that she is that girl, the girl who drops her friends and her life to run after a boy, does it make it worse that she knows this, or does it make it better in some way?

Then there is Hamlet, as I mentioned earlier, Hamlet is "hot". When we are first introduced to him his main characteristics are that he is hot and he is a great boyfriend. All of Hamlet's story arch becomes unbelievable as his actions are forced.

What really got to me, was how the author tried to incorporate the soliloquies into the novel. This didn't really work. The speeches lost their power after being translated into modern english. All of the eloquence lost. This novel took the plot strands of Hamlet and stripped it down to the bare minimum (the romance, Hamlet going crazy) and simplified the characters. I understand what Michelle Ray was attempting to do here, but it wasn't effective. This novel would have been much better if it wasn't a direct adaptation, instead stood on its own with different character names and different locations (pulling a Lion King if you will).

I highly recommend you take a look at the original play.
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Aug 16, 2012 Courtney (Fuzzy.Coffee.Books) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I Liked: 1) I was impressed at how true to the original play the story remained. Since I've read Hamlet more than a few times, I'm very familiar with the plot and I picked out a few noticeable changes, but all of them are what made Falling for Hamlet a unique idea. 2) I loved the incorporation of the old story into a new world with cell phones, iPods and Starbucks. It was inventive how parts of the story that I wasn't sure would translate well really did. Especially the final battle scene b...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Set in modern times, this engaging version of the classic Shakespearean tale focuses on Ophelia. The romance between the teen and the older prince of Denmark is described after his death as Ophelia goes on a talk show to defend her name and to answer for one last time any questions the public has. The author also interjects scenes from Ophelia's interviews with the Denmark Department of Investigations who question her about her possible involvement in a treasonous plot. She sprinkles text messag...more

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May 05, 2012 Kristy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anyone-who-loves-ghosts-and-the-sup, for-those-who-love-a-good-love-stor

First let me say that I LOVED the book cover. That is the reason why I purchased it. The other reason why I was drawn to this book was because it was a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with different twists and turns. Being an avid Shakespeare fan, I had to give it a chance. Boy, am I glad I did! Yes, it’s totally different from the original but I thought the author did a great job taking a classic and making it her own. Now I will say that I hated Ophelia’s wishy-washy demeanor at times. I wan...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As soon as I got this book, I dove right into and love it! I mean really, really love it. I have always been a fan Shakespeare, and I love it when author take a classic and make it modern. It makes it easy for young readers and readers everywhere to understand Hamlet but just told different.

Pretty much this book it told almost exactly to play expect of course much more modern. I love diving into this story and being Ophelia. Ms. Ray really brought this story to life by the reader being read too...more

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