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Oct 20, 2011

Kimberly rated it:

I saw great reviews about this book in several places, including at least two magazines. So I gave it a go. But now I'm left with the confusion that comes when you don't like something that everyone else seems to love.

The story follows the modern-day ancestors of the real-life Romeo and Juliet, who believe themselves to be victims of a curse that has plagued the families for 600 years, ever since Romeo and Juliet were not allowed to be together. The book provides some insight into More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

kari rated it:

So, where to begin?
The first page is wonderfully crafted; the first page. I thought, wow, this is going to be really wonderful. And I still love that first page, but the other 446 pages not so much. I wanted to love all of it, I really did. O, I am fortune’s fool to have believed in you, first page!
There are two main stories running throughout the book. The modern day one is about the search for a priceless treasure which will possibly lift the curse on the two houses, Shakespeare’s More...

12 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2011

Jasminka rated it:

"Juliet" is a story of everlasting and immortal love of Romeo and Juliette, but not as in Shakespeare’s tale. This is a a story within a story novel, the narrative switches between present day and the middle ages in 1340. Romance( in great amounts), mystery, history, treasure hunts, curses, suspense, adventure - all set in glorious Italy, in Siena (not Verona!).There are so many deceptive twists and turns in this entertaining novel, it's definitely a page-turner, and that is the reaso More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2011

Laura rated it:

I'm so happy to be finished with this book - it feels like I've been reading it forever! Unfortunately, my stash of books didn't last the whole vacation so I was forced to pick this one up for the lengthy flight from Los Angeles to Columbus.

I always test books I buy by reading the first page and this book had the most outstanding first page out of all my options. I breezed through the first part of the book and then it dragged.

I tried reading one chapter a night. Now, More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2011

Marianne rated it:

I'm in love with this book. That's not an understatement, I would probably have picked it straight up and read it again but, I'm so behind schedule that it wasn't an option (although I might have to stick a post-it on the front to remind myself in future ;))

I've always been the stereotypical woman who has swooned appropriately at Romeo & Juliet so I picked this book up thinking it would be a fun modern re-write that I could forget about soon after. Turns out though that this was so muc More...

7 comments like (17 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2011

Lyn M rated it:

One of my book groups voted to read this book for a group read. I have to admit, the synopsis of the book intrigued me. A modern day re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, which is one of my favorite stories of all time. Couple that with a Dan Brown Da Vinci Code type mystery (I have read everything Dan Brown has written and loved them all) and I was sure it would be a good book. In fact, the book was different than I expected. Yes, there was a mystery, but not on the level of a Dan Brown book. W More...

11 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 12, 2010

Julie rated it:

I received this as a GoodReads ARC, and I’m so happy I got a chance to read it; it is a wonderful combination of historical/literary fiction and modern-day romantic adventure.

Julie Jacobs has grown up wondering about her parents and their untimely deaths in Italy when she was was small. Upon the death of the great-aunt who raised her, she finds that while her twin sister inherited the house, she has inherited a key to a safe-deposit box in Siena. Her adventure begins with a chance m More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 22, 2011

Shawn rated it:

Don't let the flower on the cover fool you. This is a book that superficially will appeal to women (Romeo and Juliet, forebidden love, etc.), but I believe will be enoyed by anyone who liked The Divinci Code and has at least a passing interest in Shakespeare. I thought that Fortier did a masterful job at weaving a most intriguing story through over six hundred years of Italian history and folklore. A very entertaining, fast paced book; and I would recommend it to anyone.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2012

Jmanning rated it:

This book started out with a good hook; the sad-sack Julie is viciously cut out of her dead Aunt’s will and her sister gets everything. But Julie gets a key to a safety deposit box in Siena that will be—in a completely obvious literal and metaphorical sense—the key to her past.

I was with Fortier at this point. I couldn’t really get a handle on Julie yet as a character but there were still about 400 pages to go so I thought the book would get there. That’s where the problems for me s More...

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Feb 09, 2012

Stef rated it:

I actually like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And I never really analyzed the story apart from the required level of understanding for our tragedies class. What I understood was: there was a feud, the children of the feuding people met and fell in love; they secretly wed each other; Juliet was betrothed to someone else; to escape her fate, she drank a deep-sleep potion; Romeo thought the was dead and so killed himself with poison; and Juliet, upon waking, killed herself as well.

So ye More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Stephanie rated it:

I am a total sucker for historical fiction and mystery and romance and this book has it all. I loved it. When I picked up this novel, I thought it was just some cute little romance based around Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I am a big fan of Shakespeare and that is what had really caught my eye initially. Not only did this novel have ties to Shakespeare's play but it was based in historic Sienna. There were essentially two stories intertwined in this novel; the story of Giulietta, the "re More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Jessica rated it:

I really enjoyed this book and the way that it went back and forth between present time and 1340 Italy. This author, and her mother, did exhaustive research in getting to the amazing details of this story, as well as creating some great twists on the tale we know so well from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet which make it even more believable as a story based on true events. I had no idea of the story being told several times before Shakespeare told it until I read about it in this book.

More...

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Dec 03, 2011

Laura rated it:

I had high expectations for this book, but it just didn't deliver for me. The book is bit of a mix of modern day Romeo and Juliet and the re-telling of Shakespeare's classic... but set in 1340 and in Siena instead of Verona. Great premise for what could be a compelling story. However, I just didn't enjoy it, even though I really wanted to. The characters were one-dimensional, the plot was confusing at times and lacked depth, and even the romance story is cheesy. I found the main character More...

3 comments like

Nov 30, 2011

Sharon rated it:

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

0 comments like

Nov 22, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

My Summary: Julie Jacobs has always lived in the shadow of her younger twin, Janice. Being the designated 'good child', Julie is astounded to discover that their aunt - who raised them like they were her own daughters - left her entire fortune to Janice, cutting Julie out of the will completely. Grieving the loss of her aunt and the fact that she's been kicked out by her sister, Julie has no idea where her life is headed... until she receives a mysterious letter from her dead aunt, describing a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 22, 2011

Lisarenee rated it:

They say love conquers all, but can it transcend death itself?

When Julie's aunt died, she expected to get half of her estate. Unfortunately, when the will was read that did not happen. Her twin sister inherited all but a few pictures which were selected for Julie. To say she was devastated and shocked would be an understatement. When Umberto, the man who had acted as both butler and stand in father, told her that there was a reason she'd been cut out of her aunt's will she was intrigue More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 17, 2011

Didi rated it:

This is one of those books in which a present day character uncovers a mystery from the past, and the historical story unfolds parallel to the present day story until the two dovetail somehow. I tend to be a sucker for these kinds of novels (see The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Possession by A.S. Byatt or the novels of Kate Mosse). Sadly, ‘Juliet’ is a poor example of this kind of novel.

The premise is kind of fun and I give the book two stars based mainly on the premise and plot: More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Amanda rated it:

In this book, Julie is basically trying to come out from Janice's (Her twin) shadow. Everything has ALWAYS been about Janice. Both girls were orphaned at the age of 3. leaving Aunt Rose as there motherly figure. Out of random, Aunt Rose dies and leaves everything in Janice's name. The only thing Julie recieves is the key to a box in Siena, Italy (Which is where her parents met each other, got married, and eventually died). Julie heads off to Italy and meets a man on the plane named Alessandro, More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Laurel rated it:

*mild spoiler alert* Romeo and Juliette meets DaVinci Code. Good story with WAY too much going on. There are actually 2 stories being told here; the ancient version from which Shakespeare based his play, and a modern day version where they try to right the wrongs of their ancestors. I actually liked the way she rewrote the events of the original Romeo and Juliette. The details make a lot more sense than Shakespeare's version. (Am I the only one who finds his Romeo completely whiny and annoying? More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2011

Jessica rated it:

This book will sweep you away on an incredible journey that has all the suspense of The DaVinci Code and all the romance of Shakespeare! Anne Fortier has a beautiful, easy to follow writing style and uses brilliant imagery to transport the reader to Siena, Italy.
The story follows Julie as she receives a mysterious note after her aunt's death, leading her on a mystery through time as she discovers she is descended from Guilietta Tolomei, the original inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo and More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Irene rated it:

I think this fits the definition of a “summer read”. A young woman, orphaned as a toddler and raised by an aunt, is sent on a scavenger hunt for some hidden family treasure only to discover that her life is intimately connected with a fourteenth century namesake who is the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Juliet. This story is totally fanciful and has all the elements of an adult fairy tale: evil twin, Shakespearian double identities, knick of time rescues, an ancient curse and magical interventi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Bethany rated it:

Wow, this book was incredible! I expected it to be some light, modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, much like all the other sequels and retellings of classic literature, but it was so much more! Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down! I love the setup of the novel- switching timelines between each chapter. Sometimes, when the modern day parts were a little more exciting, I wanted to just skip what was medieval (simply because I wanted Julie/Guillietta to find Romeo!), but those times we More...

0 comments like

Aug 08, 2011

Rachelfm rated it:

So, I'm not much for romances, so durrrrrr picking up a book with a title character from literature's most renown romance, I was forewarned.

What I liked most about this book (the author has a Ph.D. in history) were the extensive historical characterizations of Siena in the 14th century. Having spent time there myself and needing to be mildly informed about it for work, I found the historical basis for Shakespeare's tale in Giullietta to be pretty interesting.

I was not so k More...

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Jun 07, 2011

Dragondreamer rated it:

Imagine a world in which Romeo and Juliet weren't just characters from literature. Imagine they were real people who live in 14th century Siena and their story was filled with twists and turns and pathos and backstabbing than even Shakespeare could conceive of. Now, imagine that the descendants of their famous familes are still being affected by the infamous curse of "A plague on both your houses." Throw in some mystery, a lost treasure, and a storybook romance and you have the basis f More...

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May 17, 2011

Gretchen rated it:

Shakespeare, Siena, secret identities....this was a great combination.

This modern retelling of the star-crossed lovers starts with a treasure hunt as Julie Jacobs flies to Siena to learn about a secret safety deposit box that belonged to her mother. As Julie learns more about the contents of this box, and meets mysterious people in Siena, her story is crossed with the "real" story of Romeo and Juliet. In the historical part of the story, we learn that Romeo and Giulietta's r More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2011

Thebakingbookworm rated it:

I'm a total sucker for historical fiction ... throw in some romance and suspense by a great writer and I'm in heaven! This was a wonderful first novel from author Anne Fortier. Fortier is able to tell the stories of two women and show how they are connected even though they lived centuries apart. She deftly combines suspense, romance and even a little adventure to make a very enjoyable read.

Back in high school I had read Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and still had the gi More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Trisha rated it:

Such a fun read! I’m not a diehard Shakespeare fan, but every girl appreciates a good romance. This story is about a girl raised as a normal American but when she is 25 she finds out the truth about her family and who she really is. Convinced that it’s up to her to save herself and write her own destiny, she travels back to Siena Italy where she is from and meets people from the families who are supposed to be her arch enemies. She finds out that people ought to be judged on whom they are, not t More...

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Mar 26, 2011

Nan rated it:

After the death of her Great Aunt, Julie's world is turned upside down. Aunt Rose raised Julie and her twin sister, Janice, since they were three years old and survived the car crash that killed their parents. Now, more than twenty years later, Julie still doesn't know much about her family, except that her mother was American and her father was Italian and that they both died near the city of Siena. Aunt Rose leaves her estate to Janice and gives Julie nothing but the key to a safe-deposit box More...

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Mar 19, 2011

Cathy rated it:

Pretty convoluted, and I wasn't too impressed by the main characters. The people who are supposedly the good guys are all kind of shady. The people Julie trusts are so obviously manipulating her, I actually started losing patience with her naivete. The ulterior motives of the supporting cast are so extreme, it borders on unrealistic. Also, there are so many stories within the story, it stretches the imagination that Julie would sit and listen to Alessandro narrate a story that took me 15 pag More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 06, 2011

Kim rated it:

Juliet is a historical novel by Anne Fortier, a debut novel. The author tells the story of modern-day 20-something Julie Jacobs, who discovers that her family’s origins reach all the way, back to the original Romeo and Juliet. When the main character, Julie, inherits a key to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy, she is told it will lead her to an old family treasure. The puzzle can remind you of Da Vinci Code, in a way. Soon the novel takes you on a journey into the history of her ancestor Giul More...

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