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72nd out of 92 books
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290 voters
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Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story
by
Lisa Fiedler
Shakespeare's classic retold from another perspective Rosaline won't let anyone or anything get in the way of her future as a healer. That is, until she meets Benvolio. Where Romeo's words had been hollow and unfounded, Benvolio's are filled with sincerity and true love. Now Rosaline finds herself caught between her feelings, her ambition, and her family's long-stand...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
September 19th 2006
by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
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Rosaline is NOT in love with Romeo—that simpering, lovesick, ANNOYANCE. In fact, she has no interest in falling in love or getting married or any of that. Nope. She’s going study medicine. Commit herself to science. And she isn’t going to waste her time on the feud between her family, the Capulets, and their archenemy, the Montagues, either.
She really couldn’t care less about of the Montagues.
That is . . . she couldn’t until the brawl. Where she gets hit on the head. And...more
She really couldn’t care less about of the Montagues.
That is . . . she couldn’t until the brawl. Where she gets hit on the head. And...more
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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* Hardcover: 256 pages
* Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (September 19, 2006)
* ISBN-10: 0805075003
* Author: Lisa Fiedler
* Cover art: Love the cover art.
* Overall rating * out of 5 stars
* Obtained: My personal book shelf
Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fiedler
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
Rosaline won't let anyone or anything get in the way of her future as a healer. That is, until she meets Benvolio....more
* Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (September 19, 2006)
* ISBN-10: 0805075003
* Author: Lisa Fiedler
* Cover art: Love the cover art.
* Overall rating * out of 5 stars
* Obtained: My personal book shelf
Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fiedler
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
Rosaline won't let anyone or anything get in the way of her future as a healer. That is, until she meets Benvolio....more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
We never actually see or hear from Rosaline in Shakespeare's play, but she's still an important character; without her, none of the other action would have occurred.
This book imagines the story from Rosaline's perspective, how she reacted to Romeo's declarations of love, how she felt about the Capulet-Montague feud, how she helped the young lovers.
The language is that of the 16th century (though not in verse), so it could prove troublesome for less dedicated readers. I l...more
This book imagines the story from Rosaline's perspective, how she reacted to Romeo's declarations of love, how she felt about the Capulet-Montague feud, how she helped the young lovers.
The language is that of the 16th century (though not in verse), so it could prove troublesome for less dedicated readers. I l...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
For those of you who despise spinoffs, don't worry. I totally understand your sentiments, but this story is different. There's something about the way it's written that grabs your attention and doesn't let go. The author puts a twist on the original ending of the story, and it really gets the reader thinking. I like how the story is told, not from the lovestruck fools' point of view, but from the point of view of Rosaline - the sensible young woman mentioned in the beginning of the traditional S...more
I thought that it was interesting the way the author worked in more plays by adding Characters from both "Twelvth night" and "The Taming of the Shrew." Though it is true that Patruchio is indeed from Veronia anyway and so was not hard to work in.
But I did not like the lack of Continuity. Juliet's sleeping potion is the same one from Fiedler's earlier book "Dating Hamlet." But in that book the potiion needed a waking potion to counteract it; instead in th...more
But I did not like the lack of Continuity. Juliet's sleeping potion is the same one from Fiedler's earlier book "Dating Hamlet." But in that book the potiion needed a waking potion to counteract it; instead in th...more
Ariel Koch
added it
I thought that Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story was a very interesting book. It showed a different side to the story of Romeo and Juliet and how Rosline reacted to the death of her friends and family. It also explained why Rosaline rejected Romeo and the many reasons for her rejecting him. I though that the romance between Rosaline and Benvolio was an interesting twist. I also thought that this was a very good book and I thought it had interesting concepts. I would definatly reccomend this book to ...more
One of the better "reimaginings-of-Shakespeare-from-the-viewpoint-of-a-marginalized-female-character" genre. I always wondered what happened to Rosaline. She was clearly smarter than Romeo, ("O, she well knew thy love did read by rote, that could not spell".) I had this fantasy that while R&J were embracing the "love-devouring death" thang, Rosaline was secretly reconnoitering with Benvolio. Think about it: they are the only clear-eyed, level headed rationalists in ...more
One of the funnest things about this book was the way the author was able to capture and sustain a very Elizabethan voice. The characters spoke their lines as they did in Romeo and Juliet, and continued to speak in the same manner when they weren't speaking Shakespeare's words.
I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes approach as well as the re-interpretation of the dynamics of this famous tragedy. I also enjoyed the cameo appearances of other of Shakespeare's characters in the story. It wa...more
I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes approach as well as the re-interpretation of the dynamics of this famous tragedy. I also enjoyed the cameo appearances of other of Shakespeare's characters in the story. It wa...more
Cindy
rated it
Recommends it for:
people who wanted to feel okay about going blind and not being able to read books any more.
Recommended to Cindy by:
nobody -- the misleading cover made it sound interesting
What's most impressive about this book is how many of my pet peeves it manages to combine in one place. The despicable "romantic" hero who has slept with every woman in town but says it will be different with this girl because now it's not just about sex, the obnoxious "plucky" heroine who anachronistically wants to have a career before starting a family, the incredibly annoying first-person, present-tense narration with shifting narrators, the pseudo-profound imagery that i...more
A good YA book with a hint of what Shakespeare's play might mean to the critic. Worth reading but kind of jerky. The contrast between modern language and Elizabethan language not done particularly well and that would not be much of a complaint but it is a little jarring in this instance.
However, I will be reading her Hamlet knock off before the end of the month. I guess that means I found it readable. Also, a Jr. High boy told me the earlier book was better. I always believe random preteen ...more
However, I will be reading her Hamlet knock off before the end of the month. I guess that means I found it readable. Also, a Jr. High boy told me the earlier book was better. I always believe random preteen ...more
This book was an interesting take on the Romeo and Juliet story, with added twists and turns that could have fit into the behind the scenes of Shakespeare's original, without the audience ever knowing it. Though I liked the idea and most of the twists, the characters all had the same issue: they were totally un-rounded. This really bothered me, but I put up with it. Over all, I think it was a worthwhile read, if for no other reason, because I learned what not to do with my own book characters...more
This book was amazingly interesting to read. No, Shakespeare didn't write this one, but Lisa does an amazing job making it seem as though he had. Maybe this had been what was in the back of his mind when he had written Romeo and Juliet. It goes behind the scenes of the actual stories lines and makes everything seem just a bit more reasonable. Although most of the story is told in Rosaline's point of view it does shift sometimes and makes it very fun to read. In my opinion this was better then th...more
Do you really understand Romeoand Juliet's story? This book really lets you understand what happened with Romeo and Juliet, with twist added to cook up about the best book you could ever imagine. The first time I tried it I put it down because I couldn't understand it with the Old English. Five minutes later I picked up the book and substituted out the Old Enlish with words it could have meant. If you have trouble readin it the first time, try my strategy
For those who love Shakespeare and those who have no idea who he is, this story is just a plain fun read. Delightful for its use of Shakespearan characters and dialogue, but giving those same characters new life and new adventures. I loved seeing the glimpses of other plays and characters, like Sebastian and Viola, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, etc.
The consistency of the dialogue and period details wavered a tad, and I did not feel as connected to the main characters as I gene...more
The consistency of the dialogue and period details wavered a tad, and I did not feel as connected to the main characters as I gene...more
Lady Knight
rated it
Wow! I expected so much more out of this one! While I still do think that the cover art is absolutely gorgeous, the text inside is rather pitiable. While I respect the attempt, using quasi-Shakespearian language half the time mixed in with more modern sounding dialogue was a lost cause. It came off as ridiculously funny, which I rather fancy was unintended ("'Tis not thou...'tis I" (pg. 20) -- laughable, yes?). Too, in my opinion, one should either stick closely to Shakespeare's story ...more
This was a fun, quick read. It told the story of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Rosaline. I did enjoy the Rosaline character, and I like the author's idea of making the female characters in Shakespeare's plays more powerful. I think I would have gotten more out of this, however, if I either remembered the details of Romeo and Juliet better or had read it more recently. It was a fun book though, and I'll probably check out Fiedler's retelling of Hamlet.
I read this book in a couple of hours and I thought it was awesome. I love the pairing of Rosaline and Benvolio. There were a few things that I thought were a little weird, but other then that I would recommend this book to anyone. This book sticks pretty close to Shakespeare's original and even has a few qoutes from 'Romeo and Juliet' in it. Over all this book is great for a rainy afternoon with a cup of tea by the fire.
Romeo’s Ex by Lisa Fiedler tells the story of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Rosalind, the young lady Romeo is in love with at the beginning of Shakespeare’s play. I really enjoyed it.
If you’ve ever read or seen Romeo and Juliet, you know what the storyline of this book is. In this retelling, Rosalind is a fairly sensible, slightly older cousin of Juliet’s. Her story weaves around the plot of Romeo and Juliet, looking at things from a different angle but not changing the...more
If you’ve ever read or seen Romeo and Juliet, you know what the storyline of this book is. In this retelling, Rosalind is a fairly sensible, slightly older cousin of Juliet’s. Her story weaves around the plot of Romeo and Juliet, looking at things from a different angle but not changing the...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I really didn't like this. The writing style wasn't bad at all, but what I disliked was the destruction of Romeo and Juliet's characters. Lisa Fiedler portrayed them as completely idiotic teenagers. And while the subject is interesting - seeing a famous story from another angle - it comes off weak and passionless, and when the writer changes the ending of the story, it becomes laughable.
In this, a minor character in Romeo and Juliet is given a major part. She's easy to connect to with her annoyed feelings for the star-crossed lover's relationships and points out unspoken opinions, like the absurdity of faking one's death. The message she poses is to break the mold set my misogynists, and to live boldly. And maybe fall in love along the way.
Not as good as the Dating Hamlet story but it did give more of a glimpse into like in Verona at the time of R and J. It also ties back to the previously mentioned story. Also some may not enjoy the whole characterization of some of the characters from the play, let me tell you, it does accurately depict how people ages 14-18 truly think. So hey, give it a look.
this has to be one of the best books ever written. it has been on my favorties list for a very lonf time.
this book really makes you think about the other characters and what they do when the cortins are closed or when all the attention is placed on the main characters.
Lisa Fieldler's talk on the classic Sheakspearian drama is trually breath thaking.
this book really makes you think about the other characters and what they do when the cortins are closed or when all the attention is placed on the main characters.
Lisa Fieldler's talk on the classic Sheakspearian drama is trually breath thaking.
Read this review. Because it's TRUE.
The only thing I wanted to add was that the book seriously pissed me off because there IS potential for an incredibly good story here - one that is not simply a parallel of the play. Which this tried to be... and it even did a poor job of that!
The only thing I wanted to add was that the book seriously pissed me off because there IS potential for an incredibly good story here - one that is not simply a parallel of the play. Which this tried to be... and it even did a poor job of that!
I liked this book. I cleverly re-examined the story of Romeo and Juliet through Rosaline's eyes. It adds to the story without changing the story. She also cleverly sets up some of the minor characters as possible characters found in other Shakespearean plays. I recommend.
This book was amazing. I liked hearing the story of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of a character who is barely featured. Not to mention the use of modern day terms and the figures of speech used by the typical teen, all in Shakespearean English.
guilty pleasure. I really shouldn't enjoy fluff like this so much. but - Rosaline has opinions that match mine so often I just can't be indifferent...plus it's nice to see Mercutio a little more. i've always liked him. cautiously.
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