Until now, high school junior, John Keats, has only tiptoed near the edges of the vortex that is schoolmate and literary prodigy, Gordon Byron. Tha...
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reviews
Feb 15, 2011
Christie
rated it: 
So Shelly revolves around the lives of three character based off long dead poetic greats. Anticipating how John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelly might live and interact if they were teens living in modern day. Shelly is dead, and Keats and Gordon have swiped her ashes from her memorial service. Armed with an urn, a boom box, and an REM CD they set out to spread Shelly’s ashes in a location she chose before her passing. Along the way Gordon and Keats get to know each other better, and take us
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Oct 06, 2011
Kelly
rated it: 
You know, I'm not sure what scares me most: that this novel is a spot-on representation of teenagers today or that it might actually influence them. In what can only be called an insult to young adults the world over, Mr. Roth delivers a literary travesty. In fact, the author manages in one fell swoop to: disgrace the names of three beloved poets, murder any/all depth and seriousness to issues facing teens today, and create a cast of characters that are so vapid, annoying, unrealistic, and utter
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 22, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
Things I liked about this book:
The cover -- it's gorgeous
The idea - the poets John Keats, Lord Byron and Shelley reborn as American teenagers.
The voice - as the narrator, Keats has a really powerful personality that shines through the text.
What I didn't like:
All the sex. This is YA, not some heavy duty bondage novel in an erotica line.
The focus on Byron and his sexual conquests and this in a book titled "So Shelley".
Overall, this More...
The cover -- it's gorgeous
The idea - the poets John Keats, Lord Byron and Shelley reborn as American teenagers.
The voice - as the narrator, Keats has a really powerful personality that shines through the text.
What I didn't like:
All the sex. This is YA, not some heavy duty bondage novel in an erotica line.
The focus on Byron and his sexual conquests and this in a book titled "So Shelley".
Overall, this More...
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Jan 02, 2012
Alz
rated it: 
If you want an exciting story, a twist-filled plot, lots of action, sizzling romance, or the trials and tribulations of high school life, you'll be disappointed. It's also best not to take the cover blurbs of So Shelly for granted, since it sets the expectation that this is a tragic and romantic quest to piece together Shelly's mysterious death. It may also lead you to expect that Keats, Byron, and Shelly the poets have literally been reborn into modern times and/or are scrupulously historical
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Oct 08, 2011
Dawn
rated it: 
Ok, so if I had known this the book wouldn't have seemed so crazy to me! "If Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley were living adolescents today, how would their literary talents, notorious personas and known fates collide?"
I was warned that the story might squick me out. It did. This is most definitely for the older teens, if for teens at all. There's death, drugs, sex, rape, incest, abortion and a variety of other shadowy things gonig on.
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I was warned that the story might squick me out. It did. This is most definitely for the older teens, if for teens at all. There's death, drugs, sex, rape, incest, abortion and a variety of other shadowy things gonig on.
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Aug 20, 2011
Emma
rated it:
One of the more tragic books I've read in a while.
Tragic because of its storyline? Nooo... Tragic because this book could have been a heck of a lot better than it really was, and the author proved it to me.
It's forward or prologue or whatever was lovely. Beautiful and insightful and genuine. It gives us false hope that this book will be excellent.
So Shelly is supposed to be about dead poets reimagined as teenagers in the twenty first century. I haven't actuall More...
Tragic because of its storyline? Nooo... Tragic because this book could have been a heck of a lot better than it really was, and the author proved it to me.
It's forward or prologue or whatever was lovely. Beautiful and insightful and genuine. It gives us false hope that this book will be excellent.
So Shelly is supposed to be about dead poets reimagined as teenagers in the twenty first century. I haven't actuall More...
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Apr 28, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
I love this cover. John Keats and Gordon Byron have little in common. Keats is academic, sensitive and comes from modest means. Bryon is wealthy, suave and his charismatic charm seduces women in abundance. What Keats and Byron share is a friendship with Shelly, a loudspoken, determined, and fiesty young woman. Shelly drowns in a sailing "accident," and these two unlikely teens have been called upon to fulfill Shelly's last wishes. Their adventure begins when they steal Shelly's a
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Jan 09, 2011
Danielle
rated it: 
This is an ARC slated for release in February 2011.
SO SHELLY explores the lives of the famous Romantic poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John Keats as if they were teenagers living today. Roth uses the sordid details from their lives to create the narrative for his debut novel. John Keats, the kid preoccupied with death after losing both of his parents in quick succession and who is now watching his brother die of TB, is our narrator, but don't be fooled. This story is abou More...
SO SHELLY explores the lives of the famous Romantic poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John Keats as if they were teenagers living today. Roth uses the sordid details from their lives to create the narrative for his debut novel. John Keats, the kid preoccupied with death after losing both of his parents in quick succession and who is now watching his brother die of TB, is our narrator, but don't be fooled. This story is abou More...
Jul 29, 2011
Kyla
rated it:
My allegiances usually lie with Poe & Dorothy Parker, but this transposing of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John Keats into the modern day (Facebook! YouTube!) was quite brilliant.
This book has everything I love: sex, scandal, love and death. Even though it's supposed to be the modern world, this book feels like a modern world separate from the one we all know. That is because many of the events of Shelley & Byron's lives are put into a modern day context - and we frown on incest mu More...
This book has everything I love: sex, scandal, love and death. Even though it's supposed to be the modern world, this book feels like a modern world separate from the one we all know. That is because many of the events of Shelley & Byron's lives are put into a modern day context - and we frown on incest mu More...
Feb 22, 2011
Missie
rated it:
When I first saw the cover for So Shelly, I knew I wanted to read it even without knowing anything about it. Yes, I'm that superficial when it comes to gorgeous book covers. Sue me. :P
It wasn't until I stumbled upon an interview with author Ty Roth on Teens Read and Write that I actually took the time to read what the novel was about and realize the connection to literary legends, Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats.
You can't deny that a book like So Shelly le More...
It wasn't until I stumbled upon an interview with author Ty Roth on Teens Read and Write that I actually took the time to read what the novel was about and realize the connection to literary legends, Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats.
You can't deny that a book like So Shelly le More...
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Dec 16, 2011
Paige
rated it:
This was one book I was very interested in reading. I adore classic novels, and I have read some Byron, Keats, and both the Shelleys (the Shelly in the novel is based on both Mary and Percy). So when I heard about the concept and the idea of So Shelly I was immediatly hooked. I checked out the book from my local library, read some promotional things from the publisher -- Random House -- on the novel, and scoured around Ty Roth's website. I put it at the top of my to-read list and stayed up until
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Jul 17, 2011
Kate
rated it:
I picked this up at the library because this places Byron, Shelley, and Keats in a modern high school, which reminded me of my friend Janina's work-in-progress.
Keats narrates this tale about the friendship between Gordon Byron, a studly, popular high school student, and Shelly (Michelle Shelly), a beautiful outcast. At the beginning of the story, Byron and Keats are attending Shelly's funeral and stealing the urn of her ashes for purposes yet unknown. Keats then takes us through the More...
Keats narrates this tale about the friendship between Gordon Byron, a studly, popular high school student, and Shelly (Michelle Shelly), a beautiful outcast. At the beginning of the story, Byron and Keats are attending Shelly's funeral and stealing the urn of her ashes for purposes yet unknown. Keats then takes us through the More...
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May 02, 2011
Amber
rated it:
Absolutely loved this. As a fan of historical work, I was immediately intrigued by the idea of taking real people, making them contemporary teens, and writing a story to make it work. Ty Roth not only made it work, he did an impressive job of making me want to know more about the poets/writers his characters were based on. BUT, you don't have to know anything about the historical figures--this book works on a purely story level too.
It's a book that starts with readers knowing what h More...
It's a book that starts with readers knowing what h More...
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Jan 10, 2011
BookChic
rated it:
I'm not sure what to say about this book. The concept as well as the narrative itself is interesting, but at the same time, I feel like it just didn't work for me. The narrator doesn't do much of anything and is mainly just relaying stories about the past featuring the other characters Shelly and Gordon. Even in the scenes set in the now with Gordon and Keats fulfilling Shelly's final wish, Keats takes a backseat to whatever Gordon does and goes along for the ride, so it can be a bit boring for
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Dec 27, 2011
Misfit Heartbreak
rated it:
The Review: I will say I was looking forward to reading and giving it a good review because the premises was promising and the cover gave it a nice shape as well but I was in for it and never knew it.
SO SHELLY is about two boys named Keats and Byron they share a friendship with Shelly, a loudspoken, determined, and fiesty young woman.
Shelly drowns in a sailing "accident," and these two unlikely teens have been called upon to fulfill Shelly's last wishes More...
SO SHELLY is about two boys named Keats and Byron they share a friendship with Shelly, a loudspoken, determined, and fiesty young woman.
Shelly drowns in a sailing "accident," and these two unlikely teens have been called upon to fulfill Shelly's last wishes More...
Nov 22, 2011
Jen
rated it:
A fictional YA story based in the real life stories of the major poets of the Romantic era: Keats, Shelley, and Byron. The book is narrated by a high school student named John Keats, and it tells largely of the intertwined lives of his friend Michelle "Shelly" Shelley and her childhood friend and love, George Gordon Byron. Shelly dies accidentally and/or commits suicide, but made her wishes known in part to Keats and in part to Byron for her burial. This causes them to work together to
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Jul 28, 2011
Laura
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 11, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
This book mingled the lives of the poets of Romanticism--Keats, Byron and Shelley--and remade them into modern-day highschool students. The writing was good, but I never wanted to know that much about their lives. Lots of abuse, mainly of the sexual sort, and every variety of that.
Please understand that this is a personal reaction, not literary criticism. I am sure that there will be many readers who have no problem with the actions and situations depicted in this book, but I'm not More...
Please understand that this is a personal reaction, not literary criticism. I am sure that there will be many readers who have no problem with the actions and situations depicted in this book, but I'm not More...
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Jun 26, 2011
Aimee L.
rated it:
A stunningly rich debut that will challenge your vocabulary and your social graces.
"Lewd"? Yes. But also dripping with irony, humor and that thing we all feel but can't put to words that makes us afraid we just aren't lovable.
My only complaints were: 1. The occasions when the author's marvelous turn of phrase overtook the storytelling; and 2. A portion of the plot about three-quarters of the way in that felt completely contrived. In an effort to contemporize the More...
"Lewd"? Yes. But also dripping with irony, humor and that thing we all feel but can't put to words that makes us afraid we just aren't lovable.
My only complaints were: 1. The occasions when the author's marvelous turn of phrase overtook the storytelling; and 2. A portion of the plot about three-quarters of the way in that felt completely contrived. In an effort to contemporize the More...
Mar 22, 2011
Addley
rated it:
Wow I’m behind on my debut YA author challenge.
I think part of the reason is that it took me a very long time to finish So Shelley. This isn’t because it’s a bad book by any matter of means. Actually, I found it rather enjoyable. It’s just that it wasn’t the sort of good that made me want to pick it up again and again.
For me, there are two kinds of good books: the really exciting, really good ones that drag me away from my work and make me want to read them because I ca More...
I think part of the reason is that it took me a very long time to finish So Shelley. This isn’t because it’s a bad book by any matter of means. Actually, I found it rather enjoyable. It’s just that it wasn’t the sort of good that made me want to pick it up again and again.
For me, there are two kinds of good books: the really exciting, really good ones that drag me away from my work and make me want to read them because I ca More...
Mar 01, 2011
Tee loves Kyle Jacobson
rated it:
My Cover Thoughts: When this book arrived in the mail I was intrigued because it shows a girl in a long white dress walking off a boat dock. The dock is rickety and looks like it is about to fall apart and the girl is going to fall through it. The girl looks like she is walking right into the water. After looking at the cover I knew I needed to read this book because I needed to know wether or not she walked into that water and drowned.
My Thoughts/Review: From the very beginni More...
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Jun 04, 2011
Courtney
rated it:
If a reader is looking for a book that has it all, this is the one. It's full of consensual incest (brother/sister, cousins), molestation, reckless and crude sexual acts, incestuous rape, porn, and enough sexual experimentation to make me wonder if some of those acts are even possible. Oddly, that wouldn't have annoyed me so much if there was a point. Somewhere within all of this, there was supposed to be a plot. I've finished the book, and I still haven't found it. As a result, I feel like the
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Aug 29, 2011
The concept of So Shelly was so cool and unique—a reimagining of the lives of John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy/Mary Shelley as contemporary high-school students—that I was immediately intrigued.
Once I started reading, the book constantly surprised me—not only with the creative premise, but with each new turn of the plot. This was a book that truly felt exciting to read, not because it was full of suspense and action, but because the author continually took me somewhere new and unexpected. More...
Once I started reading, the book constantly surprised me—not only with the creative premise, but with each new turn of the plot. This was a book that truly felt exciting to read, not because it was full of suspense and action, but because the author continually took me somewhere new and unexpected. More...
Jun 03, 2011
John
rated it:
The story was interesting, and there was some great potential, but an overall lack of connection really plagued it from being a great read. All of the incest, frank looks at sex, and the writing set it up for something literary - and indeed, I'd say fans of literary fiction may possibly enjoy this more - but it ultimately felt disconnected. Keats as a narrator doesn't have much emotional purchase behind the story. Byron is an utter douche canoe that you hate and you hate hating him, too. She
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Apr 06, 2011
Kathleen
rated it:
Many times I've been told I should write a book. I assume that the people who suggest this are thinking much along these lines. She teaches English so must know something about books. She knows a lot about a handful of authors. She loves literature and has an understanding of its mechanics. She manages to write pretty decent academic prose.
Yet I've always suspected these simple factors wouldn't be quite enough to write a (really) good novel. And if I ever need to offer proof as to w More...
Yet I've always suspected these simple factors wouldn't be quite enough to write a (really) good novel. And if I ever need to offer proof as to w More...
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Nov 09, 2011
Sensitivemuse
rated it:
I’d have to say, before you actually dive into this book and enjoy it, to really *fully* enjoy this book to the maximum, it’s best if you familiarize yourselves with the Romantic Poets. Here I’m talking about the real famous ones: Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats. Make Shelley a female and then you get the main cast of So Shelly. It’s also best if you also take a quick read through of Lord Byron’s life just for the extra background information.
I absolutely loved this More...
May 07, 2011
Anna
rated it:
So I'm just gonna get this out of the way right now. This entire book felt familiar to me because of a song by a band called Better than Ezra entitled "A Lifetime." Lyrics go like this:
Allie woke up 8AMMore...
Graduation day.
Got into a car,
And crashed along the way.
When we arrived late to the wake,
Stole the urn while they
Looked away,
And drove to the beach
'Cause I knew you'd want it
That way.
And you were stand
Dec 17, 2011
This book did not work for me.
I finally had to put this down because the rendering of the lives of the teens was too cartoon-like. The book just didn't make sense in my head. Much of the writing was creative, beautiful and imaginative and then it would cut to really unimaginative and unoriginal scenes. Many of them reminded me of a Van Wilder movie because they were so silly. I keep trying to think of ways that this book would have made more sense in my head: a book written for adults wit More...
I finally had to put this down because the rendering of the lives of the teens was too cartoon-like. The book just didn't make sense in my head. Much of the writing was creative, beautiful and imaginative and then it would cut to really unimaginative and unoriginal scenes. Many of them reminded me of a Van Wilder movie because they were so silly. I keep trying to think of ways that this book would have made more sense in my head: a book written for adults wit More...
Apr 26, 2011
Heather
rated it:
I was interested in this one because of its being marketed as loosely based on the Romantic poets Percy Shelley; George Gordon, Lord Byron; and John Keats. As an English major, I studied them a few times in college, including in a class on the Romantics. That swayed me, despite my being uncertain of the book after reading the synopsis.
Let's just say I'm glad I didn't buy it.
It's not bad, but I don't think I'd say I liked it.
I do NOT think it should be market More...
Let's just say I'm glad I didn't buy it.
It's not bad, but I don't think I'd say I liked it.
I do NOT think it should be market More...
May 16, 2011
Nancy
rated it:
The lives of three teens, Michelle (Shelly) Shelley, Gordon Byron, and John Keats, play out in the fictional city of Ogontz, Ohio (reminds me of Sandusky, Ohio actually). Like their earlier counterparts, it is a modern re-telling of the Romantic poets as seen from the story of these teens, one of whom dies in an "accidental" drowning, set in the twenty-first century. The other two steal the urn containing her ashes after the service in order to follow her last wishes. Through it all, t
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