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Romeo and Juliet

(Graphic Classics)

Gareth Hinds (Goodreads Author)

3.86 · Rating details · 1,176 ratings · 216 reviews

Gareth Hinds’s stylish graphic adaptation of the Bard’s romantic tragedy offers modern touches — including a diverse cast that underscores the story’s universality.

She’s a Capulet. He’s a Montague. But when Romeo and Juliet first meet, they don’t know they’re from rival families — and when they find out, they don’t care. Their love is honest and raw and all-consuming. But ...more

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Hardcover, 144 pages

Published September 10th 2013 by Candlewick Press

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Community Reviews

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Average rating 3.86 ·

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· 1,176 ratings · 216 reviews

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Aug 01, 2018 Calista rated it liked it

Shelves: 1799-and-before-ancient-books, 2013, comics-graphic-novel, genre-fantasy, genre-coming-of-age, series, genre-love-story, histiorical, bage-young-adult, classic

Graphic novel form of the famous play makes this easy to read and understand. I don't know if this is unabridged or not, but most of the play is here. I think the English is modernized too. The art is lovely and the characters are still timeless. Gareth says he used a diverse cast to show that this story is universal. I found it quick and easy to read and I think it would be great for youngsters who are curious about these stories.

I want to look at more of Gareth Hinds work. This was good and a ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight rated it it was amazing

Shelves: made-me-cry

*4.75

WHY?

I've read this graphic novel so many times. I picked it up just now to read with the play for my Shakespeare class. So tell me why, this time, it made me cry? Tell me why the penultimate page brought tears to my eyes!

I feel like I'm a little more worldly now on this play, so I won't say what I once said that this book is the singular best adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. But it's still really, really good. The added racial layer is another benefit.

I love all of the little additions that ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Grace Galinski rated it really liked it

I read this book quite a while ago, I just forgot to add it on here and write a review. From what I remember, the book was pretty good. I found it confusing a couple times, but only due to some of the language used. But overall, I did like it quite a bit.

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Feb 03, 2015 Nancy Nguyen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels, diversity, childrens

I really liked how the illustrator took liberties with using a diverse cast of characters. I'm not sure why, but it bothers me that Hinds used the word "universal" to express why he changed the race of the characters. Instead of Italians in Verona, the Capulets were Indian, and the Montagues were Black. Hinds was right, though. Their race changes pretty much did nothing to the plot. It made it easier to spot out a Capulet and a Montague, but that was about it.

Romeo was still infuriating as hell I really liked how the illustrator took liberties with using a diverse cast of characters. I'm not sure why, but it bothers me that Hinds used the word "universal" to express why he changed the race of the characters. Instead of Italians in Verona, the Capulets were Indian, and the Montagues were Black. Hinds was right, though. Their race changes pretty much did nothing to the plot. It made it easier to spot out a Capulet and a Montague, but that was about it.

Romeo was still infuriating as hell. Juliet was about the same (somehow I'm always only annoyed by Romeo in all these reincarnations). The nurse was an enabler. There was a whole lot of illiteracy, as usual. The priest was a very smart and wise man but is in the same way an enabler. Hinds pretty much kept everything intact.

I think the part I like the best is how true to the source material this graphic novel was. I'm not really fond of this particular play. It's not that the story is terrible. In fact, this particular tragedy has among the best and tightest storytelling out of all Shakespeare's stuff. Along with great storytelling, the characters are extremely compelling. I could only think of Macbeth and Hamlet, which are also popular tragedies. However, they don't have such a hold as R+J does. It's the characters that really stick with people. They're simple and yet so very complex. I just don't like how our society has romanticized this story so much to the point it loses its original meaning. Romeo is supposed to be this emo, annoying teenager who is WAY TOO RASH (I MEAN, JUST TAKE A SECOND TO THINK FOR ONCE, ROMEO. YOU EGG.). He's not supposed to be the ever enchanting Leo. The whole play is about the lack of knowledge (irony). If everyone in the play took a hot second to think critically, everything would be solved. Pretty much. Also, teach people how to read. That will help too.

Anyway, I liked how this play doesn't romanticize this story. It shows it as is, and Romeo is as annoying as ever. Highly recommend. ...more

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May 31, 2013 Rakisha rated it liked it

Shelves: romance-with-heft, teen-romance, informational-text-non-fic, ya-graphic-novels, tween-ya-reluctant-readers

“Two households, both alike in dignity
In fear Verona, where we lay our scene
From ancient grudge
Break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes
Civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life….”

Blah, blah, blah, blahbly blah…thus is the opening to one of history’s most well-known tragedies that has spawned hundreds of years’ worth of tropes—Tony & Maria (West Side Story), Jack & Rose (Titanic), Buffy & Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). “Two households, both alike in dignity
In fear Verona, where we lay our scene
From ancient grudge
Break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes
Civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life….”

Blah, blah, blah, blahbly blah…thus is the opening to one of history’s most well-known tragedies that has spawned hundreds of years’ worth of tropes—Tony & Maria (West Side Story), Jack & Rose (Titanic), Buffy & Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). It’s a story line we know well. It’s a story line that everyone knows so well. So what makes Gareth Hinds version worth picking up and reading?

First off, it is a graphic novel. I didn’t realize how much easier it was to understand the anger, the humor, and all of the emotion in Shakespeare’s words until I could match it with still illustration. Sure, seeing a movie version or a play helps but actors move around. You don’t get to linger on their faces or the expressions. Gareth Hinds’ Rome & Juliet allows the reader to do that. And even with all that time given to linger, concentrate and re-read, the story didn’t lose the gut punch reaction. When Juliet stabbed herself…sheesh!

Secondly, Hinds tried very hard to keep to the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare’s dialogue intact. Now, I can hardly pronounce it and much less explain what it is. But if I understood correctly from Hinds’ foreword, reading the dialogue in this pattern helps the reader appreciate Shakespeare’s “genius.” I do have to agree that this iambic pentameter did make it easier to understand the bantering between characters.

Finally, Gareth Hinds painted this universal story with a multiracial cast. Although he claims it is not a statement about racism or racial conflict, I admit that it was fun to see Romeo rocking the baby dreadlocks—definitely more appealing to the diverse tween and teen patrons that attend my urban public library. So, if you want to recommend an accessible but accurate version of Romeo & Juliet, do recommend Romeo & Juliet adapted by Gareth Hinds.
...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Kristen rated it it was amazing

This text is a great accompaniment to the real thing. I really like that R+J are depicted as an interracial couple; this representation opens a lot of doors to discussion about stigma, racism, politics, and conflict. The slanted gutters emphasize the increasing chaos as the play progresses. And the visual characterizations really helped me to keep all of the men straight- especially Paris, Tybalt, Mercutio, Benvolio, etc. Overall, a great read!

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Feb 07, 2022 Melody Schwarting rated it liked it

Shelves: inspired-by, books-read-in-2022, r-c-young-adult-fic

Now that I've read one, I'm surprised that not all of Shakespeare's plays have been adapted into graphic novel form. Genius! Plays are not meant to be read, and filmed stage productions (my second-favorite medium after live productions) can be inconsistent in quality. Hinds, while cutting down the original text, preserves Shakespeare's words. For newbies, especially, having the lines broken up in graphic novel fashion, and in characters' speech bubbles, will be really helpful for experiencing Sh Now that I've read one, I'm surprised that not all of Shakespeare's plays have been adapted into graphic novel form. Genius! Plays are not meant to be read, and filmed stage productions (my second-favorite medium after live productions) can be inconsistent in quality. Hinds, while cutting down the original text, preserves Shakespeare's words. For newbies, especially, having the lines broken up in graphic novel fashion, and in characters' speech bubbles, will be really helpful for experiencing Shakespeare for the first time.

That being said, I've never cared for Romeo and Juliet in any form except ballet and that's because it's ballet. This is a me problem and I will be picking up Hinds's King Lear and The Merchant of Venice and anything else he's done since. Yet, I don't love his art. He's great at facial expressions, but some of his stylistic choices didn't work for me. I love how he made the story multiracial. His Romeo is the only one I can think of (besides ballet versions) that I don't dislike from the get-go. Hinds's Romeo looks like a teenager. He could pass for 14 or 15. Hinds's Juliet, on the other hand, has gorgeous features but doesn't look 13 at all, which I don't dislike, but age factors into why she and Romeo are so impulsive at the end. Some choices, like Tybalt being tattooed and Juliet wearing a short dress (about 12" longer than the results of googling "sexy Juliet Halloween costume") were...weird. In his author's note, Hinds explains that such choices were meant to communicate youthful rebellion against the establishment. Makes sense. Yet, since he made the Capulets Indian Sikhs, there were plenty of visual details discordant with the 1600s Italian setting that made it hard to interpret those choices in the way Hinds intended. Juliet's parents weren't wearing standard 1600s Italian dress, either, especially in headwear, which is a fine choice, but next to Tybalt's body tats it was strange. Tybalt also spent a lot of time shirtless while wearing those poufy shorts and it was hard to take the fight scenes seriously with that, for me.

Hinds handled Shakespeare's language well, very occasionally substituting a contemporary word for one that's fallen out of use (only when it fits the meter). Other times, he provides a brief footnote, occasionally explaining enough so the reader can get a joke. I found this more helpful than a glossary, and minimal enough to respect the reader's ability to understand Shakespeare's language without letting it prevent more reluctant readers from closing the book.

Don't let my idiosyncratic dislike for the star-crossed lovers turn you off to Hinds's graphic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He does a wonderful job interpreting the story for the modern eye while letting the original text shine. I look forward to his other Shakespeare adaptations, and hope that his stylistic choices will make more sense to me in the plays I like better. ...more

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Jan 11, 2022 Petergiaquinta rated it it was ok

Shelves: graphic-novels

Newly retired, I won't be teaching Romeo and Juliet this year for the first time in a very long time. In a typical year, the second week of January would be the time to introduce concepts like iambic pentameter and the difference between "thee" and "thou," read a couple of sonnets and then dive into the Prologue and Act 1, scene 1. We'd watch the first ten minutes of Zeffirelli and compare it against the opening scene by Baz Luhrman, and then it would be off to the races, spending the majority o Newly retired, I won't be teaching Romeo and Juliet this year for the first time in a very long time. In a typical year, the second week of January would be the time to introduce concepts like iambic pentameter and the difference between "thee" and "thou," read a couple of sonnets and then dive into the Prologue and Act 1, scene 1. We'd watch the first ten minutes of Zeffirelli and compare it against the opening scene by Baz Luhrman, and then it would be off to the races, spending the majority of the third quarter on Shakespeare's play. And although it would be a struggle, each and every time I would enjoy myself mightily, and I’d hope my students would as well.

I tried to count it up last spring after we finished that final couplet by Prince Escalus. Best as I could figure, I've taught Romeo and Juliet 96 times, give or take a few. And so I've read it well over 100 times, going back to my own ninth grade year at Southeast Junior High with good old Betty Ross, who was both the bane of my existence and one of the reasons why I went into teaching myself. And I've watched the Zeffirelli nearly the same number of times, although I don’t recall Ms. Ross showing us that; I think the first time for me was student teaching at New Trier. Each viewing is a wonder for me. It doesn't grow old.

But things are different now. Unlike the beauty of Shakespeare's language, Zeffirelli's film, and the two lovers themselves, I grow old, and I won't be teaching the play three times a year or watching the movies anymore. But last week in my temporary role as my school's Sub-Sub-Librarian, I came across Garth Hinds's graphic novel version sitting on our shelves and thought, why not? So while this year for the first time in three decades I won't be reading the full text of Shakespeare's play, at least I've read some of it here in Hinds' graphic novel version. And Hinds is pretty clever at trimming the play down and almost all of his text is directly from the play, so that's good, although I wish he would have kept more.

Hinds' graphic novels are serviceable, but ultimately (and obviously) they pale in comparison to the original classics. I have taught his version of The Odyssey, and it's okay. And I thought his version of The Iliad did a pretty decent job of capturing that epic poem even with its enormous cast of characters. But ironically, here Romeo and Juliet suffers in comparison, even though it is a much shorter, less complex work than Homer's two massive epics. And I think the reason for that is how Shakespeare's richness of character and the beauty of the language instead of coming to life through the illustrations are flattened to the overall detriment of the play. Hinds isn't much of an artist, truth be told, and his crappy graphics contribute to that flattening.

Many examples could be provided here, both with what he includes and what he leaves out, and he does make some rather odd artistic choices at times, but personally I really wish he would have spent a little more time on the Nurse and tried to capture the dynamics better between her and Juliet throughout the play. At the end of the book, he strangely includes a couple of pages where he describes his attempts to accurately convey the architecture and the geography of Verona, and that seems like a lot of misplaced energy when the characters themselves come across as wooden and two-dimensional, with so many other errors or inconsistencies. I wonder why a defense or explanation of one's choices of architecture or location even matters when the author gives us a shirtless Tybalt covered in tattoos or opens the play with an image of two contemporary style tombstones. Where are those golden statues, Mr. Hinds?

Ah well, the graphic novel won't substitute for the real thing, but I've done myself no damage by reading it. As Friar Laurence doing some early morning gardening reminds us, "For naught so vile that on the earth doth live, / But to the earth some special good doth give." ...more

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Jan 24, 2014 Sesana rated it liked it

Shelves: adaptation, classics, comics

I think I would have liked this adaptation a lot better if Hinds had been able to settle on either a modern or period setting for his graphic novel. I do like how he made the story more diverse than in the original play, by casting the Montagues as black and the Capulets as Indian. That was, I think, the one nice touch he brought to his adaptation. From there, he went with an odd and unsettling mix of period accurate and modern details. Picture Tybalt shirtless, tattooed, and with a modern hairs ...more

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Nov 06, 2013 Dave Schaafsma rated it liked it

Shelves: gn-lit-based, gn-ya

I loved Hinds' lyrical Beowulf but in spite of its being an interestingly multicultural version, sort of just functional artistically, in comparison to his Beowulf. There is evidence of his having researched for his version, with some surprises, which I liked…. will work as a companion book in high schools, I think. ...more

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Jul 08, 2019 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: easy-reads

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by this book I just picked it up at the library and expected it to be modernized. but it wasn't and I loved that! ...more

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Dec 17, 2018 Dolly rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: people who enjoy reading graphic novels

Shelves: 2018, read-but-not-finished-reviewing, young-adult, italy-italian-roman, graphic-novels-comics

This is a wonderful adaptation of arguably the Bard's most famous of his romantic tragedies.

The graphic novel format is very effective and helps convey the meaning of the dialogue which many a student has struggled through.

interesting quotes:

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable!" (p. 49)

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep.
The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infin ...more

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Sep 06, 2016 Kara rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel, shakespeare

This version is absolutely faithful to the text, while experimenting with a very different set of visuals.

In this version, the Montagues are from Africa and the Capulets are from India, both families now living in a Verona filled with a diverse cast hailing from all ends of the Earth, and the younger generation firmly rejecting the stuffiness of the older generation’s Elizabethan fashion.

The setting was beautiful and paired beautifully with the text, for example, at the beginning the introducti ...more

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Mar 24, 2015 Juliette Simpson rated it liked it

Romeo and Juliet by Gareth Hinds is a graphic novel as a take on the original Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

As a Capulet Juliet could not interfere with a Montague. One night the Capulet family holds a party. A Montague named Romeo attends the party and both Romeo and Juliet fall in love. Through secret meetings Romeo and Juliet's love grows. Of course, there are differences in the family's relationship.

I liked this book a lot. Our of five, i only gave it a three because i wasn't quite able to ...more

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Oct 09, 2017 Bill Liu rated it it was amazing

Romeo and Juliet by Gareth Hinds this book turn the famous opera into a Graphic novel it is talking about inａlong ago there is two noble
they become enemy of each other but the son and daughter named Romeo and Juliet fell in love
But young Romeo kill a guy in Juliet’s noble and Juliet is going to marry another man so she drink a kind of Potions and act like she is died but Romeo saw think she is dead and kill him self beside Juliet .and Juliet wake up and saw Romeo she suicide。it is a very sad st ...more

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Nov 30, 2015 Scott Hayden rated it really liked it

So glad Mrs. Becky has brought graphic novels of Shakespeare into the library. This edition maintains Shakespeare's language, but with almost no footnotes or explanations, makes the story and dialogue followable. Even my 6-year-old spent time gazing at the pictures. "Daddy, their fighting with swords and killing each other," she informed me matter-of-factly. The illustrations are not so graphic as to be disturbing. ...more

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Nov 16, 2017 David added it

This book is talk about one country, have red, bile, and perpur three little country, one day, the red country and blue country fits, and the blue country one boy love one for blue country girl, so it want be together, so them want the two country reconcile but the two country don’t agreat so the grip kill herself and the boy do the same.

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Oct 22, 2013 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic-novels

I thought the story was very well told. However, I wasn't impressed with the art. The layout was functional and clear, but uninspired. The illustrations remind me of the illustrations in my middle school life skills work book. That's not a good thing. ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 Lindsay C-T rated it it was amazing

Same ol' story about absurdly dramatic teens, but this time with lovely pics and some diversity! Oh, and a lot of the pointless monologues were condensed, which I appreciated. Love it!

Review: https://untamedshrews.wordpress.com/2... ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Lulu (the library leopard) added it

Shelves: comics-graphic-novels, retellings, shakespeare

Well, that was MUCH easier to understand than straight-up reading a script.

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Nov 28, 2017 Tony rated it really liked it

A man and a woman in a dance party love other side,they kiss other side.One day the man die,the woman kill too.This story tell us love is great.

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May 21, 2022 Claire Wrobel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2022, graphics, library-checkouts, romance, school-reading, classics, re-read, play

I really enjoyed this. I thought I already loved the play in its original form, but seeing artwork go alongside the original script made such a difference. When the play is made into movie adaptations but keeps the original language, I think the movie can lose some of its luster because watchers can’t pause to digest the antiquated language. Having it in a graphic novel form is a great bridge between the original script and a movie adaptation. I will definitely read Hinds’s other adaptations!

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Jun 02, 2013 Rich in Color rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic-novels, romance

Review Copy: Local library

When I saw the cover, I wondered what angle Gareth Hinds had as he crafted this adaptation. Was this going to be a West Side Story type? Hinds definitely meddled with the culture of the Montagues and Capulets, but otherwise, he left things alone for the most part. Other than omitting lines, Hinds stayed close to the original text and he kept the setting in historical Verona. He explains at the beginning in a note to the reader, “I chose to cast my retelling of Romeo & Review Copy: Local library

When I saw the cover, I wondered what angle Gareth Hinds had as he crafted this adaptation. Was this going to be a West Side Story type? Hinds definitely meddled with the culture of the Montagues and Capulets, but otherwise, he left things alone for the most part. Other than omitting lines, Hinds stayed close to the original text and he kept the setting in historical Verona. He explains at the beginning in a note to the reader, “I chose to cast my retelling of Romeo & Juliet with multiracial characters in order to reflect how universal this story is. It is not a statement about racism or racial conflict.” There is no alteration to the storyline as a result of this cosmetic change. If you could not see the illustrations and only heard the text, you would have no idea that Juliet’s family is Indian. It made me wonder if this graphic novel could ever be made into an audio book because the pictures add so much to this adaptation. The illustrations allowed for a bit more personality to be shown with the characters and of course inserted cultural identifiers. It also allowed me to keep the names straight from the very beginning since the cast of characters included pictures.

I have read Romeo and Juliet at least five times as a play for classes or for fun. What I loved immediately was the novelty of reading this story as something other than a script. With the illustrations, stage directions are unnecessary and names aren’t required along with every bit of the dialogue. The text flows more easily this way. He also kept the clothing of the families color coded. The Montagues are wearing shades of blue and the Capulets are in various shades of orange. This made the relationships easier to follow especially during the action scenes. The graphic novel format is one step closer to seeing the play acted out. This adaptation will be very accessible for the reluctant Shakespeare reader whether they are a young adult or a not so young adult.

As Hinds pointed out, he wanted to show that this is a story that transcends cultures. Star-crossed lovers can be found anywhere and anytime. Mixing up the culture a bit certainly does help demonstrate that everyman quality. I wasn’t sure how to take that though. It seems to be an example of the “casual diversity” that Betsy Bird spoke of recently. It’s not an issue in the story, it just exists. But it makes me wonder. Are cultures that easy to swap out and should they be? In this instance, as an illustrator he is adding diversity to a text that he didn’t want to alter. It also reinforces his theory that this tragedy could happen to anyone regardless of religious background, skin color, culture or age.

For Romeo’s family, skin tone and hair styles were basically the only racial or cultural markers. They appeared to be of African descent. What I appreciated was that Hinds did not have everyone in the family look pretty much the same. There is a wide variety of body types, faces, and hairstyles. He provided diversity within the culture. With Juliet’s family, Hinds included a few more clues beyond skin tone and facial features, but this was mainly in the area of clothing. The most obvious being that Capulet wears a Sikh turban and Lady Capulet has a head scarf, but there were others. The only truly jarring note was the mishmash of modern and older dress. The younger characters like Juliet were sometimes in more contemporary clothing like her short skirt. It would jerk me out of the story more than any of the other things that were going on in the illustrations. That the time periods of the costumes were not matching was a bit disconcerting. It didn’t stop me from enjoying the story though.

Overall, the illustrations were rich and truly brought out the emotions of the story. I know that I would have loved to have this as an option when I was first reading Shakespeare as a teen. It will likely draw new readers to Shakespeare.

My Recommendation: If you are a graphic novel or Shakespeare fan, I would get this one soon. Otherwise, I would still recommend that you check it out sometime. It is a gorgeous way to experience Romeo & Juliet.

Original review posted at Rich in Color http://richincolor.com/2014/02/review... ...more

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Oct 07, 2015 Ashley rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: No one really.

Recommended to Ashley by: Library

This is a graphic novel based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Hinds mixes up the story a bit to emphasize how universal Shakespeare’s idea was by making the two feuding families different races: African American and Indian. Hinds brings Shakespeare’s story to life through illustrations that make the themes and occurrences of the story come to life before your eyes. I don’t think I need to explain the plot further; we’re all familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet, right?

I found th This is a graphic novel based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Hinds mixes up the story a bit to emphasize how universal Shakespeare’s idea was by making the two feuding families different races: African American and Indian. Hinds brings Shakespeare’s story to life through illustrations that make the themes and occurrences of the story come to life before your eyes. I don’t think I need to explain the plot further; we’re all familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet, right?

I found this book at the Library and was pretty excited, since I’m a huge Shakespeare fan and also a huge graphic novel fan (as you’ve all probably noticed), so combining the two seemed like a fantastic idea. However, I was completely disappointed with this book and found it to be a waste of time (even if it was a quick read).

First off, the only positive thing I felt about this book: I really liked that Hinds took a risk and mixed up the races of the characters. I thought that was a super cool idea and made this book utterly unique in at least one aspect. I thought for sure it was an idea I was going to like. But, I don’t think it fit well with the story. Since Hinds had already mixed up the concept of Romeo and Juliet and race, I thought he honestly could have written a completely fresh story.

Romeo and Juliet has been told a million times. I was hoping for something with more of a fresh twist.

I also felt that Hinds doesn’t fully understand what Shakespeare was trying to get across with his original play. I have studied and read most of Shakespeare’s works, most of them more than once, and to say I’m a fan would be an understatement. So, I felt like Hinds was grasping at straws and had removed much of the main message that Romeo and Juliet sends. He left the text in Shakespeare’s original iambic pentameter writing and, by doing so, I feel like he cut out so many of the funny bits (because Romeo and Juliet is actually satire and contains so many laugh out loud moments), so that was a big let down.

I don’t think leaving this text in iambic pentameter was Hinds best choice, especially because it slowed the pace and was hard to follow with so much of the original text cut out. I totally understand why a lot of the sexual jokes were cut out since this is marketed towards young adults, but by cutting out most of these scenes in their entirety doesn’t make the story easier to follow; it makes it harder. Plus, he cut out way more than just the sexual bits. Too much.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the setting being left in Verona (although the illustrations made me a bit reminiscent of Verona since I was just there last summer – it was super overrated). Since he changed the races of the characters, it would have been totally fun to mix up the setting as well, which would have shown even more how universal the story was since it would show that it could happen anywhere. Hinds really didn’t think this through. It also came across that Hinds didn’t know that Shakespeare never actually went to Verona – He never left England, actually. He had no idea what his settings around Europe looked like in real life. He was a poor man and only knew what he saw and heard from his inner London circle. I read Hinds author’s note at the back of the book and it came across as very uninformed.

I don’t know, I just feel like Hinds could have done so much more with this. The possibilities were endless. I wanted this book to be so much more than just another bland retelling of a story that’s already been retold too many times. Or, maybe I’m just too much of a Shakespeare nerd.

All in all, though, my final verdict is that I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. It was bland, irritating, and boring. Plus, it was hard to follow and lacked so much of the original story that it didn’t come together for me at all. I found myself just aching to finish this to be done instead of actually wanting to finish it because I enjoyed it. This book was meh. Don’t waste your time on it, honestly. ...more

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Sep 02, 2019 Mary Rose rated it it was amazing

In this vibrant rendition of "Romeo and Juliet," Gareth Hinds breathes new life into a tale as old as time. Read either inside the classroom or for pleasure, Gareth increases the readability of "Romeo and Juliet" for its audience members.
Should English educators be in need of an alternative or supplemental reading of Shakespeare's play, they need not look any farther. Placing the story in a graphic novel solves a problem educators have struggled with for years: play's are best understood when wa ...more

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Jan 13, 2019 Amy Layton rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shakespeare, graphic-novels

What an awesome interpretation! Graphic novel? Heck yeah. Shakespeare? Sign me up. Interracial anachronistic couple? NICE. Hinds does a great job at interpreting this play. He keeps mostly true--as he explains in the foreword and afterword, and lifts all lines directly from the play. This allows for a visual interpretation of this play, which is perfect for the Shakespeare fan who has a hard time deciphering what's going on due to the language and footnotes and asides.

And those illust ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Nicole rated it really liked it

I chose to give this 4 stars out of 5, strictly because the book was in comic book form and I tend to be more of a traditionalist, especially when it comes to Shakespeare.
Having said that, if I put myself in the mind of an adolescent, this format could be something that could easily grab my attention. I tested this theory by going over the book with my son who is 11. He thought it was awesome! This led to a discussion about other varieties of Shakespeare plays. Little did I know how much he act ...more

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Sep 02, 2019 Michaela Arguello rated it it was amazing

I am giving this graphic novel 5 stars because I would have loved the opportunity to read this in middle school or early high school as an introduction to Shakespeare. First off, Hinds does an incredible job keeping the fluidity of Shakespeare's language and organization throughout his interpretation. The text flowed nicely, and despite being much shorter than the original, the plot was easy to follow. Also, the pictures at the beginning and end of scenes aided the text’s transitioning between c ...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Kate rated it liked it

This would be a great accompaniment for an intro Shakespeare class or English classes where you do 1 Shakespeare play a year. Definitely makes Shakespearean language more accessible and like modern movie adaptations shows how themes and conflicts can be universal.

I found this on a list of recommendations for students with language based LDs. Can definitely see how it could be great for HS students, but it is definitely not a hi-lo read. It’s text heavy and the language is barely modernized. It ...more

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Jun 02, 2015 Diana rated it liked it

Shelves: 1-owned, comics-graphic-novels

Beautiful artwork and Shakespeare's elegant prose combine to bring the classic play Romeo and Juliet to life. Hinds did a wonderful job with incorporating the original text into his own masterpiece. The text was shortened quite a bit, which is understandable. However, I still cannot say that I actually like the original story of Romeo and Juliet, so I cannot give this one the highest possible rating. Still, I enjoyed the artwork immensely, and I am looking forward to other works illustrated by H ...more

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About Gareth Hinds

Gareth Hinds

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Gareth Hinds is the creator of critically-acclaimed graphic novels based on literary classics, including Beowulf (which Publisher’s Weekly called a “mixed-media gem”), King Lear (which Booklist named one of the top 10 graphic novels for teens), The Merchant of Venice (which Kirkus called “the standard that all others will strive to meet” for Shakespeare adaptation), The Odyssey (which garnered fou ...more