Love Lessons: A Sweet YA Boarding School Retelling

Shelfbrooke Academy #5

by Daphne James Huff

One semester. No distractions.

Simple, right?

On the verge of winning the biggest literary prize at Shelfbrooke, Rex swears off all girls and parties, and prepares for a distraction-free semester.

It's the perfect plan.

But when his grades aren't good enough to participate in the contest, he ends up in tutoring with the new exchange student.

Zara's been banished to a boring boarding school in America to work on her English.

She's willing to do whatever it takes to get back to France as soon as possible--even if it means teaming up with the one guy who wants nothing to do with her.

But as the weeks go by and feelings grow, will he realize some things are more important than winning before time runs out?

Love Lessons is a modern retelling of the classic Shakespeare play Love's Labour's Lost. It’s a part of the Shelfbrooke Academy series, a collection of retellings that promise to be a lot more fun than the originals!

Genres: Young Adult

219 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 26, 2019

Reviews

[Candyce Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back at Shelfbrooke Academy, students are getting ready to participate in the biggest literary prize this school offers. The rules are changing this year and that definitely makes things rather interesting for our main characters!

Rex has been hearing about this competition all his life. There is a big family history of winning this prize, all except his father. Rex feels the need to win this prize, just because his father didn't. They have a complicated relationship and this definitely doesn't help. I loved how driven Rex was and that he loves writing. Characters who love writing and reading are always fun!

I definitely felt for Rex at times though, because I can't imagine what pressure he was under when it comes to this competition and his father. He has two best friends and in many ways he took them for granted. At times I'd say he was a bit harsh when it came to trying to control them talking to girls and going to parties. It took him awhile to realize how selfish he was at times.

Zara is a new student from France and her parents sent her here to improve her English. She wouldn't go without her two best friends, so they came along with her. Having two siblings that have done a lot really heightens her own insecurities. She sees the competition as a way to prove to her parents she has improved her English. If she wins, maybe she can go home early.

I know what it's like to move to a foreign country as a teenager and it's not easy. Zara is anxious and that's understandable. I think her wanting to go home so bad definitely made it harder for her to try and make friends. Her best friends were social and enjoying themselves and Zara feels left out. It took longer for Zara to realize her strengths, but I liked how the story turned out for her.

Love Lessons is a fun story with enjoyable characters. I've never read the play this is based on, but didn't feel like I was missing anything. The facts we get about plays and other things definitely made this story stand out. I loved that the romance didn't take over this story. Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing everything develop between Rex and Zara, but friendship was a really important aspect of Love Lessons!

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot, although quite different, reminded me of Emily Evans’ work. They write in a similar style with some themes that are parallel.
This story takes place in an exclusive, private high school where students compete for an academic prize. One student believes he will win the prize, since traditionally, his family has won in the past. But the newly arrived French exchange student also has a strong desire to win the elusive prize. Both are determined to win and not to get distracted by their attraction to each other. Who will win? And will they be able to stay focused on “the prize”?
This is a clean teen romance. I enjoyed it.

[Jamie Lee Zonneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Lessons is the fifth book in the Shelfbrooke Academy series. This book is written by Daphne James Huff. Al these stories are retellings of classic stories, this one is a retelling of Love Labour's Lost by Shakespeare. I really liked the story and the characters. Rex and Zara were so good together.

[ضحى الحداد · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I guess this is it with this series !!
So in this book we are introduced to Rex and Zara, both them needs to win a competition for the school writing program .. at first Rex puts a ban on talking to girls on himself and his friends, but the more he talks to Zara the more he can't stop himself from being distracted with her
The book was as stupid as the rest of the series, and it's such a waste that all the books had great original material but the plots were so stupid .. so yeah

[Courtney (pawsitivelybookish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Lessons was an unexpected end to The Shelfbrooke Academy series.

I enjoyed the twist of adding exchange students into the mix.

[☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ ѕℓιм ☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

More like lessons learn...

https://ladiikeiii.wordpress.com/2019...

*** There's a couple of spoilers in this review; not that many but a few****

I'm glad I got around to reading this book though it took me a while. This book is pretty different, but it's interesting to learn that these stories from this series are based on older books. That's what I never really read or want to read.


But I did like the Sonnets... & not only that I was glad that Rex friends Bronx and Reggie finally spoken up to Rex because clearly he was controlling ( more so wanted to control things) and he finally realize when Zara left for a family emergency he was an idiot to jump down her throat and was so worried about that prize that he's dad never won. & speaking of the dad... I bet he felt some way too because Rex actually won something that he clearly didn't win. Plus, he was the one to set it up (more so agree) to the group of three for the prize competition. But in the end, he got fool because regardless, Rex won even when he nor Zara was there. I think he would've been better off with his mom's help than his dad. But his right to talk to his dad to get honest answers.


But I was glad in the end that he finally came to his senses and got his girl. & with Zara he parents just wanted her to learn to be on her own without her friends or her family being there. I understand; because it's like you never want to go someplace or be somewhere alone. & you have actually to learn to do things on your own eventually. I was glad that she was learning too, and she and her friends Rosalie and Maria ended up with Bronx and Reggie.

[Lindsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really cute story. I would probably give it more of a 4.5 stars though for a few reasons. I’ve never read the original stories of any of these retellings but I love that I don’t have to worry about that and can read these without being confusing.
I liked Zara as a character and her best friends but I thought Zara wasn’t a very strong character and she was super self conscious through most of the book.
I also wasn’t sure how I felt about Rex sometimes between the no talking to girls ban and having to win this competition so badly. I really liked the side characters though and how they were smart and logical and made sure to take care of the main characters. I still thought this was a cute story though and loved the French tutoring and the fun facts. I’m glad the story ended the way it did and everything worked out in the end. I’m glad that these characters had good character development and realized what was important in life.

[Joey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up without realising it was book 5 in a series, but thankfully they standalone and I was able to jump right in and get into the action. Rex is sure he's going to win and to do that he has to make himself concentrate which means no girls or parties. Meanwhile Zara is unsure of herself and not sure if she'll ever belong there. The characters were engaging and well-written. I was able to lose myself in the pages and go along for the ride with their love story. It was beautifully done and the kind of book you read and read and don't notice the time ticking away until it's over. I loved it! A nice light-hearted love story was just what I needed. Highly recommended!

[Genni Piatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite Shelfbrooke Academy book yet. Like the others, it's such a wonderful retelling that I feel motivated to read Love Labour's Lost. I loved the characters in this retelling. They were all so well written they felt real and three dimensional. I was particularly invested in Zara and Rex. Zara seemed so relatable to me, and so did Rex. I look forward to more Shelfbrooke Academy books!

[Bonnijean Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this retelling of Love's Labors Lost more than the live performances of the original play that I've seen.

Shelfbrook is a great setting for this story. The author does a great job with the names and keeps enough of the original story for the retelling to work.

Fun, entertaining read

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I haven't read the original Love's Labour's Lost, I don't know if the Bard is to blame for my niggles with this story...
Somehow I didn't like Rex very much (and I agree with Zara here, he does indeed have a big head ;) ), Bronx and Reggie seemed much nicer, and I have no idea why they would put up with someone like Rex as a "best friend".

[Grace Rocca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love lessons is a clever retelling of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour Lost. I loved learning more about the French culture in this fun story. It was a quick, entertaining read that I really enjoyed!