Juliet Immortal

Note: this is more of a 4.5. I'll say this much, for a book about true love, soul-mates and finding 'The One' it really only accomplished one thing--I'm terrified of anyone who says that we have a forever kind of love. Seriously, either way you look at it (in the book at least) its a horrifying prospect.

To explain, everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet right? Young lovers, bitter enemies, dead cousins, secret weddings, poison and daggers cut short their lives (of woe). Well! Apparently in reality Romeo was a devious, manipulative creep who wanted life eternal (and was stupid enough to trust some shady folks to give it to him at their word) and Juliet was a naive, innocent who truly was Italian in all ways (deep love turned to show more deep hatred--Italians do nothing in half measures). So now the two are working for opposing sides (the 'Mercenaries' and 'Ambassadors') and either helping true lovers remain eternal or dashing their pretty hopes in a sea of jealousy, hatred and murder.

With me so far?

It only gets better from there.

Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, was never one of my favorites of his plays. I've always learned towards Twelfth Night or Taming of the Shrew. Always thought there was something faintly...disturbing about the young lovers sacrificing everything. So for me this fit my view on things perfectly. Juliet is bitter, cynical and reluctant to help true love when it did her so wrong. Romeo is is a selfish, conceited malcontent who's more than half crazy and delusional to boot. Their interactions are intriguing to say the least. In their own ways they're both insane, both liars and opportunists.

I liked the fact that Jay makes the characters just a bit sociopathic and mercenary. With perhaps he exception of Ben (who is about as close to perfect as you can get honestly), everyone else works hard to further their own agendas. Juliet, who is our primary narrator save for the few times Romeo does during the 'Intermezzos', admits that her views may have been skewed. She acknowledges that despite everything she's done as 'Nurse' has told her because it was easier. The epiphanies she has at the end--and they come one on top of the other practically--are thought-provoking. Did she view Gemma fairly? Was Romeo truly trying to redeem himself? Was she really helping because it was the right thing to do or because it was the simplest thing to do?

My only complaint is with the confusing ending. Jay starts discussing 'what ifs' and she kind of lost me, which is unfortunate because its important to the ending to understand where she was going. Not just for Juliet, but for Romeo as well. If that last bit with Romeo at the very end wasn't included, I think I would have understood better. As it is, the last few lines (and implication behind them) muddied the water. It left me wondering 'So...who exactly is on the wrong side again?' show less

To anyone who hated Romeo and Juliet because of Romeo and Juliet, because they WERE NOT IN LOVE, then this book is for you. To anyone who loves love and hates hate, this book is for you. For anyone who thinks soul mates are hokey, this book might be for you (it was for me). To anyone who thinks auras have nothing to do with anything, you will be yelling at Juliet for this entire book. I was.
Okay, so it starts with Juliet waking up in some random chick’s body. That will be explained in greater detail. Her mission is to find two soul mates and make them safe from killing each other, which Romeo will try to convince one of them to do. Problem: she’s cut off from her bosses. Problem: Romeo finds out who she is within five minutes of show more them both waking up. Problem: …well, there are a lot of problems.
Gemma is not nice. Her mom IS nice. The ending with her and Ben is depressing, and then confusing.
I did not get it. I’ll probably read the next book just hoping for some mention of what happened to Juliet and Ben. show less

Interesting beginning... middle had highs and lows... ending was PERFECT...

I appreciate that not everyone is going to like this book. It's very much a Marmite kind of thing - you either love it or you hate it - except, unlike Marmite, I loved it! I think I liked it even more because it was very far from what I was expecting... and I had expected all kinds of possible ways this could go: super luvvy-duvvy romance, melodrama, ultra-angst...

Okay, there was the teensiest, tiniest bit of teen angst but I thought it all worked, it wasn't too much and the words were oh so pretty! I must stress this, I thought the writing was beautiful in that I-must-quote-this kind of way but you find it hard to choose which bit to quote. Like [a:Laini show more Taylor|324620|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224474224p2/324620.jpg] but not that good.

I read it mainly because I am obsessed with Shakespeare. I went through High School with this ancient but really cool English teacher who taught me how awesome Shakespeare is and was entirely responsible for my good grades in the subject. Now I find myself exasperated and reading the same old takes on Shakespeare's work; Romeo and Juliet must have been re-written into every culture and time period possible by now. But this. Well, this was different. Suddenly, it isn't a tale about the famous star-crossed lovers who sacrificed everything for love.

Oh no. Because the tagline says it all: "The greatest love story ever told is a lie..."

That's right. Romeo is not what we all thought he was... he's a manipulative SOB who betrayed Juliet and over the centuries the two have battled it out against one another, fighting for control of the destinies of soulmates. Sound a bit TRUE-WUV-y?? It isn't. Or I didn't think so. I thought it was nasty and gruesome and really interesting.

And the ending was wonderful. You know, I had the smallest recollection of something in the back of my mind early on that led me to suspect something that I quickly disregarded. But I was right. Certain things are not coincidences and there's more to this story than first meets the eye... excited yet? You should be.

Also, you should know, even though the novel has no sex, there's some not-so-subtle innuendos and girly 'tingling'. Excellent! show less

I love writers who are confident enough to use Shakespeare’s characters in a new piece of fiction. The premise for this novel was completely unexpected. Not to give too much away, the forces of good and evil have enrolled Romeo and Juliet in an eternal battle of opposites. They are able to inhabit the bodies of others in order to fulfill their missions. Juliet is challenged with ensuring the full bloom of true love which brings a young couple under the protection of the Ambassadors of Light. In addition to destroying lovers before they reach full commitment, Romeo is determined to kill Juliet or turn her to the dark side.

Stacy Jay cleverly creates opposing forces that are complex with murky motivations. As the novel progresses, the show more reader is unsure if even Juliet is on the right side.

Because Romeo and Juliet have lived through many lives, they speak in a combination of Elizabethan wordage and the vernacular of today’s teens. This can be a bit jarring at times but does suit the story line.

Romeo is an over-the-top villain but, once his complete experiences and motivations are revealed, it seems clear that he is a tortured soul, uncertain of the choices he has made, and quite likely insane. Juliet has not come to terms with her own death and her foolish life ending behavior. After dying so young and inhabiting the bodies and minds of other girls, she not only is unsure of who she is but seems to be suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome.

The story and the characters are complex and challenging. The reader must pay close attention to each reveal as the plot progresses.

Jay blends suspense, romance, terror, and humor effectively. I enjoyed this book and would definitely read something by this author again. show less

For never was a story of more woe
Than this of... Ariel and her... Ben?

The synopsis was probably all it took to get you hooked and aching for this book. A retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a wicked paranormal twist? I was sold. Ambassadors of light? OK. I can admit I anticipated a little bit of cheese there and honestly didn't know what to expect out of the story. I read the first sentence and knew instantly that Jay's writing wasn't going to be anything to smirk at. It took one sentence for me to be addicted and one chapter for me to abandon every thing else I had planned for the day and devour this book.

My inner fan-girl is OMGing at that first chapter. It's a beautiful, beautiful love scene between Romeo and Juliet that draws you show more right back into the classic story that so tugged at your heart, followed by Jay's unique twist that breaks it far more than the original death scene did.

Juliet hates Romeo. He traded his soul mate for immortality, became a sick, murderous agent of evil and spends the next 700 years trying to rip true love pairs apart.

The Dread Pirate Roberts said "Death can not stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." No Wesley, death can give you a 700 year opportunity to kick the shit out of it.

Every so often, a true soul mate pairing will occur and with it, an agent of each faction. Juliet, of the Light, attempts to fully unite the pair, securing true love and win a point for the good side. Once her task is complete she fades away until the next pair appears. Romeo, an agent of the dark, also appears with each soul mate pair. His job is to convince one of the lovers to kill their lover in exchange for immortality. Accomplishing this wins a point for the bad guys and Romeo gets to stay on Earth, inhabiting a body until it's time for the next assignment. There's poor Juliet, pretty much dead until she's useful again, and Assholeo gets to play for Team Zombie (can I get a woot for anything Zombie!). Juliet enters the body of a girl named Ariel who has just deliberately crashed her date's (Dylan) car, almost killing him and leaving Ariel in limbo until Juliet leaves her body. It usually takes a day or two for Romeo to show up, giving Juliet time to settle into the life of the person she is inhabiting, but as Dylan begins to come to, there is something in his eyes that has Juliet instantly afraid.

"No. It can't be. We've never- He's never-
"Did you miss me, love?" he kisses me on the cheek, a rough, playful kiss that leaves a bit of wet behind.
Dylan has died after all. And Romeo has found a corpse. It's my last thought before his hands are around my throat."

Enter hero stage right: We meet a young man named Ben who, for reasons unknown, is startlingly familiar to Juliet. There's something reassuring about his presence- something that makes her feel safe with him. Something that makes her want him. It is not Juliet's place to feel an attraction to a mortal. She is not Juliet, she is Ariel and must preserve Ariel's life as best she can while fulfilling her duty to unite two destined lovers. It's been so very long since Juliet felt anything for anyone,other than the hate she has for Romeo, that this new emotion is something she craves more of. But she isn't really alive and she can never have him.

Are you squealing yet? Yes, it is over the top schmaltzy romance and I could smell a love triangle coming but I DIDN'T CARE. Jay's writing is gorgeous and the story is so wild and intense that I loved it, loved it! A highly imaginative twist on one of the most memorable and powerful love stories. It will have you running away screaming when you hear the name Romeo and yet, somehow it still manages to preserve the intense hope that true love can really exist. show less

This story of love and revenge is very well written and the concept is intriguing. Romeo and Juliet fighting each other through history, Juliet on the side of love and Romeo on the side of treacery. I have to say that I was drawn into the story but I feel that the end was sort of rushed and the world was just a bit hazy to me. But since the book is Young Adult I feel that I must put on my librarian hat here and make a few comments.

What I like. --- The writing, as I said is very good. The dialog is very believeable. I also like that Juliet is trying to improve the life of the person she has temporarily inhabited and not just dealing with the Soul Mates she is sent to help.

What I did not like -- Well this whole soul mate thing is a bit show more disturbing. It sort of reminds me of the reason I object so much to Twilight. The idea of this all powerful love that can drive people to doing stupid things, even to dying for love. I just don't think the message it sends to young people, particularly girls is healthy.

I also found the kids in this book and the whole town really disfunctional. I know that realism is important, but I thought the book went just a bit far in validating all the teen angst in the book. In this book, high school really is life or death and I did not like that.

As I said, I was absorbed by the story. It was not until I had finished it that I was disturbed. I think it is fine to read as long as some perspective is given to the book. I can also see this book generating some good conversations between parents and kids. And I admit that I will probably be reading the sequel. Well, I have to find out what happens, don't I. show less

I usually enjoy the retelling of old classics and I liked the premise of "Juliet Immortal" giving Shakespeare's story of the two star-crossed lovers a completely new twist. The story begins back in Verona, Italy, where the reader discovers that Romeo has sacrificed Juliet for his own immortality then quickly moves to modern-day California where Juliet has inhabited the body of a seventeen-year old girl so she can save true love against Romeo who is trying to destroy the human heart.

This book didn't really engage me. I felt that Juliet and Ben were just too good to be totally believable and I didn't like how their connection was practically instantaneous. Nor did I like how the author portrayed Romeo - a manipulative murderer who would show more do anything to get his own way. I also did not fully understand the role of the Mercenaries and Ambassadors throughout the story and at times found myself skimming through large parts of the book. Overall, I would have to say "Juliet Immortal" was quite ho hum! show less