Saving Juliet

I had one great, enormous, fun, time reading Ms. Selfors’ book, “Saving Juliet.” The cover grabbed me first, and then her prologue had me cracking up – I LOVE THIS STORY! Not since Anne Fortier’s treatment of the legend (the medieval story line in her book, “Juliet”, not the modern story line that runs parallel) have I enjoyed a story this much. This is my favorite legend of all time and so far, Ms. Selfors’ treatment of the characters and the plot is exquisite. I’m already envisioning Molly Quinn from ABC’s “Castle” and Justin Bieber as the Mimi and Troy characters in the movie.

Ms. Selfors takes a well-known legend and spins it into something fresh, interesting and poignant at places, hysterically funny at show more others. I don’t think I’ll ever get Romeo and Benvolio singing Troy’s hip-hop song “Girl, oh oh oh oh oh, girl…” out of my head.

The story: Mimi Wallingford is a 17 year old scion of a New York/Broadway acting family (think, Barrymore, as in Drew) who really doesn’t want to act. She has to put up with a stage mother from Hell and on her shoulders is the impossible task of saving the family owned and run theatre where the lights should have dimmed a long time before. To put new life into the theatre and earn some desperately needed revenue, her mother stages a version of “Romeo & Juliet.” Mimi is reluctantly thrown into the production with a California teen heartthrob singer/actor named Troy Summers, who is brought in to generate audiences – that ‘flavor-of-the-month’ pop star all the girls scream after, but a young man who isn’t what you expect him to be.

Troy and Mimi find themselves in 16th century Verona and Mimi decides to save Juliet and have a happy ending to the world’s most famous tragedy- but I invite you read this wonderful story to find out how it unfolds. Suffice to say, there are a few plot twists and great dialogue that make it a real page-turner. I wish I could get a poster of the cover – it’s fabulous!

One criticism, however – the digital edition is rife with typographical and formatting errors – including an embarassing “Saving Julite” in large bold letters on the title page and frontispiece. Shame on the editors for not giving Ms. Selfors’ work the care and quality editing it truly deserves. show less

I picked up this book during my last trip to the library in the mood for a good romance book. I figured since it was based on Romeo and Juliet, the most famous love story of all time, I wouldn't be disappointed. While I did enjoy the story, it did disappoint in the whole romance department. There was maybe two actual romantic scenes. Enough with me ranting though, let's get to what I actually thought about the book.

While the book was hard to get into, once I got to the part where they enter Shakespeare's world I was hooked. I loved that Selfors took shakespeare's story and provided her own spin on things and made it more relatable to the modern teenager. She did a great job at not making the twists too predictable either, and while this show more is definitely no tragedy, there were a few surprises along the way. One of those suprises was when you met Juliet she was a spunky and adventurous girl who the nurse referred to as Beastie. In contrast when you meet Romeo he is completely love sick over Rosealine and mopes around for most of the book.

Selfors also did a good job at keeping the setting accurate to what you would find during the time period Romeo and Juliet was written. I think the constant setting helped keep some similarities to the original Romeo and Juliet.

All in all the book had a great idea for a story line, but the events that happened only needed 100 pages, not 256. I actually enjoyed it more then I thought I would after reading the first 20 pages and would recommend for anyone in the mood for a twist on a classic to read it.

Writing: 3/5 stars
Characters: 3/5 stars
Plot/Setting: 4/5 stars
Ending: 5/5 Stars
Cover: 3/5 stars

Review can be found here -
http://themortalslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/09/release-date-jan.html show less

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.

Manhattan meets Verona in this time-bending twist on Shakespeare.

When Mimi is magically thrust into the middle of Shakespeare’s Verona, she must find a way to help Juliet fight for her future happiness. Will she be able to give this classic tragedy a happy ending? (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

This was such a cute, fresh, fun and fast read. I loved every page of it. Mimi was hilarious and Troy was annoying in a funny way. I really liked Selfors' Romeo and Juliet. She brought a new life and a new twist to them.

I have never read a re-telling that had this twist on it, so that was great. It was a very original idea and Selfors did a fantastic job in telling her show more version. The descriptions of 16th century Verona were so vivid you could almost smell the decay in the streets.

All of the characters were believable and Selfors explains why the characters speak in English and not in Shakespearean English. All of the questions of why, she explained which is great.

If you like re-tellings or Shakespeare in general, I would highly recommend this book.

* Paperback: 272 pages
* Publisher: Walker Childrens; Reprint edition (March 31, 2009)
* ISBN-10: 0802798314
* Author: Suzanne Selfors
* Cover art: I love the mix of modern and 16th century.
* Overall rating: ***** out of 5 stars.
* Obtained: My personal bookshelves. show less

Saving Juliet is the story of Mimi, a reluctant teen actress trying to escape her destiny and the part of Juliet. Due to misadventure, she and her teen pop star Romeo, find themselves in Elizabethan Verona and within the tale of Romeo and Juliet. This is a good companion to the play, it will stand up on its own but will make more sense if you know the details of the original story. Along with taking a trip though Shakespeare, the story deals with learning to be yourself, and standing up for what you believe in. I liked how each chapter had a Shakespeare quote to set up the action. And Mimi is a great narrator for her story. She is smart and funny and far from perfect. She often breaks the fourth wall and talks straight to the audience show more which makes her entertaining and covers over any of the more contrived bits. show less

I really enjoyed how this book ended up. At first, I was a little sick of the whiney main character, but throughout the book she really grew into herself. Basically, the plot is that she is performing in Romeo and Juliet, as Juliet, and is having some serious nerves. A necklace her aunt gave her (with the ashes of Shakespeare's quill inside supposedly) shatters and she and her costar - a pop star who she both loathes and wants - are transported into Romeo and Juliet - only this time, things happen a little differently. Overall, I really enjoyed the book.

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

"This above all: to thine own self be true." Shakespeare. This was the underlying theme in this excellent story about growing up.

Mimi Wallingford is the last in line of a Shakespearean acting family. All her mother wants her to do is be a Shakespearean actress in New York at the family theater. All 17-year-old Mimi wants is to be a normal teenager.

She wants to go to college in Los Angeles and study medicine. She wants to see the world. When we first meet Mimi, she is playing Juliet. Her Romeo is teen pop star, Troy Summer, who has ego problems. Mimi is attracted to Troy but can't believe he would ever look twice at her.

After having a very bad evening, she and Troy are transported to the show more very real story of Romeo and Juliet. She meets both of the main characters and is surprised when Juliet is having the same problems with her mother as she is with her own.

Lady Capulet is a major villain in this story. Mimi and Troy learn many lessons and help Juliet and Romeo find their destinies, while getting the confidence to solve their own problems. They also do this with an incredibly happy ending.

It is very gratifying to have another story based on the classic Shakespeare story. I loved the way that the author headed each chapter with a quote from Shakespeare which applied to the chapter and the story line. I really enjoyed this book, and if I was a ninth-grade teacher I would have my class read this after we studied Romeo and Juliet; but, alas, I am only a fifth-grade teacher! show less

Original post at The Little Bookworm

Mimi is playing Juliet at her family's renowned theater, The Wallingford Theatre though she is suffering from stage fright. She's been acting ever since she was 3 so this sudden onset of stage fright is causing her big problems. Also causing her problems is her mother who wants to control Mimi's life and dictate where Mimi should go to college. On the night of the final performance of Romeo & Juliet, Mimi is magically transported, with her gorgeous co-star Troy Summers, to Verona, Italy and into the story of Romeo & Juliet. But her presence is changing the story and she doesn't know how to get back to her life. Can Mimi save Juliet and save herself?

It was a very cute book, a little contrived, but cute show more nonetheless. It didn't take much time to read. I understood Mimi's problems and her mother was so overbearing that it was ridiculous. Lady Capulet was the same way. The author tried very hard to parallel Mimi's problems with Juliet's, but sometimes it was a little forced. And I wasn't really crazy about Troy. He just bothered me. It was cute how Mimi changed the story of Romeo & Juliet and it all ended up alright. It was fun seeing the characters of the classic play reacting to life outside of that story. All in all, it was a cute, fun book. show less