I've always loved the story of Romeo and Juliet. It's a classic and one of the very few Shakespeare books that I actually paid attention to in high school, so I was very curious about When You Were Mine after reading the blurb. I never thought about what it would it be like from Rosaline's perspective and I gotta tell ya, I was mighty impressed.Rebecca Serle spins a remarkable tale of teen angst, broken hearts, hope, family drama and tragedy all mixed together in a high school setting. The writi...

"Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends." This line right here sold me on the book.

This book is a real snarkfest, in fact I kind of wish someone other than me was reviewing this right now, I have a good many friends who could really go to town on this one. The author successfully manages to be sexist to both men and women, indulge in a bout of slut-shaming, and completely miss the point.I actually really like Shakespeare most of the time, but I think that Romeo and Juliet is one of his weakest works - or one of my least favourites, anyway. The greatest love story of all ti

Sometimes a book calls out to you, be it for all the right or wrong reasons. When it comes to re-imaginings of age-old tales and classics of the literary pantheon, one must tread lightly, particularly when entering the realm of William Shakespeare. It’s important to remember the cultural and historical context of his work when applying it to a modern day setting. It’s possible to remain faithful to the source material while still adapting it to fit today’s moral & societal changes. A good exampl...

Gentle reader, I wish to spare you my suffering. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury this book, not to praise it. When You Were Mine is awful. It is not simply awful it is bitter, stupid, sexist, and above all a lie.Actually, no. The worst part really is how grossly sexist and simplified it is. The author says she had her own heartbreak and "turned the experience into this book," which shows because Rose's bitterness is very authentic. There are times, brief and fleeti...

Rebecca Serle's When You Were Mine is a sort-of modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet , with a slightly different focus. (Apparently at the start of the play, Romeo is in love with Roseline, and he goes to a party to try and catch sight of her, then Juliet enters the picture. Story over.)Roseline and her best friends are excited that senior year of high school is about to begin, and they’re ready to make it the best year ever. She’s hoping that she and Rob, her longtime crush, will finally...

It's no secret the greatest love story ever told is no love story. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy—a tale of bigotry, and murder; a story about a thirteen year old girl and a fickle, capricious boy, ending in suicide and tragedy for all. But what if it was wrong? Or not the whole story? Turns out... it’s every inch as heartbreaking, and if Rebecca Serle does one thing magnificently, it’s laying on the heartbreak. Grab your tissues and your comfort food, and prepare to fall in love... You know what...

The review is also available on my blog, Bows & Bullets Reviews****MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS****This book had my full attention as soon as I read the description. Finally! Someone who remembers that Romeo was all in love with someone else at the beginning of that horrid play! What this awesome author does is take The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet and set it in modern times, telling the story from Rosaline’s perspective (the girl Romeo was all in love with until he set eyes on the wonderful Juliet and ful...

2.5 starsWhen I first heard about this book I was quite intrigued with the idea of telling the story of Romeo and Juliet from Rosaline’s point of view. The girl before the girl. So I was a little disappointed when I started reading and realised that this was actually a contemporary novel, based on the famous play.For one thing, the little we know of the original Rosaline was that she rejected Romeo (I’ve always doubted she was the first girl Romeo had proclaimed his undying love to) and Romeo la...

When You Were Mine is an extremely compelling book. It's much more difficult to explain than just simply saying a modern recounting of Romeo and Juliet. In my opinion it was much deeper than a mere recounting of a story. I just can't think of the best way to describe what it's like, other than that. It's a complex and rich love story, filled with both grief and happy moments. Rebecca Serle has come out swinging with this beautiful debut novel.Most of us know the story of Romeo and Juliet. It's c...

Frankly, that was an absolute clusterf*ck.Full RTC

A finished unsolicited copy was provided by the publisher for review.Reading the description off the back of this book made me think it was about Romeo and Juliet, but it wasn't. It was better. The story follows Rosaline, Rob's best friend and next-door neighbour. Following a long summer without Rob, Rosaline develops real feelings for Rob, and without any explanation, Rob finally makes a move, and the two start dating. Their senior year of high school start and with that comes the privilege of

Originally reviewed here.WHEN YOU WERE MINE came and went across my radar after I took a brief glance at its cover and mentally relegated it to the Jennifer Echols realm of contemporary YA romance. I enjoyed Going Too Far, but haven't loved her others or found myself in the mood for more of the same since. But that judgement was admittedly based entirely on the cover, font, tagline, etc. Then I read Carla's review over at The Crooked Shelf, and I took a second gander. Shakespeare, you say? Retel...

Review originally posted in: http://forget8me8not.blogspot.com.au/...Cover:I adore the yellow sunset background and the image of the boy and the girl about to kiss which I assume represents Rob and Rose. I think I like the UK/AU cover more than the US one!Story:What if the greatest love story ever told was the wrong one?When I first heard of When You Were Mine, the only thing I knew was that the book is a re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, set in the modern world. What I didn't know w...

WHEN YOU WERE MINE wasn't what I was expecting from the summary and reviews. As you probably know, WHEN YOU WERE MINE is a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET through the point-of-view of the jilted Rosaline. I had this imagine in my head of a crazy passionate romance between Rosaline and Rob, suddenly interrupted by her sociopathic cousin Juliet. It would then go into thriller territory, with Rosaline trying to save Rob's life. That's not quite how the book goes.Rosaline...

Note: This is a short ramble. I won't be doing a full review :)I was very disappointed by When You Were Mine. I enjoyed Rebecca Serle's most recent novel, The Edge of Falling, and expected to enjoy this one even more. However, I was very bored most of the time and, in my opinion, the writing was very bleh. Also, I feel as if the portrayal of Rob and Juliet was poorly done. I hated the way Juliet was blamed for the relationship. I won't be writing a full review as I feel as if the slew of other n...