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bookcub's review
4.0
It's been a while since I did a review, but this book was so much fun!!!
Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play, so I had pretty high expectations, and I feel as though this book lived up to them!!! It stuck very closely to the original plot, adding in more scenes and fleshing out the characters, which enhanced my enjoyment of the story. Very loyal adaptation, though in a way I wish it had been a little less loyal, but that's spoilers, so I'm not saying more on that subject.
I want to quickly address the characters, as they are always the best part of a book for me.
Bee aka Beatrice- My all time favorite Shakespearean character and my dream role!!! Bee was a wonderful modern adaptation of Beatrice. I loved that the author wasn't afraid of making her cast incredibly diverse, both with race and queerness. And I know there are issues with black women being portrayed in the media (for so many reasons) but Bee was a well rounded character, shown as both desirable and powerful and that rep I found very important. She was fiercely loyal and proud and a total goofball as well. I adored her and also think she's demisexual (look, she only has feelings for one person and constantly talks about how she hates relationships and doesn't understand why people are obsessed with them)
Ben aka Benadick- My socially awkward nerd, I adore him too!!! He is such a good friend, and loves being Bee's friend, even though he loves her romantically. Seeing his struggle between his loyalties to his all his friends when they split up. He was very sweet and super awkward and made him a nice change from most male romantic leads in contemporary novels. Also, I was worried he would be a whiny white boy, but instead he just really sucked at expressing his emotions and was quite insecure. (also totally might be demi, sadi very similar things as Bee and only has feelings for her.
Hana aka Hero- I thought depression instead of physical illness worked for the shift in time period. I also like whenever books address mental illness, I think they are helping with the stigma against mental illness. And having a bisexual major character was one for the main things that drew me to the book. Her relationship with Bee was wonderful and I love when siblings are put front and center because we don't see enough of them. (psst I didn't ship her with Claudia) (I know, but Hero and Claudio has never been a ship of mine) (it's not terrible, I just don't root for them)
As to the rest, I thought the author did a good job making the charters relatable, even the jerkier ones. Like, John I found slightly more sympathetic than Donald, but I was still not a fan. And Margo had a nice arc as well.
Additional notes: I found the ending to be rushed and the writing style to be a little underwhelming and the amount of characters made parts overwhelming, but overall, very enjoyable.
I would recommend this to anyone who either loves Much Ado About Nothing or is looking for more diversity in their realistic fiction and enjoys YA books.
Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play, so I had pretty high expectations, and I feel as though this book lived up to them!!! It stuck very closely to the original plot, adding in more scenes and fleshing out the characters, which enhanced my enjoyment of the story. Very loyal adaptation, though in a way I wish it had been a little less loyal, but that's spoilers, so I'm not saying more on that subject.
I want to quickly address the characters, as they are always the best part of a book for me.
Bee aka Beatrice- My all time favorite Shakespearean character and my dream role!!! Bee was a wonderful modern adaptation of Beatrice. I loved that the author wasn't afraid of making her cast incredibly diverse, both with race and queerness. And I know there are issues with black women being portrayed in the media (for so many reasons) but Bee was a well rounded character, shown as both desirable and powerful and that rep I found very important. She was fiercely loyal and proud and a total goofball as well. I adored her and also think she's demisexual (look, she only has feelings for one person and constantly talks about how she hates relationships and doesn't understand why people are obsessed with them)
Ben aka Benadick- My socially awkward nerd, I adore him too!!! He is such a good friend, and loves being Bee's friend, even though he loves her romantically. Seeing his struggle between his loyalties to his all his friends when they split up. He was very sweet and super awkward and made him a nice change from most male romantic leads in contemporary novels. Also, I was worried he would be a whiny white boy, but instead he just really sucked at expressing his emotions and was quite insecure. (also totally might be demi, sadi very similar things as Bee and only has feelings for her.
Hana aka Hero- I thought depression instead of physical illness worked for the shift in time period. I also like whenever books address mental illness, I think they are helping with the stigma against mental illness. And having a bisexual major character was one for the main things that drew me to the book. Her relationship with Bee was wonderful and I love when siblings are put front and center because we don't see enough of them. (psst I didn't ship her with Claudia) (I know, but Hero and Claudio has never been a ship of mine) (it's not terrible, I just don't root for them)
As to the rest, I thought the author did a good job making the charters relatable, even the jerkier ones. Like, John I found slightly more sympathetic than Donald, but I was still not a fan. And Margo had a nice arc as well.
Additional notes: I found the ending to be rushed and the writing style to be a little underwhelming and the amount of characters made parts overwhelming, but overall, very enjoyable.
I would recommend this to anyone who either loves Much Ado About Nothing or is looking for more diversity in their realistic fiction and enjoys YA books.
emilykatereads's review
4.0
This book was so fun. Ridiculously dramatic, but so fun. But what else could you expect from a retelling of a Shakespeare play? I'm ashamed to say I've never read Much Ado About Nothing, but I've read enough Shakespeare to know that this book was true to your stereotypical Shakespeare play. If this wasn't a retelling, I would've been unsure about the over-the-top drama, scheming, and miscommunication, but for the purposes of this story, it was perfect.
This story features two couples (Ben/Bee + Claudia/Hana) and we're thrown right into the drama that occurs between them at summer camp. We're immersed into multiple POVs that aid to our full experience of the story and for us to get the full effect of the dramatic irony. And there sure was a lot of it. The setting of a summer camp worked as a perfect setting for this story to unfold. Where else could this amount of events happen in such a short span of time and be completely realistic?
The pacing and writing were consistent and kept me hooked. I don't often read while eating, but I found myself doing so during my short breaks at work just so I could keep reading to find out what happens next. This was honestly just such a good, fun read.
On top of a feel-good, drama-filled read, this book was great for diversity. I am so here for the happily queer characters. Coming-of-age queer stories are important, but we need more stories in which queer characters are happily living as themselves and just providing great representation. We don't have as many of these yet. This story gives us just that and I love it. Plus, a topic touched upon is that Bee is from Ethiopia and adopted into her family in Maine, and we also get a look at mental illness with Hana.
Overall, if you're looking for a quick, easy read that'll be entertaining, pick up this book.
This story features two couples (Ben/Bee + Claudia/Hana) and we're thrown right into the drama that occurs between them at summer camp. We're immersed into multiple POVs that aid to our full experience of the story and for us to get the full effect of the dramatic irony. And there sure was a lot of it. The setting of a summer camp worked as a perfect setting for this story to unfold. Where else could this amount of events happen in such a short span of time and be completely realistic?
The pacing and writing were consistent and kept me hooked. I don't often read while eating, but I found myself doing so during my short breaks at work just so I could keep reading to find out what happens next. This was honestly just such a good, fun read.
On top of a feel-good, drama-filled read, this book was great for diversity. I am so here for the happily queer characters. Coming-of-age queer stories are important, but we need more stories in which queer characters are happily living as themselves and just providing great representation. We don't have as many of these yet. This story gives us just that and I love it. Plus, a topic touched upon is that Bee is from Ethiopia and adopted into her family in Maine, and we also get a look at mental illness with Hana.
Overall, if you're looking for a quick, easy read that'll be entertaining, pick up this book.
hopecatena's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
spectrumgaymess's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I picked this up because I wanted a gay story. And I went into it thinking it was just going to be a split perspective between the two sisters. But by the 5 or 6th different perspective I was ready to give up. If you’re gonna try and do that many different voices you better make sure you have to talent to back it up. This author doesn’t. Also? Every single character sucks. Varying degrees of suck, but they were all bad. They were supposed to be a group that’s been friends for years spending every summer together, yet they all turn on each other with no hesitation or questions asked, no trust between them. Make it make sense. The gay relationship gets put through the ringer because of the whims of a vile straight man, who faces no consequences, and then they still don’t even get to be happy in the end! I finished this book just so I could say I finished it and leave a review but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, please don’t read this book. Save yourself
theybedax's review
4.0
This was a fast read and super cute too bout. Things that are wonderful/notable about this book:
1) bisexual/pansexual character
2) gay characters
3) many POC characters
4) differing socioeconomic backgrounds
5) depression/anxiety/therapy talked about openly
6) bullying and its effects
7) adoption
8) abusive relationships - being in them, their effects, getting out of them
9) gossip and miscommunication and why this will ruin everything!
1) bisexual/pansexual character
2) gay characters
3) many POC characters
4) differing socioeconomic backgrounds
5) depression/anxiety/therapy talked about openly
6) bullying and its effects
7) adoption
8) abusive relationships - being in them, their effects, getting out of them
9) gossip and miscommunication and why this will ruin everything!
letsgolesbians's review
2.0
I almost gave this a third star because of the queerness and diversity, but...nah.
I will admit, I don't know Much Ado About Nothing and have no idea if this was a good retelling; it's possible some of the things I didn't like are things from the original play (e.g. I thought this was over-dramatic but apparently Much Ado is also quite dramatic).
There were far too many narrators in this and it followed far too many people. There was a lot of diversity and two of the girls were queer, but the voices all kind of sounded the same and it was difficult to keep track of everyone and remember what they looked like. The book felt choppy and disjointed, and the first section of camp was way longer than the second. I didn't the the dialogue felt realistic, but it's obviously been a while since I was a teenager, so that could just be me reading this as an adult.
Skip this one.
I will admit, I don't know Much Ado About Nothing and have no idea if this was a good retelling; it's possible some of the things I didn't like are things from the original play (e.g. I thought this was over-dramatic but apparently Much Ado is also quite dramatic).
There were far too many narrators in this and it followed far too many people. There was a lot of diversity and two of the girls were queer, but the voices all kind of sounded the same and it was difficult to keep track of everyone and remember what they looked like. The book felt choppy and disjointed, and the first section of camp was way longer than the second. I didn't the the dialogue felt realistic, but it's obviously been a while since I was a teenager, so that could just be me reading this as an adult.
Skip this one.
megj23's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse and Panic attacks/disorders
kj468's review
The writing was so juvenile that calling it juvenile honestly might be an insult to juvenile writing. The teenagers didn’t talk like teenagers (from any era, not just modern teenagers); have you ever heard a teenager use the word “jerkwad” seriously? Because I certainly haven’t.
Additionally, it seems that every character has their own POV. I understand giving the main four characters while make up the main two couples their own POV, but I gave up when a sixth POV was added (and was a character who’s name I didn’t even recognize).
I was excited for this book, because I love Much Ado About Nothing, and was excited for a queer, modern retelling at a summer camp. I thought it would be a nice summery read, but it was just frustrating instead. I disliked it so much that I walked half a mile home from
the beach to get a different book to read.
Additionally, it seems that every character has their own POV. I understand giving the main four characters while make up the main two couples their own POV, but I gave up when a sixth POV was added (and was a character who’s name I didn’t even recognize).
I was excited for this book, because I love Much Ado About Nothing, and was excited for a queer, modern retelling at a summer camp. I thought it would be a nice summery read, but it was just frustrating instead. I disliked it so much that I walked half a mile home from
the beach to get a different book to read.
emsems's review
3.0
Liked it overall, though not necessarily my favourite. The amount of characters and POVs was confusing in the beginning. I'd say I got intrigued in the book about halfway through.
3.5 overall
3.5 overall