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lauramcc7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
emjen16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide
Minor: Eating disorder and Fire/Fire injury
wwsimon93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
jaimc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization
iane_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
augustrogue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Meredith: "Where did Alexander go?"
Me: "I don’t know."
Wren: "I'm worried about him."
...and then switches back just as abruptly, like it forgot it wasn't a screenplay for a second. Scenes that end abruptly for poetic/dramatic effect and then don't adequately explain what happened next. And I wanted a lot *more* of a relationship dynamic that was only lightly explored in the last 10% or so of the book.
The thing is, I actually *like* Shakespeare, quite a bit. The course I took on his plays was one of my favorites in university, and I still have a Complete Works anthology on my bookshelf. But I don't know, this book just made me roll my eyes a lot. At least the author acknowledges that the characters talking to each other in rapid-fire Shakespeare quotes about mundane things like they're ye olde Gilmore Girls (my own analogy, not hers) *is* super pretentious, in her ending notes. This book is for someone, maybe, but for the most part, it's not for me.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
sealbrecht's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Vomit
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
2.0
Personally, the touch of a play while reading was really cool. We get dialogue only, acts and more. The last play I read was really fun so seeing one now again makes me remember that I didn't read them in a while.
The acting was relatable as I am or rather was an actor myself. That's also the reason I wanted to read this book. Not 'cause of the Shakespeare and other historical stuff but the acting.
Some parts were actually crazy/interesting to read about as the book didn't really had the 'it was boring/too slow' problem.
Some examples:
Scene I Act IX was so crazy. Like it felt like real betrayal but also not. And what did James even imagine? What was that aaaah.
The II. Act was so sad. Especially scene II, I feel so bad for James.
I also think that Oliver has some character depth (Especially in the III. Act as we get to know his family)
The whole drama was the only reason I was still indulged into reading this. It kept me reading.
Since I didn't read the book for the historical stuff I got a bit irriated by the fact that Shakespeare got mentioned often. And with often I mean very often. I get it that's the theme/topic for Year 4 and our protagonists also play historical figures, but honestly it could have been mentioned a bit less and more story instead. It got too much that I, at some point, skipped the Shakespeare parts.
Also the book isn't very original if over 50% of it is just Shakespeare.
Never have I ever as an actor reinterpreted/recited my lines as first of all no one would understand, except me and secondly that's usually a thing poets do and not actors. The kids in this story did this and it made me feel weird. Just use your official lines and learn them properly.
The characters were so weird sometimes and before someone tells me: Some theatre kids are actually weird. Yes SOME and that's no excuse to include only weird characters.
We never got an explanation why Richard was so mad at some point. Never. Why was he? That apparently didn't happen the years before so that must have triggered something, but we never get any explanation. The other character also have no depth and they all fell flat (except Oliver, as mentioned above)
Meredith was such a useless character who was only depictured as a wh0re the whole time.
They did use for real, without jokes, as sexual orientation 'sexually amphibious'
The ending was so predictable. It was right the person you would feel suspicious at first. The ending is nothing shocking.
31. July 2024
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Alcohol
boaabie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The writing is beautiful, I can only hope to have a small amount of skill this author has to create such beautifully tragic scenes they have
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Alcohol
hdkroon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide