My first book of the year was a pick by the Ravenclaw bookclub. I'm pretty open to trying out new authors and genres and try not to allow myself to get stuck in a book rutt. I've never read anything by Fortier and was intrigued by the Shakespeare meets Da Vinici Code references on the cover blurbs. I like Shakespeare and while I was not impressed by the Da Vinci Code, I liked the idea behind it and honestly only saw the movie.
I'm not impressed by Juliet. Like Da Vinci, I like the idea behind it: the "plague on both your houses" from Romeo and Juliet stems from a true story and a curse that has followed two families throughout the generations. Our modern day heroine, Julie, discovers she is a decedent of Juliet's family and travels to Italy to find out the truth of who she is and where she comes from only to be swept up in a mystery, conspiracy, and adventure.
The story is told in two intertwining parts, modern day with Julie and 1340 where we learn the true story that inspired Shakespeare. The two stories are told every other chapter flipping back and forth between the two time periods. The 1340 parts of the story are by far the superior half of the book. The voice of the narrator, the strength of the heroine, and the familiar yet totally new storyline make for a fun read that has you waiting for the next chapter set in 1340. The modern day parts are sorely lacking in everything that makes 1340 fun. The "heroine" (and I use the term loosely) of the modern story line, Julie, does little more than drift through her own story waiting for others to push the action forward. She doesn't discover anything, doesn't decipher the clues, doesn't put so much as two and two together. She is told where to go by characters who also tell her what to look for and then tell her what it means when she finds it.
Characters we're supposed to dislike are more enjoyable and interesting than the main character of the story who we are meant to care about, only you don't. Julie suffers from the same deficiency that Katniss, Tris, and Bella all suffer from: she's written with just enough detail for the reader to insert themselves into the story and experience the "romance" of it all and daydream about Romeo coming to rescue them. The problem is she isn't given enough personality to make you want for her to end up with Romeo in the end. As a matter of fact, I wanted her twin sister (who you're not supposed to like) to have the happy ending. Her sister was a bit of a bitch and a flake, but at least she seemed like an actual person. Julie came off as a whiny brat who just wanted everything handed to her so that she could have her happily ever after without doing anything to deserve it. The modern day storyline is told from Julie's perspective and the only other character that she has positive feelings for is the butler that treated her with favoritism over her sister while they were growing up. Anyone who doesn't treat her like a princess or challenges her in anyway she assumes is against her and jealous of her and just not as amazing as she is. The aunt that raised her bent over backwards for her sister and shunned poor little Julie (prime example: her sister, Janice, is a heavy sleeper who sleeps through any alarm clock their aunt buys for her. Poor little Julie had the same alarm clock her entire childhood and to add apparent insult to alleged injury Janice's alarm clock wakes her up!) Julie has an over-inflated ego and a victim complex and is underwritten which makes for a boring and many times annoying character to follow. The women in the 1340s portions of the book and stronger and more deserving than Julie and they are treated as, and think of themselves as, men's property.
I've not read anything else by Fortier so I can't say if this is just her style of writing, or if she bit off more than she could chew, or even if she needed a month or so more to polish up the story. I'd be willing to try another one of her books to see if it's just this particular one that I'm not a fan of, or if I'm not a fan of her writing.
That being said, it is a New York Times Bestseller book so I'm probably in the minority in my opinion.
3 out of 5 stars.
I'm not impressed by Juliet. Like Da Vinci, I like the idea behind it: the "plague on both your houses" from Romeo and Juliet stems from a true story and a curse that has followed two families throughout the generations. Our modern day heroine, Julie, discovers she is a decedent of Juliet's family and travels to Italy to find out the truth of who she is and where she comes from only to be swept up in a mystery, conspiracy, and adventure.
The story is told in two intertwining parts, modern day with Julie and 1340 where we learn the true story that inspired Shakespeare. The two stories are told every other chapter flipping back and forth between the two time periods. The 1340 parts of the story are by far the superior half of the book. The voice of the narrator, the strength of the heroine, and the familiar yet totally new storyline make for a fun read that has you waiting for the next chapter set in 1340. The modern day parts are sorely lacking in everything that makes 1340 fun. The "heroine" (and I use the term loosely) of the modern story line, Julie, does little more than drift through her own story waiting for others to push the action forward. She doesn't discover anything, doesn't decipher the clues, doesn't put so much as two and two together. She is told where to go by characters who also tell her what to look for and then tell her what it means when she finds it.
Characters we're supposed to dislike are more enjoyable and interesting than the main character of the story who we are meant to care about, only you don't. Julie suffers from the same deficiency that Katniss, Tris, and Bella all suffer from: she's written with just enough detail for the reader to insert themselves into the story and experience the "romance" of it all and daydream about Romeo coming to rescue them. The problem is she isn't given enough personality to make you want for her to end up with Romeo in the end. As a matter of fact, I wanted her twin sister (who you're not supposed to like) to have the happy ending. Her sister was a bit of a bitch and a flake, but at least she seemed like an actual person. Julie came off as a whiny brat who just wanted everything handed to her so that she could have her happily ever after without doing anything to deserve it. The modern day storyline is told from Julie's perspective and the only other character that she has positive feelings for is the butler that treated her with favoritism over her sister while they were growing up. Anyone who doesn't treat her like a princess or challenges her in anyway she assumes is against her and jealous of her and just not as amazing as she is. The aunt that raised her bent over backwards for her sister and shunned poor little Julie (prime example: her sister, Janice, is a heavy sleeper who sleeps through any alarm clock their aunt buys for her. Poor little Julie had the same alarm clock her entire childhood and to add apparent insult to alleged injury Janice's alarm clock wakes her up!) Julie has an over-inflated ego and a victim complex and is underwritten which makes for a boring and many times annoying character to follow. The women in the 1340s portions of the book and stronger and more deserving than Julie and they are treated as, and think of themselves as, men's property.
I've not read anything else by Fortier so I can't say if this is just her style of writing, or if she bit off more than she could chew, or even if she needed a month or so more to polish up the story. I'd be willing to try another one of her books to see if it's just this particular one that I'm not a fan of, or if I'm not a fan of her writing.
That being said, it is a New York Times Bestseller book so I'm probably in the minority in my opinion.
3 out of 5 stars.
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