The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen ★★★
“Because being valedictorian means that hard work pays off! Maybe high school isn’t so easy for all of us. Maybe some of us need to believe there’s something better waiting after high school is finished.”
I received this e-book from Netgalley. This does not affect my review or opinion. All thoughts are my own and I’m being 100 percent honest. Thank you to Netgalley and Second Story Press for providing me this e-book for reviewing purposes.
The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a cute and fluffy read. I finished it in a couple of hours so it was an easy read. It was however a little boring. I feel like nothing really happened and I would’ve loved to see more scenes between Alison and Charlotte.
Alison Green, desperate valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.
The plot was a bit lacking. At times I didn’t really understand what the plot of this book actually was about. I feel like the author tried to give us a lot of elements, romances, friendships, troubles at school, coming out… that it was too much for this book. Because of all these topics, there wasn’t a lot of depth in them. The book is only 200 pages so I don’t see how the author could’ve done that. I missed some more romance in The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life. I chose this book mainly because of the f/f relationship and it wasn’t all that present. I would’ve liked to see more moments between Alison and Charlotte.
I didn’t really care for or connect with any of the characters. It’s not that I hated them but I didn’t feel their struggles. This might be because I am a little bit too old for this book and I’m not in this situation anymore. Overall the characters were fine but I missed some more depth to them. The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life did have great friendships in it.
There are characters with different sexualities in this book and that’s awesome. I especially loved the fact that there is pansexual representation inThe Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life. I myself am pansexual so it was really cool to read about a character who has the same sexuality. I think 15-16 year old me would’ve loved it.
I do love this cover. It is absolutely gorgeous.
The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life was a fast and easy read. Not all books have to be action-packed or full of suspense. It was fluffy and I think teens would definitely enjoy reading it.
Would I recommend it? Not particularly. If you’re a teenager you might like this. I felt too old for this novel.
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