Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
North follows up on his previous choose-your-own-adventure Shakespeare, To Be or Not to Be, with another zany tale. North begins by explaining that this is the original work that Shakespeare plagiarized; it was "lost until recently" but that the author found it "just over there... Someone had put a coat over it." The reader can choose to follow Shakespeare's story, which is told in modern teen-speak sprinkled with more classical phrases and occasional extended passages of amazing iambic pentameter. Choosing this path, of course, leads to the untimely death of both protagonists in a crypt in Verona, but other paths lead to "happily ever after in Mantua," patrolling the streets of Verona in giant mechanical suits, or dying at the hands of ninjas and punks. The possibilities are certainly vast and there are great illustrations by a panoply of talented artists to tempt readers down other plot lines. There are even chances to play as other characters, and to choose your own sex scene. This book will provide readers with hours of somewhat twisted Shakespearean fun. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
With Shakespearean and classic romantic literature being introduced in high school, this book seems a perfect fit for teens. After all, Romeo and Juliet are teens, and they're in love-unless they're not. It's up to readers to choose. Maybe Romeo can't get past his lust for the unattainable Rosaline, or he'd rather hang out with his best buds Mercutio and Benvolio. Maybe Juliet follows her parents' advice and marries Tom Paris, or she flees the Capulet household to escape the arranged marriage and become a pirate. If the pair do manage to meet and fall in love, can they escape a tragic end? North has turned Shakespeare's play about star-crossed lovers into a seemingly endless game of choices, with the ability to play as either Romeo or Juliet and a guarantee that any path taken will turn into an outrageously silly adventure. For some threads, North cleverly inserts original passages from Shakespeare's work to heighten the comic effect. Gamers will be attracted to the format, and fans of North's comic book series "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" will already be familiar with his signature brand of humor. More than 80 artists have contributed an eclectic mix of original illustrations that highlight the hilarity of many of the possible endings. VERDICT Even incurable romantics are sure to find this a fun parody and a welcome diversion from the required reading list.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Dude! You won't believe this! An interactive novel updates the world's most awesome romance with new characters, plotlines, slang, puzzles, illustrations, and a cookie recipe. The best way to explain how this "choose your own path" rendition of Shakespeare's hoary old play works is to show you. This, for example, is section No. 155: "You look up to the balcony. A light is on inside! 'But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?' you whisper.A naked old dude steps out from the light onto the balcony.His naughty bits are dangling in the breeze....'AW GROSS, I THINK THAT'S HER DAD,' you say, moving away to investigate another balcony. 'NICE WEEN THOUGH.' " Then you choose one of these options: "Examine the nearby stone balcony: turn to 109" or "Examine some other balcony instead: turn to 167." If you choose 109, you'll be seeing a wrinkled old lady in a nightgownher mom. If you choose 167, you'll find the superhot mega-babe you met at that party last night. Then you make another choice, and so it goes, flipping back and forth through the book, until you come to one of more than a hundred different endings, each featuring an illustration by a dream team of cartoonists. You can choose to be Romeo or JulietTEAM MONTAGUE or TEAM CAPULETand depending on your choices, you may go to brunch with Benvolio at The Merchant of Breakfast, visit Ophelia in Denmark, or trade dumb sex puns with Mercutioand you don't necessarily have to die in the end! One of the options is to actually become Juliet's glovethough sadly, "gloves are not capable of sentient thought." North, who funded the first of these books (To Be or Not To Be, 2013) with a Kickstarter, has scattered the entire text of the play among the 474 numbered sections. "Seems pretty cool!" according to a high school sophomore, surely the target market for these high jinks. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
