Thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic addition to the reimagining of classics! I really enjoyed the writing and characters in this one. I don't want to say too much because it gets into spoiler territory but I liked the decisions made by the author in this one. I hope it gets more teens into Shakespeare's works!

Sweet and romantic! I really do love Romeo and Juliet retellings so much and this one didn't disappoint. I think I just love the overall tone of the whole book. Once again, I love the remix retellings and I will love and read every single one that gets put out!

This is a clever retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story with the twist that Romeo is gay and falls in love with Mercutio's brother, Valentine. Juliet still plays a part, as a woman looking for a way out of an arranged marriage. I thoroughly enjoyed how this impossible love found a way!

With such a beautiful cover I couldnt help but be drawn in to Teach the Torches to Burn. With it being a Romeo and Juliet remix I was originally nervous as, like many, I want more of a happy ending and this book (without any spoilers) delivers on that! The characters were very compelling and I really enjoyed our two MCs. A stunning retelling overall and I look forward to more of Caleb Roehrig's works in the future!

Such a stunning take on the star crossed lovers classic. This book does a wonderful job of telling the original story in an innovative way that preserves the reasons for why the original was amazing yet adding it’s own depth and value to a classic.

Loved this Romeo and Juliet retelling. It did such a good job of using moments from the original but spinning it into something else.

Romeo and Valentine were so tragic but sweet. I do wish we got more of Valentine. I feel like he was more in the background of scenes but Romeo's love of him made him into a character..

Juliet was a freaking badass and I loved her in this book.

First, thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for an eArc for this title in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I really enjoyed this one; there were some moments where I was taken out of the story, though that doesn't speak on the book itself. Overall, it's a great romance and a fun Shakespearean remix. I think I personally wanted a little bit more, but that's no fault of the author or the book!

If you haven't read any of the books in the Classics Remixed series, I'd recommend changing that. Some are better than others, but Teach the Torches to Burn is one of my favorites! Roehrig manages to stay fairly true to the story Romeo & Juliet even while removing the biggest plot point: the romance between Romeo and Juliet. The basics of the story are still there: romance, death, faked death, etc, but this time Romeo is gay and falls for his friend's younger brother Valentine while Juliet becomes his aromatic friend who also feels trapped by societal expectations. I felt the narrator was a little too dramatic at times, but I still really enjoyed listening to Teach the Torches to Burn!

Teach the Torches to Burn honors the themes from the original – the pressure of a name, of a legacy, and the intensity of the family conflict – while exploring new interpretations and layers. Roehrig examines the pressures we feel to “be” something, to have an identity that has been thrust upon us and is not ours. All the labels and stereotypes that are heaped upon us limiting the potential of our expression, of being who we truly are.

These remixes have been my favorite thing since they started. They are so so good. We all know the old stories but adding the diversity aspect to them is just making them so much more welcoming and interesting for the new age of readers.

Dare I say the gay remix of Romeo and Juliet is better than the classic? I do dare. Look, when I had to read the classic in high school, I just didn't care. I wasn't invested in the characters or story. *Enter Caleb Roehrig* and all of a sudden I am on the edge of my seat and turning pages faster than ever.

I genuinely cared about these characters and what happened and while yes, it is a retelling and some things are wildly predictable because of that- the spin and twists that are woven into this one was just *chefs kiss* perfection. The story takes the classic taboo of the main characters love and splashes some updated taboo onto it and makes it that much more enticing. I paired this read with the audio and I can't go without saying that the audio adds a performative flair of fun to the book.

If you're a fan of retellings, if the classic just didn't scratch an itch for you, if you simply love to read queer and breaking the norm reads- don't miss out on this one.

Here I am, again, swooning over a book’s gorgeous cover art! As much as I am a fan of retellings, I admit that the cover is what made me jump to request an ARC of Teach the Torches to Burn.

Roehrig’s writing style fits the historical setting and seems particularly suited to romance. The prose was poetic but easy to read, which is often a hurdle when staying accurate to more outdated mannerisms and dialogues. From the start, I loved Romeo’s banter with Benvolio and Mercutio, as it helped flesh out his character well before the romance plot began. I also loved the naturalness with which the remixed elements are incorporated—writing Romeo as gay and Juliet as asexual makes the romance relatable to different audiences without straying from the intense, illicit nature of the original play’s romance.

As always, however, I’m a skeptic of insta-love. I had no trouble believing Romeo’s feelings for Valentine when they first meet—them flirting with each other at a masquerade ball neither of them is supposed to be attending was adorable. After that, I think their relationship progressed too quickly (though that does hold true to the source material). When all is said done, after not speaking to one another since childhood, Romeo and Valentine have only been reunited for a couple of days before they’re committing to spend the rest of their lives together. Perhaps I would feel differently if Valentine had had more prolonged opportunities to display his personality, just as Juliet and Romeo gradually bonded over feeling stifled by familial and societal expectations.

Teach the Torches to Burn is a solid coming-of-age that pays homage to Romeo and Juliet with loving research, sweet romance, and a compelling touch of modernity.

Teach the Torches to Burn was a fantastic retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It follows the plot very loosely. If you read the play, you’ll recognize a few touchstone moments, but Caleb Roehrig really cleverly fits Romeo’s romance with Valentine in to the established tale seamlessly, using gossip to move different plots forward. I especially liked this because even familiar with the source material, I had no idea where this was going.

Book Tour Stop 🎉 (A day late because a ghastly migraine took me out but we're here now with only a lingering headache).

If you'd told me that I would finally like Romeo and Juliet if it were gay, well, I probably would've believed you because duh. But if you'd told 16-year old me I would've thought you were nuts.

Not gonna lie, Romeo and Juliet has always been one of the classics that made no sense to me. It was silly and rash and it always made me irrationally angry that people romanticized these teenagers' deaths. But I was somehow still hopeful for this retelling (because it was gay).

And I was right to be hopeful because Caleb Roehrig did Romeo and Juliet right. It's a soft and sweet retelling that manages to make some significant changes (looking at you gay Romeo and aroace Juliet) without outright dismantling the original. It's a beautiful example of how well retellings can be done.

I especially loved how sweet the romance was even throughout the trials and tragedy they face. I loved Juliet and was so happy to see her remain as a character and gain some autonomy and personality, and I also appreciated the representation of true Christianity. As an atheist, I struggle with religion but it was done so inclusively and wonderfully that I really liked it. A true example of love thy neighbor and all that.

I've now read most of these Remixed Classics and can safely say this one is right up there with Self-Made Boys as my favorites of the series and I highly recommend picking it up, regardless of whether or not you enjoy the classics.

Thanks so much to @coloredpagesbt @fiercereads and @calebroehrig for the opportunity to read this and for the finished copy.

Go forth and be gay!

I love a good Shakespeare retelling, and this one made me feel so many things! I loved the dialogue between characters, and the way they made decisions the way the first didn’t!

"No one has ever told me I might deserve to be happy on my own terms, rather than just happy with what I’ve been given. No one has ever told me I might simply deserve to be happy."
This was more believable to me than two meeting each other falling in love within a few days and then dying.
Romeo isn't attracted to any of the woman he's introduced to until a very attractive young man turns up at a party. He instantly feels an attraction and they make a connection, an impossible connection.

All the while a dance he had with Juliet is putting her in question and everyone is questioning her virtue, yuck. Both of them are so miserable and form an alliance. They both can't live the life they want. They are barely adults and are under so much pressure.

Juliet is asexual and trying to find her way out of an arranged marriage while Romeo just wants to be with who he loves. This is on the edge of your seat with the same plot points but isn't quite the same ending. Loved all the side characters. All told from Romeos perspective as well.

Thank you macmillanbooks for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

...sometimes the future simply happens, and we may only choose how to live with it.

I got lucky to snag this ARC at Yallwest several weeks ago and finally got around to reading it - and honestly, I'm mad at myself that I didn't do it sooner. I'm not partial to Romeo and Juliet at all but I absolutely loved this interpretation, and I breezed through the last hundred pages because I simply needed to know what was going to happen. It's a beautiful tale filled with love, found family, friendship, and such a heartfelt romance I couldn't just get enough of it at a time where such a thing wouldn't have been accepted at all. The hints of forbidden romance, though it's not between Romeo and Juliet this time, are still woven into the story, Juliet rightfully gets her own arc that isn't simply hinged on Romeo's story, and the beats of the original tale is integrated beautifully into this interpretation in a way that made me smile and cry at once. If you like a forbidden historical romance, this one is for you.

I love this retelling! It's like the best "fix-it" fic complete with queer rep. It follows the same story line of Shakespeare's play but with unique twists - Romeo is gay and, instead of falling for Juliet at her family's masquerade, he falls for Valentine, Mercutio's younger brother. I'm fascinated by how well the author wove these new elements in with the original story, making everything feel fresh and exciting. Friar Laurence, aka the best monk and confidante, is asexual and provides counsel and support for Romeo and Juliet. Yes, Juliet is a major character in the story! She's also aroace and not interested in marrying Count Paris or anyone, and helps Romeo as he quickly becomes entangled in more Montague and Capulet drama. I love how all the main characters work together and turn this famous tragedy into a triumph!

This was the perfect book to read on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It's all I could have wanted from a gay Romeo and Juliet retelling. The romance is so incredibly sweet, and I loved that Juliet was a separate fully fleshed out character in her own right aside from the romance - she wasn't replaced. I love this kind of loose retelling - keeping certain elements of the story, and particularly a similar atmosphere, and changing other elements to update them. In this particular case, I especially loved the writing style.

Don't be surprised in a few months when I make my list of favourite books that I read in 2023 and that this book is on the list. This book just had me from the first page and never let me go. I just wanted to keep reading this book.

I am a massive fan of retellings of classic stories and this one was everything I could have ever wanted. I loved how this book took on the trope of Romeo and Juilet and kept all of the main elements of the story, but also adapted it in a way that was super unique and felt like a new story of its own. I absolutely love the original Romeo and Juliet and this story was just such a fun take on it that I had the best of time seeing this book how changed the story and what parts were taken from the original story. I found that this story just had the best balance of everything when it came to a retelling and it was just so lovely to read.

I just loved the romance and the characters in this one, Romeo and Valentine. I felt like these two were just made for each other and they had such a good chemistry and they complimented each other so well. I loved reading all of their interactions and seeing how they acted around each other, it was just the sweetest thing in the world to me.

This was just such a wonderful book to read. I was so fascinated by everything that this book had to offer and I had the most wonderful time reading this one. Even though I knew the basics of the story of this book, this book still captivated me and had all of my attention, cause I just wanted to see what would come next.