Fair Rosaline is a clever, well-written take on one of the most famous stories of all time: Romeo and Juliet. Unlike most other retellings or adaptations, Natasha Solomons takes the perspective of Rosaline, Romeo’s love interest before he meets Juliet. Solomons incorporates a modern point of view and sensibility without it overwhelming the story or language, as well as interesting historical detail that grounds the story in ways the play does not in its high drama. Rosaline’s family dynamics and relationship with her younger cousin Juliet and cousin Tybalt, both of whom we see in a different light than often portrayed, are fleshed out while Romeo is shown differently as well. Solomons explores what life was like then beyond the more focused original story, layering in complexity around gender, family, and manipulation.

At not quite sixteen years old, Rosaline Capulet should not have needed to attend the burial of her mother. Yet, thanks to the plague making its violent way through Verona, Rosaline is left with a father who does not always treat her with the respect she deserves. No sooner do Rosaline and her father leave Verona for the relative safety of the nearby hills does Rosaline learn of her father’s wish to banish Rosaline to a nunnery to avoid having to amass a dowry for her. After much pleading, Rosaline is granted a meager twelve nights to live what life she can before she is locked into the convent to which she has been sentenced, and in that short time Rosaline experiences more than she ever thought possible.

This novel is an excellent fit for readers who enjoy Shakespeare reimagined in more accessible vernacular. Its story describes both events that precede Romeo and Juliet and the famous tale itself, and it is presented using a blend of contemporary and Shakespearean style language. Though this design can be challenging for some readers, it offers a high class feel for Shakespeare aficionados. As Rosaline is the focal point of the story, she becomes a richer character than she is in Shakespeare’s famous work, and her strength gives the famous tale a more robust feel than it has on its own. Though there are times when the book’s presentation requires strong focus, the plot is engaging throughout, and Rosaline is both a complex and relatable character who is true to many of Shakespeare’s other writings.

Fans of Romeo and Juliet will see Romeo through different eyes by the conclusion of this book, especially as he shifts from dashing hero to feared villain. References to unprotected sex out of wedlock, abusive relationships, and the suffering that came from both the plague and overworked mothers appear throughout the novel, and they may prove to be intense for more sensitive readers. Overall, this narrative gives readers a glimpse of the famous Romeo in a new and unforgiving light, and it is an enjoyable tale for readers who appreciate the depth and breadth of Shakespearean literature. This is a unique addition to library collections for young adult readers, and it is a daring companion to Romeo and Juliet.

As a staunch Shakespeare lover, I was so excited for an “untelling” of Romeo and Juliet focusing on the Rosaline perspective… this was not that. The plot was overwhelmingly out of left field and I felt the narrative read very much like a teen drama, with VERY adult themes (ie a pedophile ring with Romeo as its leader?) The idea for this book was brilliant and I was so looking forward to it and found myself incredibly disappointed. Would have loved to see a strong FMC Rosaline standing up to Romeo and having her own moment in tbe spotlight (much like in the tv show of that name that came out recently).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Fair Rosaline is a feminist retelling of Romeo and Juliet told through the eyes of Rosaline.

I'm always a fan of a Romeo and Juliet retelling, since there's such flexibility for thematic exploration in the story, and this retelling definitely leaned into that thematic exploration. In all, I kind of felt like the characters weren't real. Or, at least, they weren't particularly unique, but rather operated on some distinct character archetypes to better tell the story. I'm not sure that this is a fault, especially since any enrichment of Rosaline's character is infinitely better than the absolute lack of character she gets in the source material, but it was an interesting thing I found myself kind of mulling over as the story played out. In some ways, I do wish that Solomons had pushed this story even further or gone a little darker. It just sort of felt... normal. Like I wanted it to carry more weight in the end than it did.

Even so, I did really enjoy this read. It was quick and easy, and it certainly gets you thinking. Plus, Rosaline gets a voice, a trend that's becoming more popular with R&J retellings and which I am all for!

When reading a literary retelling of Romeo & Juliet from the perspective of Rosaline, you expect certain things. Romeo probably doesn't come off very well, for one. Juliet might get her fair share of criticism. But I wasn't expecting to ~feel things~ for Tybalt...

So yeah, this is a retelling of what many consider the "greatest love story of all time" from the perspective of the girl who got dumped right before those lovers met. And, as it turns out, he was a real POS. As the book opens, Rosaline's mother has just died, and Rosaline's father has decided that the best thing for her future is to send her to a convent. He gives her a two week grace period before she has to enter. She decides to cram in all of the living she'll miss out on into those fourteen days, including sneaking into a Montague party where she meets Romeo. The older man seems to have a second sense for sniffing out vulnerable girls. Rosaline is drawn deeper into his machinations, and when she breaks free, he immediately latches onto her cousin, Juliet. As Rosaline desperately tries to save her cousin, the only person she can confide in is their other cousin Tybalt, her closest friend and childhood companion.

If you know Romeo & Juliet, then you know the outlines of the story after this. But, because it is a retelling, the reader desperately hopes for a different ending for the characters we've come to know in a different way. This isn't an easy book to read; Romeo is a predator who's already gotten away with so much, while Rosaline and Juliet are truly 13- and 15-year olds who don't have the maturity or the familial support to push back. That said, it's always worth the effort to take another look at the works of art that form part of our understanding of literature in general.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

This is an untelling of Romeo and Juliet, the greatest love story of all time. The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, bereft with grief over the loss of her mother is determined to spend her final days doing everything she will be missing out on, before her father sends her to live at the convent. She meets Romeo at a masquerade party, and falls hopelessly in love with him. He compromises her virtue and promises to marry her, but keeps putting off the wedding date. Knowing her days are numbered, before she must enter the convent, Rosaline begins to doubt Romeo's love for her. She breaks off the match, only to have him immediately turn his attentions toward her thirteen-year-old cousin Juliet. Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo?

This feminist revision of the story paints Romeo as a predator with a history of seducing and then discarding young girls. Because it never explicitly states in the original version of Romeo & Juliet what his age actually is, this could very well have been the case. I thoroughly enjoyed this prequel to Romeo & Juliet. It was a fresh & original idea and I loved how she brought Rosaline to life. I definitely recommend this one!

Fair Rosaline is dark, ugly, and exposes the possibility of a very, very sinister side of Romeo and the Montagues (and basically everyone besides the Capulets.) While yes, Rosaline is still a great heroine, there were too many convenient plot holes- and said plot leaned heavily on the guilt of men all being disgusting pigs, rather than being a tale of youthful folly with tragic consequences. I find it difficult to believe that Romeo (and Juliet) was anything more than a dumb teenager who made selfish choices, so this was much more sinister than I expected.

Though I do give credit to Solomons for her writing and creativity, personally I felt that the plot was too far out, and things tied up in an unsatisfactory manner- both too convenient (again) as well as unrealistic based on the way Rosaline had been portrayed through the novel.

Overall, not a win for me. Rosaline is such a wide-open character, so I love seeing interpretations of her potential, but the deviation from the classic tale was too out of left field for me.

I really loved this book! I love the concept of a Shakespeare "untelling", especially about a typically forgotten female character. It was an easy read/listen, but the writing was beautiful and propelling. I highly recommend it!

4.5 stars. This absolutely gorgeous re-telling of one of Shakespeare's tragedies, comes from the perspective of Juliet's older cousin, Rosaline, who, you will remember, Romeo was in love with first.
This novel is brave and bold and dares to challenge this "love story". Because after all, all told this was a 3 day affair between a very young girl and a much older young man, that ended in the deaths of 4 people. I promise that this story has a much better ending than Shakespeare's.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Landmark Sourcebooks for this e-arc.*

Thank you @netgalley & @bookmarked for early access to this book. It publishes on Tuesday, 9/12!

Here we have the story of Rosaline Capulet, a very minor character in the original story of Romeo and Juliet. She was Romeo’s lover prior to Juliet, and in Solomons’ story Romeo is an absolute villain. Rosaline becomes privy to this, and then makes it her mission to stop him, and ultimately, save her younger cousin from his grasp.

In an effort to be completely transparent, this book bored me half to death lol 🙃 I found myself never wanting to pick it up, and it took me a long time to get through.

I typically loooove retellings, but I think I’ve noticed that I prefer a retelling with a modern spin. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet is a very old story, but I was just hoping the writing would flow a little better and it would feel lighter.. but it didn’t. It was very wordy and dry, in my opinon.

I did, however, like the very last part that tied everything together. I also liked the feminine perspective and tenacity in this version of the story.

I think it’s important to note that just because I didn’t enjoy this doesn’t mean it wasn’t well done. If you love Shakespeare, you very well might love this book - it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for providing me with an advanced digital copy for review. The opinions below are my own.

This novel was a delectably dark and innovative feminist twist on a Shakespearan favorite. We have always assumed that Romeo and Juliet were two young star-crossed lovers, fated for doom. But this retelling portrays Romeo as someone much more sinister and predatory in nature. I mean, this man is a walking red flag. His penchant for young girls leaves behind a wake of misery, torment and even death. The entire town seems culpable in enabling his behavior. That is, until one of his jilted conquests takes matters into her own hands to protect her younger cousin, Juliet, from certain peril. Enter Rosaline.

In the original play, we are only told of Rosaline through mere mentions or lewd jokes. It was refreshing to hear the story told through a new perspective. Rosaline is not like the other girls: she is mischievous, a bit sassy, has an independent spirit and has darker skin than is favored for her era. I liked seeing her character develop throughout the story. She begins as a somewhat naive and disenchanted girl but by the end, she is a strong and devoted woman. Her bond with Tybalt was especially endearing. I didn’t think it would be possible to feel empathy with the character who had for so long been rendered as a villain but surprisingly, he proved to be one of my favorites.

It was a little slow to ramp up but I became emotionally invested more and more as I read. During the second half especially, I couldn’t put it down. I really wanted Chris Hansen to pop out from behind some trees and tell Romeo to “have a seat” while he shamed him with the lurid details of his indiscretions and hauled him away. Rest assured, though…the ending proved quite satisfying. The writing felt accessible yet appropriate for the period. I also thought the author did a great job of painting the setting and adding specific thematic details that added to the foreshadowing (i.e. the bees/honey).

I would recommend this book to anyone, especially those who are fans of Shakespeare and can appreciate artistic liberties being taken to the original work. The cover is also deserving of a round of applause and I need a copy for my shelf immediately upon publication.

Some of us remember reading Romeo & Juliet in high school. Most of us probably remember the movie we watched in class better than the actual play.

A fewer number of us studied the play in college, and some of us now read it every year because we teach it. (Me. That's me.)

I've never been a fan, honestly. It seems too trite to call it a love story. After all, what do we really know about Romeo? Or Juliet, for that matter? All we really know is how it ends.

This book is a commanding reality check. Rosaline makes a powerful main character, and offers a story to be reckoned with! Imagine, if you will, that Rosaline is given a bit of a Rumspringa before being sent away to a nunnery. Not in a fun-adventure way; but in a dark desire-filled desperation way.

The Montague family reminds me of the Prince Prospero in Poe's Masque of the Red Death.

"Why you would want to go to that dreadful Montague place, I cannot fathom."
Rosaline smiled. "It whispers of dark delights."

The Capulets seem incredibly shallow, overall. Juliet is sweet, but a bit vapid. The whole family, especially Rosaline's father, is so wrapped up in appearances and status and family fortune.

And Romeo? Well. "It was this dirty rotten city that allowed Romeo to rise and move unseen."

As Rosaline's story collides with Juliet's, it's possible you'll never see the Bard's original in the same way.

The remarkable thing about this book, however, is that the author manages to keep the language and cadence of Shakespeare's writing. It's incredibly clever. And, the author explains the old feud between the families, while crafting a unique story. Not only that, the author gives us fresh eyes on the time period and what life was really like for young women of the era.

This was such a great retelling! I enjoyed watching the story unfold from Rosaline's point of view as it gave a fresh perspective on the tale. All the main characters from the original are included and you get to see them from a new lens that wasn't possible in the original tale and it gives them more depth. I think this book will play well with fans of Romeo and Juliet.

Imagine taking the story of Romeo and Juliet and turned it on its head, and that Romeo wasn’t the star-crossed lover of Juliet but instead a serial predator of younger girls. That’s the underlying premise of this fresh, feminist reimagining of Shakespeare’s quintessential love story, which focuses on Rosaline Capulet instead of her younger cousin Juliet.

This is the best way for a retelling to be – faithful to the original in many ways, but completely subversive in others. Much of the framework feels familiar to the Shakespearean version, but the characterization feels fresh and relevant. Romeo is a silver-tongued hottie who takes advantage of naïve teenage girls. I wanted to yell at Rosaline and Juliet not to be taken in by his pretty lies, but of course a young woman of yesteryear likely wasn’t very worldly and would have been flattered and besotted by Romeo. It’s a treat to see Rosaline’s story in the spotlight as she develops into a loyal and fierce protector of her loved ones. The prose is lush and descriptive and totally immerses the reader in fair Verona with just a hint of modern flair.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I received an audio ARC of this book and will be leaving my full review on that copy.

The first half of this book has been incredibly interesting, I found the take to be unique and paying its due to one of the more overlooked characters in one of the most famous plays of all time. The author is fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fair Rosaline is a wild feminist romp into Romeo and Juliet's Verona.

If you ever found yourself wondering about what Rosaline ever did to deserve being such a one off couple of lines in Shakespeare's work, Solomons explores why that could have been. Through a modern feminist lens it really is an interesting idea of what we believe to be a love story and how that reality could have been a lot different.

Rosaline's mother has died and with that means that she will be sent to a convent. In her last days of freedom she finds an all consuming love that she believes will save her. When it doesn't, what can she do?

I thought Natasha Solomons added so much depth to these characters and I loved the reading journey. Rosaline gets to be our hero and I love how so many tropes and expectations were subverted. A real joy to read if you like Shakespeare and are up for a different, bold retelling!

I grew up being told that Romeo & Juliet was a love story, I think everyone was, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually really stopped & thought about what the play really was. It was a story about how a young girl (not even fourteen) was swept up by the words of a boy (man? Not once is Romeo’s age mentioned) that bounces from one love of his life to another in just one night.

What this book does is put the often overlooked Rosaline front and center as she see’s who Romeo truly is and attempts to save her cousin from being destroyed by this man like so many before her had been.

This book is definitely a must read.

You gotta be willing to go with the flow to enjoy this retelling of Shakespeare from the point of view of Rosaline, who was used and discarded by Romeo in favor of Juliet. Yes it's a divergence from the plot and yes Solomons has created a character out of a word (and blended in characteristics, as she says, from others in the canon with the same name) but give this one a chance and you might find yourself appreciating the fresh look. Many of Shakespeare's works have been "adapted" to modern times and this is perhaps the sharpest of those, framing Romeo as a user, the Friar as promoting, well, bad behavior, and so on but that's not an entirely bad thing. Stagings of the play have created an aura about this pair that ignores the reality of what Shakepeare actually wrote. So with that as a preface, Rosaline is an interesting character with a certain amount of backbone that the original did not give her. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Some readers will hate this but taken for what it is, it's a good read.

Unfortunately, this was DNF for me. The plot simply moved way too slow and I never was able to connect to the characters. I’m sure this will be someone else’s cup of tea! It just wasn’t mine sadly.

As I’ve mentioned in reviews before, I am a sucker for Romeo and Juliet retellings/reimaginings, particularly ones where Romeo is, for lack of a better word, a total douchebag. Fair Rosaline absolutely nailed it in many ways, but Romeo’s villainy is definitely top of the list. It did take me a little bit to hit my stride with this book, but once Rosaline met Romeo, I was pretty well hooked. I absolutely loved how Rosaline was written. She was strong and loving, but also a little naive in the ways of love which made perfect sense for a young girl in that time. Perfect prey for Solomons’ charming and predatory Romeo. However, seeing her recognize all of his little red flags, even in the height of her love for him, really demonstrated how love, especially first love, can truly blind us and we can find all sorts of excuses for bad behavior. Also, I loved the way Tybalt was written. He was still hot headed, quick to anger Tybalt, but he had a softer side, a loving nature for his family and those he cared for. Honestly, I thought this was one of the better R&J retellings I’ve ever read. It’s certainly an interesting take from Rosaline’s POV and reiterates the fact that Romeo and Juliet were never meant to be a love story, they were meant to be a tragedy.
TW: death, violence, pedophilia

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.