I really liked the concept for this book, but it ultimately wasn't for me. Total subjective though and I think this book would be great for other readers!

DNF

If you're going to retell Much Ado, the Beatrice/Benedick banter needs to be on point. Beatrice's lines are stale and Ben has no comebacks.

"Nothing Happened" is a pretty apt title for this book considering I read 27% and...well...nothing happened. There were too many POVs and not enough actually happening. I'm bummed because yay diverse characters, but I just couldn't get into this. DNF.

Whenever I try to start writing this review I become an effusive Jonathan van Ness from Queer Eye. What is not to like? This is a queer retelling of my favorite Shakespearean play set in a summer camp. Get thee to a book shop forthwith!

This is a fun, cute take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Rumors fly at a summer camp in Maine, the hook-ups, the scheming, the mosquitos...everyone gets caught up in it - even the campers.
Could be a great book to read along with Much Ado About Nothing.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title following several attempts to complete the novel, resulting in a DNF, and the fact that the title has been archived.

This book wasn't for me. I haven't read the original play this is based on, but even still it felt slow and flat.

(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

3.5 stars. This retelling of Much Ado About Nothing is fine, just fine. I am, of course, ALWAYS down for retellings that increase representation, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community.

Here are some things I loved about this book:
*Multiple perspectives, so TWO queer POVs (Claudia & Hana)
*POC & adopted kid POV (Bee)
*Discussion of mental illness
*Basically, the whole book is a lovesong to summer camp, and I love that.

I wish, I wish, I wish...

...I wish BEE & Ben had been the queer characters, since Claudio ends up totally jumping to conclusions about Hero and I'm not sure why she takes him back in the play at all... it would have been much better, IMO, if the queer love had been slow and smoldering instead of "I love you! J/K, I don't trust you!"


...I wish we'd been given even more about the mental illness. I wanted this book to be a bit heavier than it was, and this is one of the glimpses of depth we got. Between this and Ben's home life, the heavier issues were there, but we only saw the very tip of the iceberg.


...I wish John had had a bit more depth. He just felt totally cartoony, but I think there was the potential for a LOT here. I liked all of the John & Donald backstory, but again - only the tip of the iceberg.

Basically, I think the author went for breadth instead of depth. This is a book with a lot of ambition and heart, and a fun retelling of Much Ado.

I received an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in this book. It had a lot of my buzzwords in it: Shakespeare retelling - specifically of my favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, LGBT characters, summer camp setting, POC characters, and more.

As a concept for an Ado retelling, this works. changing the estate to a summer camp makes sense, and everyone's relationship to one another makes sense too, like Hana and Bee being adoptive sisters, John being the stepbrother, and more. The route the author took to modernize the story makes sense.

Unfortunately the writing itself was so damn corny I literally outwardly cringed all the time. There were exclamation points where there definitely shouldn't have been any, the characters would seemingly start talking to the reader randomly, sometimes new characters or camp rules were introduced without any explanation, which left me confused. Kangaroo court, for example, was first introduced as a reference to a past drama from like 3 years prior. And then the next time Kangaroo court happens, we're in the middle of it without knowing what the hell it is.

I will say I really loved Bee as a character. She is fierce and wonderful and I just adored her completely.

I wish I could give this more stars, because I am in love with the idea of this book. But for me it ended up feeling childish and a bit unpolished.

This is a character-driven young adult novel based on the plot and character arcs of "Much Ado about Nothing". While the action takes place at a summer camp, the campers themselves are hardly seen nor do they seem to have too much effect on the drama that is occurring. That being said, there are a lot of characters to keep track of and since there are a couple "plots within the plot", it is important to remember who is actually aligned with whom.

One of the compelling aspects of the book is that homosexuality is presented as equally viable to heterosexuality within the narrative. The older sister gives her younger sister advice about consent, etc regardless of the gender expression and sexual preference of her partner. There is a closeness between the sisters that is actually more of a connection in the book than the closeness between the male and female protagonist.

I did not feel that I got quite enough of Ben to have a full understanding of his motivations. Of course, if the reader is to understand that "nothing happened", then perhaps more from Ben's perspective wasn't needed. I felt like I knew more about Bee and her hows and whys, so Ben was a sketch instead of full color and the mismatch caused unevenness in the narrative.

This was a little outside my preferred genres, but it was a good read. I would recommend it to early high school students.

As a Maine resident who has been to many summer camps, I was thrilled to see a book set in a place I was so familiar with. Nothing Happened lived up to my experiences wonderfully. Booth uses this authentic backdrop and a revolving cast of characters to reframe Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in a modern, youthful light. Each chapter is told in the perspective of different characters in the novel. Booth makes good use of diversity covering characters with variations in race/ethnicity, sexuality, neurodiversity, and socioeconomic status. Sisters Bee and Hanna are at the heart of this book and their bond keeps everything together, even when gossip and rumors threaten to knock everything off kilter. Something happened between Bee and fellow counselor Ben the previous summer, and drama abounds. The setting and situations feel authentic to the semi-rural camp experience and teen lives. Characters could use with some better definition--there were times where the voice of one character blended into another--but the story was still satisfying to read. Another great story that shows young readers how applicable Shakespeare is to their lives!

Nice job on retelling the story of Much Ado. The flashbacks were a good touch, as was the family subtext for Ben. I like the genderflip for Claudio. But some of the details of the plot, just like in the original, got too complicate for its own good.

3.5 ☆s - 'Nothing Happened' is a fun and quirky YA contemporary that is actually a modern day retelling of Shakespeare's comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. The drama unfolds at a kids summer camp called, Camp Dogberry, on the coast of Maine. I did have fun with this one but also had a few issues with it that I will touch upon briefly here. For me personally, it felt a bit young in comparison with most of the YA contemporary I read. That feel held throughout the story so I have a feeling this one would be enjoyed more by individuals who are actually younger than I am (and since that is A LOT of readers, I think this will do great!) With this in mind, I was surprised at how much alcohol was consumed by the characters in this book - I know some of the characters were in college but many were not. I am certainly not being prudish about this, I know underage drinking is a thing, I mean, I was young once, but I don't think I have read a YA Contemporary recently were it was so much a part of the story line.
Another slight issue I had was that the story follows multiple POVs and cycles through these views rather quickly and steadily. This being said, it can be hard to follow in the beginning as you are learning the characters, their personalities and backgrounds. Multiple times I had to skip back to the chapter head just to remind myself who I was following at any given point. For me, I felt the characters lacked their own 'voices' - they all sort of sounded the same so it was really hard to decipher at times whose chapter you were actually in.
The story did move along quickly - pushed along mainly by gossip and angst but really, if you read the synopsis, that's what we're here for!
I loved the relationship between the MC sisters, Bee and Hana - it was 100% supportive and loving. Bee is the older girl and is adopted from Ethiopia. I thought that was handled well. Hana, the younger of the two, battles depression and I also felt that was handled well. The love relationships were a mess but that is what brought the drama. No one was communicating, everything was getting messed up and around and around it went, like a perfect Shakespearian comedy. Claudia, Hana's love interest, was hugely self-conscious and jealous and I'm not sure if she actually learned anything by the culmination of the story; poor Claudia.
With all of this being said however, it was good! It was a quick read and would be perfect to take on a weekend holiday or to the beach. I am sure teens will find it fun and relatable. The relationships were dramatic, over the top and actually believable. I want to thank the publisher, Disney-Hyperion, for providing me with an early copy to read and review. As always, I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to seeing other readers thoughts on this one!

So. I'll start my review by saying that a lot of things happened in Nothing Happened. It's filled with drama. And I love it.

I've only read one of Shakespeare's plays so far (which is A Midsummer Night's Dream!). I knew nothing about Much Ado About Nothing, but this book really caught my eye because SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE? COUNT ME IN! Before I started reading Nothing Happened, I did a bit of research - and just in case you haven't read the original play, here's a quick synopsis from Wikipedia - Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar on the erroneous belief that she has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the two couples.

Although I've never read the play before, I really like seeing how similar it is to the retelling, and the author did a really great job of putting a modern twist on the story. I especially loved what she did to the names! In case you haven't figured it out already, Benedick = Ben, Beatrice = Bee, Claudio = Claudia, and Hero = Hana. And the author managed to creatively fit the whole "tricked" thing into the story so perfectly!

Another thing I love about this retelling is the diversity of the cast. Hana and Claudia are queer and are still trying to figure out their sexuality, Bee is adopted, and she's originally from Ethiopia.

I love reading from multiple POVs. But the multiple POVs in this book made me really confused in the beginning. EVERYONE SOUNDS ENTIRELY THE SAME, and I had trouble remembering the names of all the characters. However, as the story goes on, I got the hang of it and started enjoying the advantage of being able to know what EXACTLY is going on. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Ben, Bee, Hana and Claudia when they get tricked.

Overall rating

★★★★

I received this ARC for a blog tour. Unfortunately, I did not have time to finish it; however, from what I did read, I did not entirely enjoy. The narrative shifts too often, through too many points of view. Personally, it was confusing, as I could not keep track of the characters. It did seem like a cute story, and other than the problems mentioned above, I liked the writing.

Nothing Happened was a very cute retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, taking place in a summer camp.

Bee is not too excited about Ben returning to her family's summer camp this year, last year was supposed to be his last. Why would he return after the last summer they spent together, he didn't even call Bee back after a midnight make out session . On the other hand, Bee's sister Hana is excited that Claudia will be returning as a camp councillor again, they have kept in touch all year and Hana has hopes that maybe they will be able to take their relationship to the next level this summer. Unfortunately John also has a crush on Claudia, and he won't let Hana stand in his way.

One of the things I liked most about this book was that it had so much diversity in it. Not only did it have tons of people of colour, but is also contained multiple characters in the lgbt community. But on the other hand, this book contained too many character POVs, I couldn't keep up with all the different characters, and who's brain I was currently in and who was friends with who. I think if the story was told just from Bee's or both Bee and Hana's points of view, the book would be much easier to follow.

The story itself was alright. If you haven't read or watched Much Ado About Nothing before, then you might be in for a good surprise because Shakespeare's play is definitely a good one. But if you're like me and you've read/watched the play before, this won't be that special to you. And yes while this is a retelling, the story was basically the same with just a few gender switches, a different setting, and more modern english.

Overall, I did enjoy this novel, but there wasn't anything about it that really stood out and made me say wow. If you're really into Shakespeare, or think this will be a cute read, then I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

DNF @ 45%

I was not a fan of how this one started. There were way too many POVs and the story wasn't that intriguing. I didn't like the casual aspects of well this is clearly a thing because we're at camp that weren't given any more detail. This should have been a book I adored - Shakespeare retelling, set at a summer camp, LGBTQ+ romance - but no. It took too long to get anywhere interesting, I don't care "what happened," and the LGBTQ+ romance was so rushed and is going to be overshadowed by the heterosexual one so I really don't care. I couldn't bother finishing but based on the current trajectory, it would have been a 2 star read from me.

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to get my hands on this copy because of the author and the premise. It was a perfect campy mix of young summer love and d r a m a. The overall plot was good, I felt that the misunderstandings and tension between the main characters were believable and I have no qualms over that.

I will say that I was not a fan of the multipov. It really took me out of the story when we kept switching from camper to camper. In my opinion, it would have done the story more justice if we had stayed in one or two povs. Not only did we not get much depth into each character, but the voices were not distinct enough to know whose head you were in. They all had the same tone, same sarcastic wit, it made it indistinguishable to know who was who. In addition, I felt the voice for the main characters read as too young. We have a range of 16-19 but they all read as much, much younger. I would have liked, for instance, Ben's perspective to have had a more mature read, as he had just finished his freshman year of college.

Overall, it was a quick, lovely spring read. The plot was solid, but I felt the multipov was distracting and the characters read as very young.

Note: Because I did not finish this book, I will not be giving it a star rating on my blog.

I ended up DNFing this book at 45%. It was good and I’m hoping to try again later, but it’s a slow read and I wasn’t getting especially into it. If you like Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, this is a pretty close modern summer camp adaptation of it. It’s very cute and fluffy but I had some trouble with the pacing. There’s quite a few flashbacks and frequent changes in perspective which just didn’t work for me right now. Maybe later this summer I’ll give it another go. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fluffy, dramatic YA contemporary.

I really liked that this was a fresh update on one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing. I think students will enjoy the summer camp setting. It also explore a range of relationships, including a young gay romance. This connects to play I like to teach in an inclusive way, I would recommend it to students.