The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is about Allison Green, who gets roped into producing the school play during her senior year of high school. The show turns out to be Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, one of its stars turns out to be a girl Allison very much has a crush on, and things just sort of snowball from there. Allison has always been obsessed with being valedictorian, but will Ye Olde Shakespeare Disaster and her fully realized crush derail her plans of academic grandeur? And if they do, would she actually be okay with that?

I really enjoyed this little book about high school and first relationships and changing your mind about someone. While Allison is the first-person narrator and the only one who seems really fleshed-out, this kind of works in the story because it keeps the reader fully entrenched in her point of view.

Side note: one of the previous reviews mentioned being unhappy that the book didn't seem to make a point of using the word "lesbian," instead opting to have Allison refer to herself as gay a lot. Gay has become a sort of shorthand for both mlm and wlw, and I don't really have a problem with the lack of use. In fact, I think it allows readers to see the connections between Allison and one of her production team members, Zach, even though they are different "types" of gay. I did very much appreciate seeing the word bisexual written out, because that's not something that happens very often, even in queer lit.

I was honestly really looking forward to reading this because of the fun cover but it was a little of a let down. I thought it was going to be a quirky little book full of humor and it honestly was not bad I just feel like it wasn’t for me. Nothing against the author or the story. I just couldn’t get into it.

I was expecting it to be a bit better than it was, specially because the cover looks so pretty and fun. I felt like the story was very rushed, specially towards the end which was the play and the actual focal point of the story. The characters were very unlikable and were always causing unnecessary drama every two seconds. I felt like the author had a lot of different ideas and wanted to put them all in this book, but it just didn't work. I did really like the romance aspect of the story and the fact that it was a f/f relationship, but there wasn't enough of it and it didn't save the overall messiness of the story.

This book caught my attention with its strikingly fun illustrated cover. I was searching for a book in the Pride section, I was delighted to find this fun teen novel that reminded me of a good old 90's movie plot. In short, this is a story of a hard working teen who is working towards becoming the valedictorian of her school. Her life gets a bit crazy after agreeing to help produce the school play. It is funny, cute and fresh.

I really enjoyed that this book has contributed to 'normalizing' diverse reads and making these stories more accessible to people , this book especially for a younger audience. It makes me happy to know that a teen that might be finding it difficult to find any kind of story that they can relate to, besides the heavier books created for adult readers, that this book will be there as a fun, cute romantic teen comedy. This to me, is the ideally how any teen's life should be, their biggest worries in high school should be getting goods grades and balancing their social lives, it should not be hiding and shrinking themselves in fear of bullies and prejudice from peers and family members.

There were some things that I did not particularly enjoy. The author clearly does not want to present stereotypes in the story, As the main character does mention that she hates stupid stereotypes. But I found that many of the characters were stereotyped. In saying this, as it is a teen novel, this might represent how these teens feel that they need to be to show who they are. I remind myself that I cannot compare how adults would think and act to how teens think and act.

I would strongly recommend this novel to a teen audience, I think they would absolutely love this story.

Review posted on Goodreads
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3/5 Stars

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Second Story Press for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review!

I was super excited about this book because from the synopsis, it sounded like a book that I would love. In the end, the story really fell flat to me and I didn't end up loving this book. I think my issue is that I never really ended up connecting with the main character on a deep level and, due to that, never really connected to the romance. I found myself more interested in some of the side characters and their stories. I think the disconnection came from the writing and the pacing of the story. The writing was not my favorite, and the story's pacing was really slow. I found myself having to put this book down and pick it back up a few times while reading it. In the end, I thought the book was okay, but it didn't meet the high expectations that I had for it.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

This was really cute!!! Ahh!!
Honestly tho, there were quite a few points that I didn't like. For instance, I didn't like the MC and thought she was really very pretentious. But at the same time, I did like her humor and human nature. She felt real at some points so it was good. She did make a hell lot of mistakes tho, not gonna lie, and some of the misunderstandings / mistakes just seemed too childish and petty.

Nevertheless, I liked it. So Alison gets to produce the school play, which is ofc, Shakespeare's midsummer night's dream. And at the same time, she's also trying to be more open of her sexuality. The story basically revolves her trying to manage the play, fall in love, mess up her friendships and just well - mess up and then mend lol.

I but wished there were more scenes of the rehearsals. I really enjoyed whatever few were of them.

There were, to begin with, a lot of stereotypes in the story, which the author tried to tackle too. Like, the Goth girl who's an artist, the fact that a girl is a lesbian because she has a certain type of hair etc etc. Things like these crept up a lot in the book, and the author did try to counter them.

Honestly, the humor was good. I loved it, I loved how awkward and clumsy Alison was and her monologue was humorous haha. She was too much of a perfectionist at times and got into messes, but still her character added fun to the story.

It is a very fast paced book and the story literally starts from the first chapter, with Alison getting to produce the play. It is neat with excellent writing style and is cute and adorable.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an e-arc.

I’m so surprised as to how much I liked this book and how happy it made me.

But before we get into all of that, let me tell you what the book was about. The book follows Al or Alison who is in school and her dream is to be the valedictorian. She’s been vying for it all her life and thus, when a teacher asks her to produce this year’s school play, she says yes in the hopes that it would improve her chances to be valedictorian. Also, she finds it hard to say no to people. RELATABLE. The cast of characters come together to then put this play together and while all of this is happening, one of her best friends, Jack thinks he likes her and in the meanwhile she thinks she definitely likes this other girl called Charlotte.

This book was just SO CUTE. And fast paced. I flew through it because I’ve lived their lives. I too was an overly ambitious child in school and I too put up Shakespearan plays in my hay day. The characters and their relationships felt real, well rounded and relatable. I liked the points of discussion as well as the representation (lesbian, gay, pan). I would definitely like to see more of these characters in hopefully upcoming books by the authors.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would give it a 4-4.5 star. :) Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

This book is outstanding! As someone who was a gay theater kid, this book was written by someone who has seen it all. The main character is Alison, who gets voluntold that she is producing the school's production of Midsummer Night's Dream. She accepts because she is in the running for valedictorian and she thinks it will look good on her college applications. She has no theater experience and no clue what kind of wild ride she agreed to. Meanwhile, since most people don't know she is a lesbian, she gets asked out by a guy friend that her best friend has a crush on, she's trying to be less awkward with the girl she has a crush on, and she's got to deal with her little sister. To complicate her life, all of these people are involved in the production. Add in attempting to bring together dramatically different and difficult artists for the set and costumes, an actor quitting last minute, and a closeted actor having a dramatic breakup with the costumer and Alison's introduction to theater is hilarious and real and I couldn't put it down! As a former theater kid, this book could have easily been a memoir instead of a work of fiction.

I adored this book, YA fiction is delightful and this work is fantastic. I read this book in one sitting and as soon as I finished I sent a test to a group chat of old high school theater friends telling them that it was one they should preorder because this author has been in the trenches- excuse me, been in the wings- and knows what she is writing about. The writing style was wonderful, it was a delight to read to the point where I almost forgot I was reading. The characters were well done and very relatable. The plot was spot on, and the book had me laughing so hard.

This is a very funny book for YA readers, and especially those who are (or are not) familiar with Shakespeare. It's quintessential YA and it's very funny witty writing.

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆; 𝒋𝒐𝒚’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
- 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen is the debut YA contemporary novel, which talks about the main protagonist Alison Green, and her entire one year of school life. It is about being a queer at school, accidental date with the best friend, friendship, etc.

Alison is smart, witty, perfectionist and desperately wants to be the valedictorian (student who delivers valedictory at the graduation ceremony), she agrees to produce her school's play which is based on the Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. And the things thathappens because of her mind completely occupied in order to perfect her school's play.

So alot of things happen in this 300 pages book, but what I don't like is being called as "Gay" and not "lesbian". Atleast in fiction I expect the proper use of words so that people who might read this should feel comfortable with their own identity. But at the same time one time mention of the word, "Pansexual" really made me happy to see it.

I personally think the queer of this book should have been handled better. Overall, I personally think this is a one time book but I did not see the development of the main character across the story. I felt the story went round and round with her each day of school and play, and ends at once. There was no direction to this book.

I would have really loved the book if I would have got more of F/F love between Alison and Charlotte, which was really lost in the entire book. Overall, a great coming out book. The teacher whom Alison was helping producing the play was a very funny character.

Now after ranting what I didn't like let's focus on what I really liked about this book, is the funny aspects the characters had to say while they were practicing their play. The story female friendship the story has potrayed between Alison and Becca. The hate - love dynamic between the sister's - Alison and Annie.

Thank You to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life
Author: Dani Jenson
Genre: YA LGBTQ+
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

Alison Green is desperate to be the valedictorian. Agreeing to (co)produce the school play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is her first big mistake as she must learn to navigate academics, the play, friendships and her love life. Nothing really ‘wowed’ me with this book. Alison was likeable, but not your favourite character. There was a lot of character development written, but I didn’t feel that her character massively grew. The romance felt really flat and it felt like it had been written numerous times before (i.e. unoriginal). A lot of the book felt predictable and I didn’t have a strong drive to keep reading so that I could find out what happened next. The LGBTQ+ aspect of this book wasn’t as emphasised as many of my other Pride reads, and I found this to be disappointing. The read was very quick and light, although at times it did feel more like it was written for middle-grades, not YA. I didn’t love this book and I would have liked to have seen more relatable characters and storylines. I recommend reading this if you want a light and easy read.

I feel like this story could have been better. The premise sounded interesting, but the characters were very flat. It felt like they were written very stereotypically, and the events were cliches. The plot was very predictable, which probably would have been ok if I cared more about the characters. I felt like telling Allison multiple times to stand up for herself, and who cares about the valedictorian thing! The adults in the story were a joke, none of them seemed to actually care about her. Overall, I could see some of my middle grade students reading this book, but most of my avid readers wouldn't get through it.

Cute, quick read.

Alison is smart and motivated, but she lacks some social skills, including how to talk to the girl she has a crush on. Seeing her get into sticky situations because she has a hard time telling people how she feels was a bit funny, but also relatable. Luckily she has a great best friend and sister to rely on.

My favorite part were the friendships, especially Alison and her bff Becca. They had fights, but were there for each other and supported the other with their crushes and hobbies. I'm also jealous of Alison and her sister, they get along so well and it was nice to see a strong sibling bond.

This could have been a bit deeper and explored the romance and LGBTQ parts more, but it was a fun read.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review

I would like to thank you for the eARC of this book which was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This story is about a girl named Alison Green who is a perfectionist and desperately seek to end the school year as a Valedictorian. In order to make a good impression, Alison agrees to co-produce the school play. However, what she did not know was that instead of co-producing it, she will need to organise everything herself. She asks the help of her sister and best friend and story goes from there. There is a cute romance and a lot of drama involved.
In this story, you can find a representation of pansexuality, lesbian and gay characters. It also explores the internal homophobia. I really liked the cover of the book it is really playful and colourful. I love the theatre and 'Midsummer night's dream is my favourite' play of Shakespeare, so, I had high expectations. This story was short, cute and easy to read. I liked the humour used throughout the story. I have enjoyed seeing how normal it was for two girls walk holding hands or come out to their friends. The normalization of being gay and the acceptance of being who you are was breath of fresh air.
On the not so good note, the story lacked the development of characters and some situations felt flat. Also, some of the situations were introduced (like theatre mafia?) and were left out without any explanation of what happened. The author should have explained in more depth, so readers would not be left hanging and wondering what has happened. Overall a cute romance story.

As much as I appreciate all the coming out stories where the characters are learning to love themselves as their queer selves, this story tries to answer question of what’s next? What does it mean to be out and proud? What does it mean to be out but keeping your business to yourself?

I enjoyed most of the relationships and the support the main character had throughout. The storytelling was funny and genuine. Big hit if you’re big on Shakespeare, but it’s still super enjoyable if you never read it in high school.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life was pretty interesting. In it, you will meet Alison Green. She has hopes and dreams of becoming her class valedictorian. So she honestly will say to any teacher willing to give her recommendation. It just so happens that she said yes to becoming the producer of the school's play.

Now without going into too much detail, this book was cute. I adored some of the friendships and the relationship being formed throughout it. However, I kind of feel like some were forced upon me or they just kind of fizzled out at one point. It honestly didn't matter if certain people were still together at the end or not.. things just weren't adding up for me.

I did, however, really enjoy all the LGBT representation throughout the book. There was even a point in the book where a teacher was completely ignorant and no one really did anything about it. I mean, yes, someone gave some sass.. but no one really put them in their place (in a way?). Not sure how I feel about that even now.

In the end, I am happy that I got a chance to dive into it. This book was cute and the ending was even cuter. I just feel like it was missing something for me in order to fall in love with it.

As a gay woman I felt this book missed the mark - I was unable to empathise with the characters at all and these are supposed to be my people!

But my main issue which pulled my rating down was the use of stereotypes. There were too many stereotypical characters: the alternative girl with an undercut who 'must be at least bi', the gay stylist and the closeted bully. Obviously using these stereotypes is fine, but all together? And with no real attempt to challenge them? It just didn't work for me.

I was really sucked into the book and struggled with the final rating as I couldn't put it down 'till I finished. The ending fizzled for me. I was so engaged and then it suddenly ended, with plot points entirely abandoned without any closure at all.

The premise was fantastic, but the delivery fell a little short for me. Jansen did her best to provide a diverse selection of characters, both through sexual orientation and race/ethnicity, and I think for YA teens this will be a fantastic starting point.

DNF @ 13%

The writing style just doesn't work for me; in particular the dialogue doesn't read as natural (it's grammatically fine but not how people talk). I'm also tired of how the narrator feels the need to show how special the love interest are by talking negatively about everyone else —"she wasn't like the other girls," "watching him act compared to the other auditions was like watching Patrick Stewart after seeing the latest teen heartthrob in a forgettable teen drama."

And the final straw for me was the comment that the LI's undercut indicates she must be "at least bi." Despite a previous cursory protest against gay stereotypes, this isn't challenged; also, it implies that being bi is somehow lesser than being gay.

Thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this book . I was really excited to read this book and I was not disappointed.

I loved this story! It was super fun and as a past theater kid, it added an extra layer of fluff and joy to this read for me. I also loved there being a f/f romance at the forefront and how the book stayed overall rather lighthearted and enjoyable to read.