Alison Green was partly tricked into producing a Shakespeare school play. Desperate to be valedictorian, she wanted everything to be in her control. But alas, mistakes happen and soon she found herself in the midst of a failing play, ruined friendships, strained romance, and much more.

I am glad I have read "A Midsummer Night's Dream" before reading this book. Otherwise, it would have been incredibly confusing.

Perhaps, I had my hopes too high. When I heard it was a queer story with a Shakespeare play going on, I had to read it. Though slightly disappointed by the fact that a lot of things happened yet it felt like nothing had, "The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life" was fun to read. It was certainly an entertaining book on the chaotic, awkward, and messy high school years we all worked so hard to forget about. And I am really happy with the inclusion of an androgynous-presenting pansexual girl.

Our protagonist Alison Green had made a lot of questionable decisions and ended up lying to many people. She had to mend her friendships with Jack and Becca, make up with her sister Annie, reconcile with Charlotte, etc. Through the process, I think she understood that pretending nothing was wrong by making up lies was never be okay.

"The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life" was about coming out of a mess stronger than before. Shakespeare probably ruined Alison's life for the better.

A pretty standard YA romance. But in a nice way. The characters are fun, a good mix of lgbtq and hetero couples. And a fun premise set around a school production of A Midsummer's Night Dream.

A perfect quick read for a lazy summer Saturday.

This was a very cute read!

Thanks to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

First of all I want to start with the writing style! I loved it so much. You literally fly through a book. I think this might be one of my quickest reads when it comes to time spent on the book. It was so easy to read through and it was as if you already knew what was coming, but in a good way of course !

I loved the characters. I do have to say that I didn't really connect with them at first but eventually I learned to love them! They were fun and of course the main character didn't annoy me so that's always a huge plus.
I picked up this book also because of the name. When I read the title I just got so confused as to how this situation comes to be so to say.

The plot of the story is very well written. The pace is just right when it comes to events and I think many books could learn from this. I was never bored and thought many of the events were just long enough so I didn't get bored during an event that was supposed to be exciting.

Simply amazing !

This is an honest review in exchange for the e-ARC from NetGalley. Thankyou to Second Story Press too.
If you're looking for a book about awkward highschoolers with highschool problems trying to tackle Shakespeare in hilariously misled and heartwarming ways, this is the book for you. While part of me was frustrated with the characters for behaving like, well, teenagers, I cannot hold that against them. What I wouldn't give to go back to simpler times of dealing with tests and first love and popularity and family. The author has done a good job of tackling "coming out" in 2020 and the representation of queer characters does not feel like a diversity check. It feels natural and the moments between our lead character and her love interest felt genuine and swoon-worthy. I just wish the book had more Shakespeare!
A review will also be posted on instagram.com/boookishfeelings and shared on instagram.com/purabi,ch on 16th May, 2020.

This was a fun and quick read that I enjoyed. I found the main character very relatable, but I did wish I could talk some sense into her at times. I loved that the main character's sexuality was treated as just one of her defining features instead of the sole defining feature. I liked the other characters, as well, and the different relationships between them.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is cute, fun, fluffy, and queer as heck! That said, it didn't move me in any particular way. It is a solidly 3-star novel if ever I've read one.

Things the author nails: the queerness, the pacing, the teenage anxiety, the sisterhood!!! (Okay, I especially loved this aspect because how many books feature teenage sisters (who aren't twins) that are friends too? None!)

What I didn't like so much: the main character makes so many non-issues into big deals for the sake of plot substance, minor characters changed their ways without showing any real growth, the entire climax was underwhelming...

I enjoyed the story (for the most part) while I read it, but now that it's over I feel, again, underwhelmed. In the wide world of books, The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life feels a little like filler, ultimately forgettable.

Rating: 3,5 stars

“If you’re going to do a Shakespeare play, it may as well be A Midsummer Night’s Dream, right? I mean, all those crazy love triangles have got to keep the audience interested. She loves him, but he loves her, and they all end up in the woods together with some fairies! The story may be weird, but it’s not boring.”

I’m a sucker for Shakespeare, and Midsummer is my favorite play! The main character is producing the school play to get extra credited to maybe be a Valedictorian at graduation. She decides to take on Midsummer. As the story goes, Alison has to balance her work with her friendships, her love life, and her family. Things get a little chaotic, very much like the play she’s working on.

This was definitely a 4-star book for me, but there was something I didn’t appreciate, so I decided to take off half a star from my general rating.

Still, this one is definitely a book I’ll recommend to my friends once it’s out. The story is very light and it served me as a nice, fun company for the few days it took me to get through it. I can’t wait to read more things by Dani Jansen.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me an early digital copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute story revolved around Alison, a high school student producing the school play while trying to become valedictorian, and crushing on the coolest girl in school. I love books working toward some sort of big event at the end.

I thought Alison was a believable and likable, yet flawed, character who you could root for while still being annoyed with for being a shitty friend at times. For me, the side characters are what really makes a story like this shine and some of them were hit or miss. I loved Jack and was pretty bummed that he disappears for half the book. I enjoyed the B-plot with Ben Weber and how that ended. Similar to a middle-grade book, most of the adults were pretty useless except one doling out sound advice.

The book is well-written, funny, and has minimal foul language (2 f-bombs, a couple shits and asses) for those who are bothered by that sort of thing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and read most of it in a day. I'm not really a book re-reader but I would definitely pick up a sequel about the same characters. There were some unanswered questions...

Cute book, but the problems that the main character faced did not last long and were solved relatively quickly. Allison's problems were more internal (putting pressure on herself) but the book's description portrays the problems as more external (saying yes to a date with her friend).

This was such a fun, cute read!

So confession: I secretly like Shakespeare (don't tell anyone it'll ruin my incredible cool reputation). A book about shakespeare, messy school productions, over acheivers, and figuring out what it means to be gay? The dream. Allison is my favourite kind of light-hearted protagonist because character that actually learn and grow from their mistakes instead of having someone else big-romantic-gesture and forgive them are incredible. So much less infuriating than 90% of light-hearted contemporary YA women.

This isn't a deep thought provoking read by any means but it isn't supposed to be and I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to read it.

This is a cute little bagatelle that doesn't really say or do anything: I'd say it's like the cover, quite bright. There are representations of different sexualities that breaks stereotypes about said sexualities, which felt nice in a book aimed towards a younger audience. As an old drama kid myself the exercises the drama teacher puts the cast and crew through (the mirror, the knot etc) feels like going home, so that's a nice touch.

Our main character, Alison, is co-producing her high school's play (Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream), something she loves to do, I think she has a whole binder with ideas. She, her sister, and someone else (I think) ropes in the resident, artistic goth girl to help with the set design. On the way Allison also get together with her girlfriend - sweet. That's about all I remember from Jansen's book. It's fast-paced, sweet, and feels normal. I guess normal is nice in times of un-normalness like we're all experiencing at the moment, but at the same time there's nothing really that sticks out to me, and I can't see myself re-reading this in the future.

All in all, it's a cute story, but not for me.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a fun, light contemporary I was hoping for.

I fell in love with some of the characters, like Annie, and I could really relate to Alison sometimes.

It's a book about growing up, trying new things, and learning in the process.
The play is an important part of the plot, obviously, but the book is not about the play, it's about life and experiences in the teenage years and it's beautiful.

I really recommend it if you're looking for a fun, light contemporary, and diverse read! I know this one is gonna stay with me for a while.

I love a good YA rom com and add in some Shakespeare and I am in heaven! This book did not disappoint on any of those counts and was a fun read. Allison is desperate to be valedictorian so she takes on a role as the schools play producer only to realize how in over her head she is. As her grades start to slip and her relationships suffer she has to rethink how she handles set backs and how to manage her time. With missed cues on and off the stage this book reminds us to live in our truth and speak honestly about things, even if they make us and others uncomfortable.

This was an okay story. I liked the plot the only real issue was the protagonists and certain decisions characters made. I liked the incorporation of Shakespeare and I adored the way it handled different coming out experiences for LGBTQ people. I can understand the pressure and why the protagonists made certain decisions because I mean, she’s in high school and she’s still learning from her mistakes. It’s a overall cute story and if you like Shakespeare, romance, and theater, this book is for you!
*thank you netgalley for sending me an arc*

It was a fun and quick read. I've really loved Alison and enjoyed everything she went through. But some lines really threw me off and I thought the ending was too quick (Charlotte really forgave me quickly).

I wanted to read this book because of the title. I wondered what good ole William Shakespeare ever did to ruin someone’s life.
Alison Green is a senior and aspiring valedictorian, who gets talked into producing her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. From there everything gets crazy like it’s straight from a Shakespeare play. I did find it funny that they referred to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean disaster”. Speaking of the actual play, I wish we had gotten more about the actual play. I felt like that part was a bit rushed in the end.
At times Alison got on my nerves, but in the end I think she grew as a character. She realized that you don’t always have to be a perfectionist and to take the time to have some fun.
I finished this book in about a day, it was an easy and lighthearted read.I would definitely be interested in reading more from Dani Jansen in the future.

This was actually a really cute read!
I would definitely recommend for readers who want a light-hearted, fun and fast read.

So, what did I like?
- Can we talk about Dani's writing? Wow, it was amazing. I was sucked in from the first page and she is very talented. There were great descriptions without the overuse of flowery language and the book read and paced very well.
- The premise was interesting. If you know me well, any book revolving around drama/plays are my thing so this was great. I think it was original enough that I felt like I would remember this book.
- I also liked the representation in this book and how certain topics were handled. I think it was done in an almost humorous way which actually worked well. I didn't feel like I was reading a heavy book and for a summery read, this was great.
- I think Alison was a good lead. I liked learning more about her and I think her own struggles were interesting to read from. However, she was a little overbearing and I did find myself rolling my eyes a few times at some of her actions. I sort of thought she was a crappy friend too - like on multiple occasions, and that didn't sit well with me.

I think the only other thing I wanted to comment on was how we only ever got to see their warm-ups with rehearsals and never them actually practising the play. As the play was a major part of the book but I didn't feel like we got enough of a backstage experience of them conducting the play and I didn't see how Alison's producing tasks were working with the cast members. It was like she would be moaning and stressed with all the work and conflicts but we never got to see it.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this read. I flew through the book in one sitting and it is definitely something I would recommend.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this looked and sounded adorable--I mean, look at that cover! Plus, I have a major soft spot for Midsummer Night's Dream, so I was really excited when I got approved for this. Unfortunately it just turned out to be not my style.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters, and I felt that they all acted too young and immature to be considered high school seniors. I didn't jive with the writing style either, so I ended up spending most of the book frustrated. I was happy to see the LGBT representation, but even some of those moments were handled a little weirdly. Overall, pretty disappointed with this one, since I thought it would be a cuter read!