I had to DNF this ARC. Got around 50 pages into it and just didn't connect with any of the characters. I might be a little bit older than the targeted audience but I'm constantly reading YA books and relate to most of the experiences and the characters. Especially LGBT contemporary novels. I guess this book just wasn't for me. It had the potential, but just didn't meet my expectations for it.

* I received this book as a free e-ARC from Second Story Press through NetGalley *

This book simply wasn’t for me, it felt more Middle Grade than YA, and beyond that I found the structure of the plot to be unrealistic. As a working theatre educator, it felt completely unbelievable that Alison would be left alone throughout the process of producing with so little guidance or experience. Further, Alison didn’t strike me as a compelling narrator and I struggled with her obsessive focus on earning the Valedictorian title getting in the way of her asking anyone for help. DNF at 60%

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange of an honest review! I was excited for this one - I love theatre and diverse friend groups, but the book didn't quite hit the mark for me.
The writing was snappy and propulsive and I was constantly saying "one more chapter." I loved the inside look at the school play. I was a theatre kid, so I really related to the descriptive writing. Alison, Becca, and Annie's relationship was real, relatable, and one of the best parts of the book.
However, the f/f romance was a great selling point for me, but it felt underdeveloped.. The ending also felt rushed with the school play being all buy glossed over. Everything wrapped itself up so quickly and was a little anti-climatic.
Over all, the book was super cute and I love the positive portrayal of female friendships. It's definitely full of charm and I think teens will really

Alison was a perfectionist and she had dreamed of being valedictorian for as long as she can remember so when she is asked to coproduce the school play she agrees without hesitation. However it was not as easy as she thought and Alison finds that she is struggling to juggle the play, her school work and her new relationship.
This was a great coming of age story that spoke about the struggles of a high schooler trying to be successful with all aspects of her life. Although the LGBTQI+ representation was there there were parts that felt like they were added as afterthoughts.
The growth of Alison was also something that I enjoyed and was true to what a lot of teens go though during these years.
Overall a great quick light read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review
3.5*

I have tried, and tried and tried to get into this one! I DNF’d it a few chapters in, despite wanting to like it, and finally I admit defeat. The synopsis sounded so cute and fun, but it was just tedious and I found myself struggling to read it.

Thank you to Second Story Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

Going into “The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life,” I didn’t have many expectations or know what the book was about, other than that it had an adorable cover and would relate to theater. Unfortunately though, there wasn’t much to be discovered about this book and it just managed to fall flat on a lot of the areas it relied on to drive it as a YA novel.

“The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life” is about a senior named Alison who spreads herself super thin trying to do all of these things to become the valedictorian and ends up getting roped into helping produce the school play. She has to find people to help with costumes, sets, design, pick the actors, etc. and still run her hectic life. On top of that, she has a crush on the school’s cool emo chick, Charlotte, and doesn’t know how to control all of it.

The plot right off the bat sounds pretty basic, and unfortunately it doesn’t even do that all that well. This book is a very shallow and bland take on this story and doesn’t manage to deliver when it should. The first significant thing is that the characters don’t have a lot of depth or chemistry with each other at all. Charlotte and Alison’s relationship seems to come out of nowhere and they jump from nothing to a lot very quickly. In addition, it feels like characters would drop off for a very long time and then randomly pop back up.

Something I want to put an emphasis on is that the characters are very much cookie cutter high school kids. Alison is the stressed valedictorian, Charlotte is the edgy LGBT+ kid, Kevin is the gay fashion designer, Jenny is the stubborn emo designer, Ben is the closteted kid who has it all together for his friends, etc. I didn’t feel much of anything for any of the characters besides one scene with Ben and Alison but besides that, there was no connection.

This book felt like half of it was missing. There were multiple points and topics made in this book that could have been later visited and meant something more, but they didn’t. The best example of this is the school’s basketball team, the Otters, who are talked about at multiple times throughout the book and then their whole suspense is thrown away to pull off an awful and humiliating “High School Musical” twist where the teen actors are picked apart awfully through stereotypes.

I genuinely feel like this book had a lot of potential but it threw it away. When I was reading it, there were multiple times when I thought about other books that covered the same things but did a much better job. For a really good book about people putting on together a Shakespeare play, read “Loveless” by Alice Oseman. If you want a good book about the stresses of high school and specifically about the race of being Valedictorian, read “You Asked For Perfect” by Laura Silverman.
The Verdict
“The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life” had the potential to be an amazing book to join the line of YA high school books, but it just fell flat in too many areas to make the list. From its dull characters to the predictable plot, it just felt like it was missing a lot and doesn’t stand well. I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn’t enough for me to recommend.

My rating: ⅗ Stars

The plot just FLEW BY! We follow Alison as she prepares for the BIG school play, and her efforts at getting donations, directing the actors and all the while balancing her normal life. This was my first YA novel involving a theatre performance, and all the aspects were VERY relatable. (as a high school student, I approve!)

Overall, The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is perfect for readers in high school or those searching for a quick and fast-paced contemporary read. I would recommend this to the ages of 14-17.

The premise of this book is both cute and interesting, it sounds like a perfect queer rom-com full of wacky adventures and high school shenanigans. Unfortunately, I had more problems with this one than I did positive notes. Some good things about this book are the friend and family dynamics felt very real. The hurt, the love, the fighting, it all felt like it was plucked out of real life. I also really enjoyed that there were multiple queer characters instead of just one or two. Now onto the sadder part, things I didn't like. The main character never refers to herself as a lesbian. Why? That's what she is and she uses the word in the book, but never to describe herself. It feels weird that she would not describe herself as a lesbian and it comes across as avoiding the label altogether. The second thing I didn't enjoy and actually have a big problem with is the forced outings. We learn early on that Alison was forced to come out to her parents by her best friend Becca, something that a real best friend would never say to do. Then there was the "if you're dating someone in the closet then it's not real" trope which is just insulting. This lead to another person feeling like they had to come out on a public scale in order to be with someone they care about. That's a horrible message to be sending to young readers queer or not. It tells them that it's ok to force people to come out and it perpetuates harmful relationships. This same boy fell victim to the closeted-overly sexual-hypermasculine-jerk trope and while I understand that it is a thing that happens, I think we can all agree that all it does is reaffirm toxic beliefs and encourages the use of "gay" as an insult and the idea that every homophone/sexist jerk must secretly be gay. It paints gay men as inherently mean.

I had a hard time accepting the behavior of some characters, but I kept reminding myself that they are teenagers and aren't as mature and seasoned as adults so while I felt frustrated by their actions, I conceded that they were realistic. Except in the case of Alison, someone who kept repeating the same mistakes and seemingly never learning from them. It is hard to accept that someone so intelligent could not learn from something that just happened in order to not repeat the same outcome. Whether it was her friends, her sister, the people involved with the play, or her girlfriend, she kept making mistakes that she made not even a quarter of the way into the book.

As far as Mr. Evans goes, I found him to be both a caricature and upsetting. A grown man being in a role where he is in a romantic situation with a student (even if nothing happens) is so inappropriate. He could have just recast someone in the play. He also put so much on the student that is producing the play alone, for the first time, instead of realizing that he needed to step in and support her.

There were elements to this book that felt like it could have been so great and I saw the potential for a fun yet dramatic story, but it was just filled with harmful tropes and characterizations that ruined it. I'm sad. I think this book could have benefitted from a sensitivity reading from queer readers so that they could impart some advice that would have helped make this live up to its potential.

“The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life” is a young adult book centered around a high school student named Alison. Alison is producing the school play (in the hopes that it’ll help her become valedictorian), and tries to balance that with everything else going on in her life. Alison also has a crush on a girl named Charlotte, but despite that, she agrees to go out with an old friend of hers named Jack, and another major part of the plot is her trying to figure out her sexuality and who she really wants to be in a relationship with.

I thought the plot was interesting, and I loved the relationship between her and Charlotte. I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to those who are fans of the YA genre.

**Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & the publisher for a chance to read & review an E-ARC of this novel!**

This was a fun contemporary read with LGBTQIA+ representation as well as themes of challenging our own thoughts about success, expanding our comfort-zones, & being honest with those closest to us. Please find my extended feedback below...along with some spoilers (beware).
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Things I Liked:
-the honesty regarding the high school experience...it felt like a genuine portrayal of all the weirdness that is high school & adolescent without being over done or (for lack of a better word) dramatic
-Mr. Evans was hilarious!
-how descriptive the writing was about the experience of producing a play
-it was an easy read with short chapters...I like shorter chapters as I feel more invested in continuing to read cause "JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER" :)

Things That Didn't Sit Quite Right With Me:
-how annoying Allison was at points...I found myself wanting to take her by the shoulders & shake her while yelling "what are you thinking!?"
-the awkward date/non-date scene...cringe
-the ending felt sort of anti-climatic...I felt like the play (one of the main plot points of the story) was sort of brushed over in the end
-the ending also felt a bit rushed in my opinion...all of a sudden everything sort of wrapped itself up & then it was over

Overall, I gave this novel 3 stars. It was a fun & relatable read that made me laugh out loud many times. I think it would be a great read for those interested in reading novels with LGBTQIA+ representation or themes including theatre, comedy, or coming of age.

Alison has been tasked with producing her school’s production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. She has to to deal with the many disasters that occur on the way to opening night, as well as with her developing crush on Charlotte, the play’s lead.

This is a cute, easy read for anyone who loves YA contemporaries. The characters were fun and likable -- if not a little flat.

There were some things I had an issue with. I didn’t like the way coming out was discussed in this book. It was presented like coming out fixes everything. It didn’t do a good job of showing that many people don’t come out for their own reasons, and that all of those reasons are valid.

I was also disappointed with Ben’s character arc. I won’t spoil anything, but know that it’s a trope that I’m not a big fan of, but one that is used often in media.

I really liked the "love triangle" angle between Alison, Becca and Jack. I'm a sucker for comedic misunderstandings and I thought that scene was hilarious. I really wish it had been dragged out for more of the book.

This is good if you’re looking for a quick read that’s not too heavy or complicated.

I was given a free ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dani Jansen and Second Story Press for a review copy of this book.

Alison Green, desperate Valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This is a really sweet coming-of-age book.

The only thing that grated on me was that the 'villain' was a closeted teen. I just don't like to see it.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I should preface this by saying I am a middle school English teacher, and we have a Shakespeare Appreciation unit at the end of each year. We also require our students to read 10 novels of their choosing each year, and they get extra credit if they choose from the Modern Shakespeare shelf, which houses retellings and Shakespeare influenced literature. This will definitely be added to the shelf once I can get my hands on a physical copy!

So, yeah, I'm a little biased. I thought this was a really heartwarming, light read (that is not to say it doesn't have depth or tackle serious issues). The characters are relatable. The representation (gay, pansexual, Korean, etc) was great to see, and even though the protagonist makes some questionable decisions, you still find yourself on her team.

This started a little slow but picked up for me, which I was happy about. I ended up reading this one in one night, because I genuinely wanted to know what happened next. I am so appreciative of the author for sharing this one with me!

Thank you Netgalley for a free ebook arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a short, queer, high-school romantic comedy! Alison Green is the main character, and her anxiety bleeds into her rampant perfectionism in a very realistic way, and I say this as someone with anxiety. I loved her ongoing battles in her mind of imagining the worst things happening, over and over again. It might read a bit repetitive for some, but I just recognized it as how someone with anxiety would think.

The queer representation in this book was fabulous, and I fully connected with Alison's struggle with coming out to everyone, not just her family and closest friends, and I loved her observation that there are "different levels of "out"". Reading about her crushing on Charlotte reminded me of my first crush on a girl, and the extra stress of not knowing if she liked girls, or if she knew I liked girls. The queer identity of some other characters wasn't as well developed, but I appreciated the pansexual representation.

There were parts of the book that seemed to be written by an adult trying to remember what it was like to be a teenager, which took you out of the world a bit, but overall I was still able to be immersed in this story. I enjoyed all the relationships Alison had with her partners, friends, and family members.

this is a sweet, queer YA rom-com that I would recommend for fans of Love, Simon.

This is an adorable teen story. Really enjoyed this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received an arc for this book by NetGalley.

When I saw the title for this book and read the synopsis I thought it would be a really quick and fun sapphic read about high school and a Shakespearean play.

I really liked reading about all the different side characters and once the story picks up it is quite easy to blast through it. And it was quite interesting to read a book about a girl who's a lesbian, but doesn't really think/care to tell people about it, except her family and her friend.

That being said, I couldn't really connect with Allison (the main character) and the romance wasn't as much a part of the story as I would've liked it to be. I was hoping for a little bit more of the romantic moments and I didn't really feel like that was happening. Also some parts of the plot get dragged out a lot, where as the most exciting parts are done in a few pages.

I was so excited to read ‘The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life‘ early for a few different reasons. I was a theatre kid at school and then university and studied Shakespeare! I even had a terrible second year due to my Shakespeare module but still love that genuis bard! I love reading YA books that have kids who love acting or get involved with their school play. This synopsis really caught my eye, as did the book cover!

Alison is that typical Hermione-kind of character that is solely focused on high grades and wanting to get the highest school acolade: Valedictorian. She’s even drooling over the trophy case at the beginning of the book! In order to get a little closer to her dream, she agrees to help one of her teachers co-produce the school play. That doesn’t end up working out for her as the same teacher leaves her high-and-dry with the work.

She does have some great friends in Becca and Jack and a quirky sister in Annie too! She even has a crush on the cool girl at school Charlotte.

All the theatre terminology and warm-ups were great to read because they brought back some fond memories, but unfortunately things started to go a little down-hill after the start.

One of the things that annoyed me about the plot was that it ended up being a little stereotypical. Good girl falls for cool girl, gets pushed into doing extra work for kudo points, falls out with best friend and everyone around her. A great example of this plot done perfectly has to be ‘The Paper and Hearts Society: Read with Pride‘. It was brilliant! This book, however, fell short.

It kept going from Alison to Annie and back, leaving me super confused who was talking each chapter. While I loved the focus of an LGBTQ+ relationship (*motions to all the books I love*), it just felt flat.

There were moments where I was left looking for more explanation. Everyone gets super annoyed at her for everything (setting up her friends on a date) and the bully who is sexist to girls but ends up having a reason. There’s even a point towards the end of the book where Alison and her girlfriend break up because she’s not ‘out’ properly and wants to focus more on her school work.

First thought in my head: Erm…what? No.

It had some promising moments such as the anxiety attack she has in the canteen. I thought that more would be written about this but nope. It came and went. There was even a ‘theatre mafia’ threatening her not to ask local businesses for funding because it was ‘their patch’. That also came and went with no conclusion. I don’t know whether the author forgot about it but not sure.

I’d been so excited for a F/F romance! Alison was gay and Charlotte was pansexual. There was also a side character called Zach who was gay too! This too fell through. We had Charlotte whose dad was not accepting of her sexuality (we never went into depth about this), Zach ended up secretly being in a relationship with Ben (the sexist guy) and everything was just left unfinished.

By the end I was just frustrated. I really wanted to love this book but I’m sad that it didn’t work out.

“Sometimes, the hardest thing to learn is how to be okay with things as they are.”

This started very similar to any high-school coming of age book, with the main character Alison Green's goals of being a valedictorian and acing her high school life.
But the troubles begin when she said to being a producer for a high school play without really understanding the inconveniences it could bring. Apart from finding no time to study which lead to a drop in her academic performance, it also brought about some differences between her and her best friend.
Though Alison is out to her family and best friend, but she isn't out to her school. When her friend asks her out on a date, she accidentally says yes. This brings about a series of misunderstandings and problems.
This book is a light read about how Alison plans out the complete play with managing her academics and personal life.

Alison Green desperately wants to be valedictorian, so when she is given the opportunity (roped into) producing the school play, she goes along with it. Needless to say, nothing quite goes as planned, and juggling school work, a play, a girlfriend and the theatre mafia is no small feat.

The book boasts of a lesbian main character, pansexual love interest and has both POC and gay characters and as such should be great for representation. I feel it doesn't quite give them enough space to shine though, bad sometimes they feel a little flat.

The main character Alison started out fine, but some of her choices just made her an unlikable person (although probably very realistic). There's probably a lesson in there somewhere about accepting help and the found-family/close knit friendship group is always lovely. Ultimately, I didn't as much read the book because of Alison, but because of all the other characters, which I would have lived to learn more about. In addition, some of the developments were set up a little too heavy-handed (I like my foreshadowing a bit more shadowed).

It's a fast read and an enjoyable book, perfect for a summer vacation and if you're into theatre then it's an added bonus. Perfect for young teens!

Really enjoyed most of this diverse (both racial and LGBTQ) YA book, but there were a few aspects that I didn’t love, including the unsupportive family of some of the queer characters.
I liked the characters, the storyline, and the romance. The writing was really good too.