Probably a 2.5 rounded up?

This was a sweet story, it didn't carry a lot of emotional weight but it also wasn't mean to - it's a light romcom style read. Lots of classic YA tropes but not too overplayed. I requested it because of the Shakespeare reference in the title, but tbh it could have been about any play.

My main complaints would have to do with pacing - there was such a rapid influx of information in the first few chapters, then the majority of the book was essentially a day by day account of the main character's life, and everything ended with practically no closure, and some plot points fully forgotten.

I've seen quite a few reviews talking about how the main character is a lesbian, but doesn't really use the word lesbian to describe herself, instead using gay. I can't speak fully on this, not being LGBTQ+ myself, but in reading others' comments I agree that it seems to be part of a continuing trend where lesbian is treated like a bad word. This would be really easy to fix with a bit of editing!

The characters were all fairly likeable - I would have loved to have seen more of Jack or Charlotte, there's definitely room for more development with all of them.

Overall, it was a quick, enjoyable read (although it did take me a while as I was reading it through my exam period). I would recommend to anyone looking for something light and easy to finish.

Bit of a disappointment. There could have been a very endearing story here but it ot swamped by the stilted writing style, the lack of much actual Shakespeare (ok I am trash for the Bard but still with that title I was led to expect more) and worst of all the pushiness of Alison's friends and potential girlfriend to be publicly 'out'. The forcing a person t come out trope is old and we should be past it. It made the book uncomfortable reading. I am saddened that I could not like this more when it had such a promising premise.

I think the story was really cute, but the writing wasn't engaging to me.; it was dry, and didn't give me a good sense of the characters or setting. It also felt short - maybe with a longer book, the characters would be more fleshed out. Thank you for the review copy.

I really wanted to love this book - I'm a queer theater nerd, so a queer book involving high schoolers doing theater seemed right up my alley. I also especially loved the cover.

Unfortunately, I am DNFing this book about a third of the way through. I wasn't a big fan of the writing, and this book seemed much more middle grade than YA. I think younger readers would enjoy it more than I would, however.

I also didn't really connect to any of the characters, and many of them were very stereotypical. At one point, AP English is mentioned, but there is no such thing as such AP English - there is AP English Language and AP English Literature. I also didn't really like when the main character said coming out to her family wasn't brave because she knew they'd be supportive. Coming out is always scary and brave and even if you think people will be supportive it's still scary because you never really know.

<i> arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

DNF.

I really really wanted to love this but sadly, I really just didn’t. I could’t connect with the writing or the characters and I was just bored whenever I did pick this up.

I think my age definitely factors into me not enjoying this so I think if you’re a younger reader, you’ll have a blast with this book!

Even apart from a writing style that seemed clunky and the main character being pretentious & insufferable, this book had no chance of becoming a favourite of mine. And that's because it does some things which I find hurtful, especially in literature for the younger audience.

What i mean is, the book is very clear about the rhetoric that not coming out is the same as being a coward. It makes characters force their significant others to come out, it makes characters break up with people because they're not ready to come out. It's 2020. We really should be over this discussion. Coming out is a very personal thing and no one, not your parents, not your friends, not your significant other, NO ONE, should ever have a power to force you to come out or to shame you for not coming out.

So no, I didn't enjoy The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life and no, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

There was a cute story at the heart of the book, unfortunately, it just took a while to get there and often strayed a bit too far from it. I was really confused by the mafia subplot, I definitely felt like it either should have been a lot bigger or should not have been included at all, I kept wondering if they were going to go somewhere with it but they never did. The romance started off cute and strong but quickly deteriorated. With the main character who we are repeatedly told wants to be valedictorian and is obsessed with her grades, she seems to forget about them a lot unless it matters directly to the subplot at that particular time.
One of my biggest issues with this story was the teachers. The novel seemed to flip from them being wildly supportive to them not caring at all about this student who they choose to exploit. I felt like the novel would have benefited from a Ms. Darbus type character who cared about the musical and dragged the student along with her.
Overall inconsistent plot, writing, and characters make this a 2/5 read.

DNF 34% - I have been trying to keep reading this book for almost a week, but it is just not clicking on me. I believe if I had read it like 3 years ago I would probably have loved it, but right now I find it a bit childish and boring... Also, due to the current circumstances, I am having a hard time to find a book that actually keeps me holding on to the pages, and this one is not helping. The writing style is good and the characters pretty well depicted, but the storyline and plot are just not my cup of tea at the moment. I am actually sad because I though I was gonna love it. Maybe I will give it a second chance in a few months.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. The writing wasn't really for me, and I could easily see me getting frustrated very quickly with this book (if I wasn't already).

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a preview of the book The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life!
I enjoyed this book's cute and often relatable characters. Particularly I liked Alison, her growth, and the friendships that were portrayed between her and Becca and Annie. However, while I did enjoy this book's main character, the side characters and relationships felt bit weak to me. It felt at though this book could have added on another 50 pages or so to fully give the background characters and the plot line the time it needed to be fully fleshed out. Additionally, the writing felt a bit clunky at times, particularly with the dialogue. Overall, despite these factors, I found it to be an enjoyable read!

Alison aims high always, she wanted to be the best, she wanted to give her best. Everyone around her acted like high school was easy maybe it was to them but definitely not for her. But one thing that she was fortunate to have a loving family who supported her when she told them she was gay and a best friend who always was there for her. Now she is presented with an opportunity to produce the school play, the play her sister called ‘Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster’. But she cant let that happen.

I liked this book very much for i can relate to Shakespeare destroying studies for me! The red binder thing was really funny. I love the way it happens to have a fun and effective answer for her problems. The writing was easy and a total fun to read. I wish there was more to that threat call Alison got it was never mentioned after that. A great, fun book to revisit school play memories

Thank you Netgalley and Second Story Press for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alison Green has a lot on her plate, she's desperate to be valedictorian, she has a crush on the coolest girl in school and she's somehow been tricked into producing the school play affectionately named "Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster."

I've never read a book centred around a play before and while I felt like there was slightly too much rehearsal for my personal taste, I really enjoyed this story overall. It was cute, funny and entertaining and I loved the casual diversity and representation. Alison struggles in a very relatable way to balance school life, friendships and a budding relationship, making mistakes along the way but working hard at making up for them. There was a few things I'd have liked more time spent on such as the final performance and the side characters stories, but overall I really liked it!

This was such a sweet book. I loved the plot. I will be writing a longer review in the publishing date. Thanks for the opportunity ❤️

Guys, you know that book that had everything to work out, but is it right there on average? The book has an opening with super funny passages and a very cliché plot that could have been much more used. But from the moment the protagonist accepts the meeting with Jack (which in itself was a step bigger than her leg and totally out of the context of the author's plot), the book goes downhill until it stagnates in that limbo where readers don't they want to abandon reading, but they also don't want to finish it. The protagonist has soooo many communication problems, simple things that could be solved with a good conversation generate an unnecessary drama in Alisson's mind, and the ending is a little rushed. You look like that, like, "hmmm, I don't know what will happen to the characters, but I don't want to know either". Anyway, I believe that the author has potential and I understand that one cannot charge too much for an initial book.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is about Alison who agrees to produce the school's play. That's not the first mistake she makes, when her best friend Jack asks her on a date she realises that was also a mistake. But luckily she gets help from her best friend and sister. But even with them, she makes mistakes. Alison has a crush for Charlotte and she tries to get her attention. There's a lot of drama going on, not only in the play.

To start with, this was such an enjoyable story to read. It is an easy read and it's lovely. You get to see a lot of the drama that's been going on in Alison's life at the moment. That was interesting to read about. But, I wish there was a little bit more of a depth in the drama. I wish there was a little bit more depth in the love story too. It felt a little bit too fast pacing and I couldn't connect to Alison a lot because of that. If the love aspect of this story was more discovered, it would make it a lot better.

Dani Jansen does know how to write because it's easy to read plus, it's also a little bit a fluffy story which makes it so enjoyable. This book could have been a little bit longer though.

I do recommend reading this book when you're looking for a fun and enjoyable read that goes around a play and two girls falling in love. I just couldn't connect to the main character because I missed depth, but don't let that keep you from reading this! Three stars.

This was a pretty cute book!

Alison is pretty much forced to produce her high school playing - because she aspires to be valedictorian, she doesn't push back. Between the underfunding, the difficult actors, and the immense amount of schoolwork she has, she starts to feel stressed. Her relationships suffer, her grades suffer. And somehow she has to figure it all out.

I absolutely loved the friendship Al had with her sister Annie, her friend Becca, and her friend Jack. I wish we'd seen a tad bit more of her friendship with Jack, but I enjoyed what was there.

I loved reading the drama of getting a high school play together. I wasn't involved in drama in high school, but I was in the pit orchestra a couple of times and this book took me back to those days.

Unfortunately, the romance fell a little bit flat for me. Charlotte seemed like the perfect cookie cutter, ideal, cool without trying character, which made her pretty boring. I feel like the book would have been just as good without it. Sometimes friend relationships are just as fun to read about as romantic ones.

Good debut book from a promising author. Great for upper middle/high school age ranges. Positive representation of the LGBTQ+ community.

The story and plot itself were simple, many subplots involving Allison's friends and family, and that's where this book really shined, though some of the characters delved into stereotypes. It was hard to get into Allison's head at times and be sure to suspend your disbelief because the adults in this book put a ton of responsibilities on the shoulders of a teenager (and one who has no clue about theatre, to boot).

Overall, an entertaining story. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

A huge thanks to Netgalley, Second Story Press, and Dani Jensen for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

3 stars for this one. This was a short, cute read, and I enjoyed the overall story line. Alison was an enjoyable MC, though she could have been a bit more fleshed out. In fact, despite liking the characters in this book, I didn't LOVE any of them, and they just didn't quite stand out on the page as much as they could've.

Alison gets roped into producing the school play her senior year, while vying for the Valedictorian title. Of course, things turn out to be far more difficult than she could have imagined and has to question what's important to her. She drags her best friend, Becca, and her little sister Annie into the play as well, both of whom I enjoyed for their bluntness with Alison, she needed it at times. I won't say much more on the storyline, but it was a good read.

The plot flowed well over the course of the book, and I did like seeing how the story progressed, BUT, I also feel like it was predictable. It was short, I feel like it could've been fleshed out just a little and hit some more stuff more solidly on the head. That being said, I did enjoy it and it was a cute read, it just fell a little flat for me.

First of all, I want to thank the publishers for providing me when a free copy in return for my honest review.

The premise of this novel and the cover were a huge draw in for me. I loved the idea of directing a school play mixed into a coming of age story.

I feel like most of the characters weren't really flushed out and their relationships between each other weren't as solid as I would have liked. The romance was a little unconvincing to me, they didn't seem to have much chemistry.

The plot did seem a little inconsistent to me, it was slow to get into and felt rushed towards the end. In my opinion this LGBT+ novel has been done before and it didn't really bring anything new to it.

I think I may not be the target audience for this particular book (which is in no way the authors issue). I believe that I would have devoured this if I were back in high school.

First of all I want to thank NetGalley and Second Story Press for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life was a cute little read that is the perfect book to just enjoy when you’re looking for something easy and relaxing.

I liked the fast paced writing. The time is really just flying by while reading this book. I probably could have read it in one day if I wanted to. The chapters are really short, which I like, because I feel more productive when I read a lot of chapters at once. Sometimes it was a little too fast. I want to make quick progress in a book but I still need the author to take the time to make the behavior of the characters believable. That was sadly not always the case. I was a little confused sometimes because of the strong reactions of some characters and a few more explanatory sentences could have helped there.

The characters fell a little flat for me. They were likeable over all but not very complex. We only scratched the surface with most of the characters and didn’t really get to know them that well. The focus was mostly on the MC and her growth throughout the book. She is a little all over the place and doesn’t always make all the best decisions, especially in the beginning but she learns from her mistakes and tries to do better. I would have loved to see the other characters shine a little more though. They seem interesting but sadly we don’t get to know a lot about them.

I overall liked the book and it was a fun read but I didn’t love it. I wasn’t very emotionally invested with the characters and the writing could have been a little more detailed. I still liked the fast pacing though and the story was fun. It’s a good book when you’re looking for something light und uncomplicated.