Shakespeare is the most famous playwright in history, and perhaps the most notorious for high school students.

Alison has only ever dreamed of being valedictorian, she thought she was a shoe in until she had to get up close and personal with none other than William Shakespeare himself. Well maybe not himself, but she did have to produce a production of a Midsummer Night’s Dream with a haphazard cast and crew who had no experience whatsoever. Not only is Alison in over her head with the play, she also has to balance school, friends and perhaps a love life?

This novel was a really cute, easy read. It would have easily been a favourite of mine back in high school. It’s LGBTQ+ friendly, is diverse and very easily relatable. We’ve all been in a spot where we are way in over our heads and things just feel like too much. It has twists and turns, heartfelt moments and flows naturally. Watching the characters navigate their relationships with each other reminded me of my own high school days with my friends. It is a book that is definitely targeted towards teens, but even adults can reminisce about the turmoils of their high school days.

While I really enjoyed the book, I found most of the secondary characters to just be kind of there. They were involved in the novel, but I really felt that despite Dani’s attempts, I just didn’t really care. The inner friend circle of the main character was just fine, but the other members of the cast and crew just fell a bit flat. There was also a moment in the book that felt like it should have been more impactful or not included, it was so small though that it was easy to move past.

It was a really cute book that I would have no issue recommending, it was fun, inclusive and I found myself rooting for Alison. If you like YA contemporary, I think you should pick this up.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Allison Green is in her last year of high school and has one goal: becoming valedictorian. She has a younger sister, a comfortable house, and a best friend with a junky car named Harvey who can only be coaxed to start via a series of very specific actions.

She’s also gay and only really out to her family and best friend and at the beginning that seems like enough. After being tasked with helping to produce the school’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an event that started as volunteering hoping it would secure her place as number one student, she’s forced out of her comfort zone.

An anxious girl, she has to deal with people she has no way to talk with, which is basically everyone. Unless it involves texting which allows her the ability to edit her words before possibly saying the wrong thing.

She ropes her best friend and younger sister into helping with the play and along the way things get hairy.

She’s got a history of interfering in her oldest friend Jake’s love life. And due to her own inability to understand people (let’s be real, no one understood people in high school) it leads to a painful situation between her and Becca, Harvy’s owner.

She has a crush on the hottest girl in school who, to her immense surprise, is into her.

Allison starts the book with tunnel vision and grows from her mistakes and failings. The biggest question of what it means to be out and if she can handle it put her on the same page, mostly, with a student she absolutely couldn’t stand. There’s a lot of growth and Allison’s journey isn’t easy.

Yes her family is understanding and supportive even though her dad is a little oblivious, she learns that it isn’t enough to be supported by others. She has to be okay with and support herself.

Her grades start to slip, there’s trouble with the play due to the past of the drama teacher and then more personal drama on her end.

Every character feels real and totally fleshed out. There were moments where I was desperate for Allison to stop talking so she would stop making mistakes, where I wanted to shake her and make her do the right thing. I was glued to this book.

A fun read that’s impossible to put down, I give The Year Shakespear ruined my life a solid 4 stars. It’s a fun light read that just goes by quickly and for the positivity in it I give it four stars. However, if you’re looking for an LGBTQI+ experience that really gets down to the nitty-gritty of what not being out when your partner is, plus not really being out at all, this isn’t it.
It’s fun, is easy and kind of cheesy in how sweet it is but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

[Thanks to @netgalley and @_secondstory for the ARC!]

Just the simple fact that #theyearshakespeareruinedmylife by #danijansen involves theater queers makes me *swoon* It is the story of Alison Green, an overachieving high school senior whose biggest goal in life is to be Valedictorian. So when she is roped into producing the school play she sees it as an opportunity to get a leg up in the Valedictorian race, no matter how disastrously things are going.

However the "Ye Olde Shakespeare Disaster" also gives Alison an opportunity to get close to her crush, Charlotte. Their interactions reminded me of how I am with my (almost always) impossible crushes. I also relates to Alison's awkwardness and desire to achieve perfection, which is something that has followed me all my life.

This book also won me over for being centered mostly on queer teens. Alison doesn't struggle with her sexual orientation, but she does struggle with having to come out to everyone. And why do we always have to assume someone is straight? I also loved that Charlotte is pansexual (no matter how little there was from her because Alison seemed to be too focused on just about everything).

Still some things could have been more fleshed out like Alison's relationship to Charlotte (and Charlotte in general) and maybe some connection to the play they were rehearsing and the immediate high school drama could have been made. Also felt kind of weird that a queer Gen-Z teen would not know what a pansexual is (Brandon Urie anyone? ).

I started a tally reading this book, and it went like so:

Times failed to use the word lesbian: 13

Times the word lesbian is used, but not by the MC to refer to herself: 3

Times the MC uses the word lesbian about herself: 3

Because I have read way too many YA books which refuse to use the word lesbian at this point to have any sort of patience, to be quite honest. And, with 3 of the 19 mentions of the word, this book is actually doing way better than a lot of them.

But not enough that I wasn’t frustrated by it.

See, I know that in real life, people choose to use/not use particular labels however they wish. But, in fiction, the almost complete absence of the use of lesbian (especially compared to other labels), speaks such volumes. The use of a particular label in a positive context is going to help people who might not feel okay just yet about their identity. I mean, part of the reason they might not feel okay is a society that tells them “lesbian” is a dirty word, so continued use of that word in a positive context is only doing good things.

And like I said, this book didn’t do terribly on that - at least not as bad as I’ve seen - but I still want to see more characters who claim the word lesbian and claim it proudly. Who use it over and above every other term they could use. And that’s what this book didn’t give me.

But that wasn’t all the problems I had. It also very distinctly propounds an idea about being out and coming out that I hated. Namely, that you can’t be with someone if you’re not out. And that being out to a single person somehow “isn’t enough”.

Let me take the former to begin with. In two cases in this book, a character wants their love interest to be “more out” if they are to continue being together. Because they have this idea that not being out equates to shame. With the MC, it comes along the lines of being pressured to be “more out” by her girlfriend, which she goes along with easily enough, but I don’t know how to make it more clear that it is not being a good partner to pressure someone in this way. With the gay side character, who is closeted and self-hating and spends his time being openly misogynistic to put people off guessing he is gay, it’s the classic case of his boyfriend breaks up with him, because he’s not out, because it feels like shame. And sure, I guess there’s a story to be had there, but I think it’s one that involves a lot more introspection and time, and doesn’t end up being this character being pressured into coming out to everyone in a very public way, just for this guy. (Not to mention, if he really is so closeted, I doubt it would be so easy. I mean, struggling against something you’ve internalised is really fucking hard.)

The second part of the problem was when, having come out to her best friend, said best friend goes on to insist she comes out to her parents. Said straight best friend. Surely you see how bad this is, surely I do not need to explain it. No one decides when you come out but you. Absofuckinglutely no one. And this book does not just have one person decide when someone comes out, but three. While passing zero judgement on it.

So sorry if I lack patience for the rest of the damn thing.

As for the remainder of the book, there were two things that irritated me the most. Firstly, that the MC is so pretentious and just doesn’t really feel like a teenager because of it. I know, I know, it was a facet of her personality, and I really think it wouldn’t have bugged me quite so much if it weren’t for the above issues, but. It did.

And then there was the fact that they had one argument and then “broke up”. But they’re teens. They’re going to be melodramatic.

But the theatre mafia gave me a good laugh.

This was such a cute, high-school/teen read. I enjoyed the characters and you could really feel the atmosphere of the school. Alison was so relatable in her struggle to juggle everything on her plate and it was adorable watching her grow as she got further through the book.

A quick and fun read perfect for lovers of Jenny Han but with an LGBT+ twist!

I went into this book really wanting to love it - but...I found the characters voice hard to commit to and the story itself while cute was not my cup of tea entirely! Perhaps another case of me being a bit past my YA days!

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!**

This was a really fun, cute read.

Alison is a senior in high school, and what she really wants is to be her high school’s valedictorian, so she takes on the role as student producer of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At the same time, she deals with her friendships, her crush on Charlotte (who’s acting in the play), and the difficulty of balancing her responsibilities.

I really enjoyed reading this, and I liked the way that the author described what it’s like to be involved in a play, and the magic of that for both the cast and crew . The main critique I had with this book is just that it left me wanting more. It’s pretty short, so I feel like I didn’t get to know the characters as well as I would have liked. I really liked Becca and Jack and Charlotte, and I would have enjoyed getting to know them better. I also feel like the conflicts between Alison and some of the other characters [no spoilers] were resolved a little too quickly.

Charlotte was definitely my favorite character.

“... and she told me that for years she had lied and told people she was named after Charlotte’s Web, when the truth was it was her great-grandmother’s name. ‘I just loved that spider so much, you know?’”

I wish that the romance had been given more space on the pages, because there were only a handful of scenes with Charlotte, and her relationship with Alison was my favorite part of the book. I also was really interested in the subplot with the rival theater, and I wish that we’d gotten to see more of that.

Overall, this is a very cute read, and I am so grateful for the ARC!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 4.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In this book we have Alison - one of two top candidates for Valedictorian at her run-of-the-mill American high school, where a teacher has tricked her into producing the spring play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Armed with her red binder, overenthusiastic ambition, and her best friend Becca, she decides to tackle it. It of course ends up being more than she anticipated. Alison navigates the different personalities of art geeks, jocks, actors, and the drama teacher. She's also crushing on Charlotte, who plays the fairy queen.

This book is the contemporary queer romcom you wanted to read in high school. Our main character, Alison, is very relatable to many people who see "lesbian" and "shakespeare" like me, and decided to pick up the book. Valedictorian wannabe, overachieving, involved-in-too-many-things, not-quite-closeted but not-quite-out perfectionist, I thought that this book does a great job of very realistic representation.

There is nothing spectacular or surprising in the story, as far as contemporary romance novels go, except this is kind of book we absolutely need more of. The writing is solid, the pacing is quick.There's no bury your gays moments, there's no unhappy abusive families like I was worried about. It's a typical teenage YA book, that happens to feature a lesbian high school girl as it's MC. I'll definitely be recommending this to my middle and high school students in search of a contemporary book!

Unfortunately, this novel simply could not draw me in., so I did not finish it. As others already pointed it, it is very cute and I guess that is what put me off: it is just way too cute for my taste.

3-3,5*
It seems most of the reviews here say it was a cute read and they are not wrong.
It's fast paced, funny, and you could read it in a day, if you'd like to.
The main hero is Alison, who tries to be best in her school activities and that's how she ends up producing a school play. I think those were my favourite moments from the book - when the who group of unlikely friends were rehersing the play and preparing the decorations etc.
Also to me The Red Binder was a character of its own :D.
My issues - how could one young person be left in charge of producing the whole play, finding actors, helpers, getting funds etc. A few teachers help her but it's not much and honestly I don't know why Alison just did not say something (also she made soo many bad decisions but in her age, who didn't). Some parts were drafted but not mentioned again - like what about the Drama mafia?
Some of the characters very quite stereotypical - the "art girl" is a "strange" goth who does not speak much. The costume designer is a extroverted gay. I'm not saying this could not happen, just that is somewhat a "typical" choice.
But I enjoyed reading, the romantic line is very sweet, and some parts were very funny (while others were very embarrassing to read - the kind when you know the main characters is making a biiig mistake, but there is nothing you can do).

Fabulous and should be read by all those in high school.Highly inspirational. Keep up the good work!

In The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life, author Dani Johnson got some things really right and some really wrong. Alison Green, self-proclaimed nerd, begins senior year wanting to be valedictorian more than anything. She gets roped into producing the student play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with the thought that it will help her chances. Of course, her sister, her best friend, a love interest, and a few other characters make the play become the center of her life; drama, romance, and some hilarity ensue. I think Johnson got the interior life of high schoolers dead on--the angst, the obsession about ridiculous things, and the awkwardness that Alison displays. I also loved that Alison’s gayness was not the center issue but just a fact of life. But, some of the exterior school things felt so wrong--the timing of her college essay, the relationships with some of the teachers, the way the school play works, and the whole valedictorian thing; you’re either valedictorian or you’re not. If readers can get past some of these odd plot points, The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a cute, funny, and mostly accurate depiction of the private lives of high school students that fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera will definitely enjoy.

Striving to be valedictorian Alison Greene agrees to co-produce the school’s annual play, not realizing she has been tricked and will be the sole producer of “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must navigate producing a play, a budding romance, and the intricacies of friendship, all while striving to remain in the running for valedictorian.

I am extremely happy and excited to have read a book featuring female romantic leads for main characters. I have personally felt the representation in queer YA and contemporary novels have disproportionately featured m/m pairings; while I appreciate all representation, it’s tiring.

I really loved the cast of the supporting friends and family who always had Alison’s back. They were an eclectic mix of people and Annie (her sister) and Becca (her best friend) were well-fleshed out and had very distinctive “voices” and personalities.

The humor of the book was well-done and I found Alison to be a very charming character.

The students in the book are mostly seniors, however, I do not think this book is really in the category of young adult and rather reads very “middle-grade.” I do not think the inclusion of queer characters automatically makes a book young “adult” because as everyone should know, sexuality does not equal sex.

I do wish the relationship between Charlotte and Alison could have been more developed. In the grand total of the book we only go to see them on one date and this led to the reader being less invested. I think a lot of the scenes that were spent on her having conflict Becca, Annie, Jenny, etc. could have been used instead to dig deeper into Alison’s relationship with Charlotte, as this is meant to be a love story.

Overall, this was a quick (less than 24 hours) read and very light-hearted, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank You to NetGalley and Second Story Press for this ARC!!

Alison Green, a desperate Valedictorian-wannabe, is tricked into agreeing to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be "out" and what she might be willing to give up for love.

It was a lighthearted, fun and fast read. The book wasn't all about Shakespeare's play but about the new experiences in Alison's life, how she deals with the ups and downs and the lessons learnt along the way.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange of a honest review..

This book was a cute and sweet read. It flew right by as I was reading. It’s is full of charm, I can see a teen reading this and thinking this is my life.

It’s a sweet coming of age story

I found this to be a pretty cute read but I did fine the main character Alison to be a bit annoying and it was pretty fun to have midsummer nights dream be in this book I just wish that there was some more in the book. I also wish there was more show don’t tell because Alison would continually tell us how busy she is but we did really get to see much of what she was talking about.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

⭐⭐⭐ ! Very cute!

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a YA contemporary about a girl named Alison who so desperately wishes to end her high school career as Valedictorian. When she's roped into (co)producing A Midsummer Night's Dream, she has to learn to balance the show, her school work, her friends, and the love life she's not sure if she's ready to fully explore yet.

This was a sweet, relatable coming of age story. Alison was full of teenage dreams and not lacking in the sarcasm department. She was an enjoyable character to follow. and very much about her journey is something I think many of us can recognize trying to get through during our school years. Her interactions with her friends Becca and Annie were some of my favorites. There's always a need for solid female friendships in YA, and really, the world.

The "romance" aspect fell pretty flat for me. Charlotte seemed a bit of a cut-out character and I just could not connect to her or the development between her and Alison. I was happy *for* Alison when she finally kissed her crush, and later when she started to feel more secure about herself, but I did not have that same happy, bubbly connection that comes with a new ship. Aspects of the writing felt almost middle-grade to me, and I am not sure if that is because YA has been leaning towards the upper end and I simply am not used to it anymore or if it simply allowed the naivety and youth of the characters come through in a very obvious way. It could be a bit of both.

This flew right by. It was quick and sweet and full of charm. Definitely something young teens might see themselves in, with a youthfulness that's been slowly seeping away in YA. All around, it was a refreshing read.

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.

This book caught my eye from the beginning, at the begging I felt it was a little dull but as each chapter went on It became so much more amazing. At some point I couldn’t even put my kindle down. Overall it sent a great message although the character Ben was a little iffy, I found myself a little uncomfortable when he was mentioned.