Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel! It was a nice, easy and fun read!

First of all, I'm all about LGBT representation, especially when it comes to books for young readers. I'm not sure I would describe this as a teen/YA book. It read more like a middle grade/upper middle grade to me but there's nothing wrong with that.

There was not a single character (except the main one, sadly), whom I didn't like. They were fun and felt real, I would have loved to learn more about them. I loved to see them interact and come together.

In the book, you are following Alison, a young girl, who is all about achieving big things and in order to get them, she agrees to co-produce a school play. Nothing, literally nothing, goes as easy as she would like, whether it is in regards to the play or her personal life and you are watching her deal with one problem after another. Some problems could have been easily prevented, some she couldn't really do much about. Either way, it seemed like I was just reading to her complaints and whining more often than not, which I honestly found a little bit annoying.

I was a little bit disappointed with how little of the f/f relationship was explored, but there was also a different queer relationship I did not see coming, which was nice.

I went into this thinking that i would love this but this just didn't work for me. The premise was interesting but i didn't Allison that much and just felt that as a character she needed to be rewritten to be less irritating overall. The plot could have been explored better and the book didn't really deliver on the queer element even though it was promised.

As a self-confessed theater nerd, I never want to miss opportunities like this, where I am exposed to stories revolving around another thing that I love. Just by the title alone, I knew that this read will be about organizing a play, and with that alone, I was sold.

In this story, we dive into the life of Alison. In her quest to reach valedictorian, she ended becoming the producer for her school’s presentation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – without having any prior experience! I loved this concept, as I, too, had to produce and direct Romeo & Juliet in 10th grade.

This book is a truly fun read – and if you’re looking for something light and fluffy this is the read for you. The author does not bombard their readers with heavy drama and just normal teenage problems like friendship and crushes.

It also touches the story of being a teen lesbian. She is out to people close to her but not to the entire school. And now that she is crushing on someone, she is contemplating the concept of being “out” and labeling her sexuality.

Another thing I have to admit, she can be frustrating at times with the decisions that she makes. But at the end of the day, I had to credit it to the fact that she is still young – and we all did stuff that we regret at that age, too.

My concern in this story is that it seems to follow this formula on creating characters, so it felt like they are just flat and cliche. The books is also slower in pacing and I think that it could’ve given a better story if the F/F romance was allowed to flourish a little early on.

Final Thoughts: For Lovers of Fluff

Overall, this is a quick and fun read perfect for the younger YA audience and anyone looking to have a break from heavy reads.

My Book Rating Breakdown

Blurb: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Main Character:🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Significant Other: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Support Characters:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟☆
Writing Style:🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Character Development:🌟🌟🌟🌟☆
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Pacing: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Ending: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Unputdownability: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆
Book Cover:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Final Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3.5/5)

I really liked this book! The jokes were fun, the writing as well and I adored the characters!
The plot was also very entertaining and the awkward moments were perfection.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I absolutely flew through it. On the other hand, it wasn't actually . . . good? Which isn't even to say I don't recommend it—it's an over-the-top, fluffy, vaguely trashy sapphic read, and if that's what you go into it expecting I doubt you'll be disappointed. The fact is, whatever else you say about it, it's fun.

I don't have a lot of coherent thoughts about this book, so let's just dive into a list of things now:

- the writing is . . . truly horrible? Maybe I'm being a bit harsh (and it does get better as the book goes on), but I almost DNFd this within like three chapters because I was so deeply not here for it. It was just . . . sort of really juvenile and rough, like something you'd find in a high school creative writing assignment from someone who didn't really want to be doing this. I do understand that's an ARC, and it's possible that the final copy is written better, but . . . it didn't feel like the base was there—this wasn't just rough from lack of polishing, I don't think.

- the characters are pretty well written, and I liked the main cast. I wouldn't say they were super spectacular characters, or that I'll think about them constantly, but . . . I liked them. I will say though, that I thought these decent-but-not-amazing characters carried the book and . . . I think that tells you all you need to know.

- I appreciated aspects of the rep, however I had an issue with the way this book discussed outness. I didn't like the way it was handled. Every queer character in this book who wasn't fully out was constantly pressured to come out, to be more out—and worse than that, it was never called out. I would love to read a book that examines the pressure to be more out than you're ready to be, however this book was definitely not that book.

- theatre! I may have found a few details a little . . . over-exaggerated . . . but overall I really loved the depiction of theatre in this book. I am weak for a theatre book, and this book delivered. Reading about theatre feels like a warm hug, and I really loved seeing that in here

- also though there was one scene, and it was just like a page or two but . . . I don't think it's okay for the white character to wish her friend, aka the token poc, would be more tactful when calling out cultural appropriation. this book clearly tried to make some points, but then it did things like this and made them fall flat

Overall? This was okay. I didn't love it, I don't exactly recommend it, but I'm going to say oh don't read it either. It was decent, fun, but ultimately deeply forgettable.

I loved the main character. She's a classic nerd, but without all those nerdy girl stereotype of many ya. Alison is determined and self-centered, but her differential is that she is super influential. I'm so tired of nerdy girls always being easily manipulated.

The points that for me were negative was the wrong way that Charlotte describes pansexuality. She said "For me, it means I’m attracted to the person, not to their gender or sex.” As a pansexual girl, I'm really sick of this stereotype. I think a little more research would have avoided this disservice.

Another point that bothered me is was Ben's come out. In the few scenes in which this was shown, I had the feeling that Ben only come out because Zach broke up with him. Come out should be something natural, something you should be ready for. It's a really complicated situation, because it's not fair with Zach being with someone closed, but it's also not nice that Ben has to come out without being ready. And I don't think he was ready, all that toxic masculinity doesn't go away with a advice on the bathroom floor. Although Ben is a side character I think this question should have been better developed.

In general I liked the story, it's fun, light and so sweet. If you liked Booksmart you will love it.

This was such a cute read! It had all the makings of a fantastic book, but there were some parts that definitely left more to be desired. The premise was interesting, and while Alison as a character was a little frustrating, the more I thought about it, the more real she seemed. There was a lot happening, though, so at points I lost track of what was going on and who was what, but on the whole, it was an interesting book.

Things I did like about the book:
I loved that the lead character got roped into producing the play for the school and that it happened to be one of my favourite Shakespeare plays of all time. While a little predictable and cliche, <i>A Midsummer’s Night Dream</i> is a classic, no doubt about it.
The friendships in this book were interesting. I will admit that the characters didn’t all stick with me, but I liked the sense of camaraderie that builds between all of them through the course of running this play
LGBTQIA representation. This also goes into the what I didn’t like about the book section, but it had a good number of gay characters. While not all of them talked about their sexuality openly, they existed.

Things I didn’t like about the book
The cliches were a little too on the nose. The goth girl was moody and difficult, the best dressed guy was gay and the jock is an asshole. I get that these are all stereotypical of high school movies, but do they have to be?
Alison’s inability to talk about her sexuality. Yes, she’s gay, and she’s come out to her friends and her parents, but she doesn’t deal with it the way someone who is proud to be gay would be dealing with it? Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it. Like, if Jack knew, he never would have asked her out and made that so uncomfortable on every level.
Alison, as a character, while relatable was also incredibly frustrating. I feel like at some points of time in our lives, we’ve all been selfish and self-centred about things happening around us, but it’s exhausting to read about it

It was an easy read, but not one that enjoyed too much. It gets 3 stars for the premise, the characters (to an extent) and just the basic heart of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Story Press for an ARC!

As you may know, I had a class on Shakespeare last semester, and this semester I am taking Advanced Shakespeare, which basically means, I will have spent all year reading a TON of Shakespeare. So when I heard this was about a school production of Shakespeare (albeit it is the play I dislike the most), and that it had a sapphic relationship, I knew I had to read it.
If I had to describe this book in three words, they would be: lighthearted, soft, and cute. This is the perfect book to read in summer sitting in the lawn enjoying the sun (or that might be me dying for the weather to get warmer, southern hemisphere here!) I literally read it in a single afternoon, so it is also good if you want to read something quick.
This book is, is above all, a coming of age story, where Alison learns to face disappointment and things not working out and learns that well, that's life. Her main issue is that she is a perfectionist, and as a fellow perfectionist, I could really see teenage me in Alison.
The book is also about friendship and romance, and how to balance those two, an issue I believe lots of teenagers (and some adults even) struggle with. It's easy to forget about the world when one is in love, and this book shows how one must learn to balance your love life and your friendships.
And speaking about love, the romance in this book is the sweetest, cutest, most heart-melting thing in the world. I loved the relationship between Alison and Charlotte, it felt very real. Also, Charlotte is pansexual! It's always nice seeing representation of other types of sexual orientations
However, I have to mention that there is something a bit problematic with this book, and that is that it is somewhat implied that being a closeted queer means that you feel ashamed about your sexual orientation. In reality, there are many queers who cannot be openly queer in public, because this might threaten their safety, their housing, and even their life. Being in the closet or not open about who you like doesn't make queers any less queer!
Overall, this is a fun book to read in an afternoon where you may want to pick up something light.

My rating: 5/5

This was a really cute book and I was invested in finding out if she ended up with Charlotte through the whole book. Really fun to read as someone who did tech theatre in high school and university (and still today haha). There were a few Harry Potter mentions which I wish weren't there since JKR is a terf. Otherwise good book!

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I was not the target audience for this book. It’s more middle school than young adult.

I postponed reading The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life for months, but as the publication date approached, I had no choice but to read the book. It took me around a week to get through, but if it weren't for school work, I would have finished it in a matter of hours!

The best thing about this book was by far, the plot and the course of actions. This book was one of the lightest novels I have ever read this year, and I enjoyed that. The actions few by, but at the same time, I have never found myself wondering how I got to a certain point into the book. Every chapter had a well-defined starting point and a well-defined endpoint. Each of the chapters ended up where they were supposed to end. The reason why I put so much accent on this thing is that I've read an enormous number of novels lately, and even the most well-known ones had problems with this. All I have to say is that this lady knows how to write a grabbing novel!

All of the characters had something to do with the plot, and in the end, all of them helped Alison learn a valuable lesson. There were some I liked more than others, but that isn't something out of the ordinary. Alison was the main character, and what I liked the most about her, was the fact that she was an LGBTQAI representant herself. Many novels that I've read before do not have queer characters as protagonists, and this book was a pleasant change. We get to see the story through her eyes, and I think this gave the book a more playful tone. Becca and Jack are Alison's best friends. They will be a major plot point around the first part of the book, and that is all I have to say. Charlotte was the love interest of Alison, and what I liked the most about her character is that she was the complete opposite of Alison. While she was quite open about her sexuality and very laid back, Alison was always thinking about school, how to become a valedictorian and a bit shy. Annie was Alison's sister, and I have to say, their dynamic is exactly like the relationship I have with my sister.

I have been amazed by how diverse this book has been. I mentioned before that the protagonist was a lesbian, but the author also brought to light a pansexual somebody and a gay relationship. Also, the author talked about cultural appropriation and gender as a social construct. I wish she put a lot more accent on these things, as they are huge problems in today's society, but it is still good that she mentioned them. I'm thinking of writing some articles around these subjects, so if you want to see them, comment below.

There is only one problem I had with this book. I wish it had been longer. I think that if the novel had around 400 pages instead of 300, the author would have had more time to develop Alison as a character. She was great, but at the same time, by the end of the novel, you wish you had more of her. The book had the sweetest ending, but you wish there was more. Also, I feel like the ending was a bit rushed, and I do wish there was a lot more description regarding the opening night.

Overall, the book was exactly what I needed! It was a light, high school romance, all wrapped up in a diverse read which dealt on a smaller scale with interesting subjects as gender and cultural appropriation. I would highly recommend it for high schoolers and people aged 13 and up. Also, this novel is good for adults who are quite nostalgic about their teenage years.

A fun fall read great for fans of theatrical and Shakespearean themes, "The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life" is a quirky romance and YA contemporary with LGBT rep, fun friendship dynamics, and plenty of high school high jinks. 

When Alison decides to produce “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in an attempt to get valedictorian, she never thought it would be so hard. But as she crushes on the lead actress, butts heads with her lifelong nemesis, tries to play matchmaker to her best friends, and finds herself having more trouble than she expected getting together a good crew, the show begins to seem like one Ye Olde disaster after another.

With a heavy dose of humor and sarcasm, a flawed but relatable over-achiever main character, and lots of high school drama that doesn't take itself too seriously, "The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life" is a great pick for rom-com lovers. A quick read with short and compelling chapters, the story has plenty of drama to keep things moving forward, and is interesting  and fast-paced enough that it can be hard to put down.  

But with an exposition-heavy beginning and the rest of the book feels rushed, the pacing of the book is overall off and the romantic tension is lost in the many other events which spring up too close together, as if the author is afraid of readers getting bored or running out of time to fit all the ideas in.

Although cute and fun, and somewhat relatable to anyone who has lived through the horrors of hell week of a high school production, the overall story doesn’t add much to the genre that other books haven’t done before and isn’t particularly original in terms of characters or plot, sometimes even sliding into stereotype territory. And, you’ll have to suspend your belief in some areas in order to stomach all the absurdities of Alison’s life, which get slightly more and more far-fetched as the story goes on.

Still, an enjoyable read for those looking for a story about friendship and high school drama with a little bit of female-female romance. I rated "The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life" 3.5 out of 5.

Thank you to Netgalley and Second Story Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

**** Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!! The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is out today!****

** Warning this review may contain spoilers!!**

Alison Green is a senior who is focused on one thing: becoming valedictorian. Being neck and neck with fellow student (and all around jerk) Ben for valedictorian, Alison is recruited to co-produce the school's production of A Midsummer's Night Dream (nicknamed Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.) Once the teacher who is supposed to co-produce the play leaves Alison to produce the show herself, she luckily gets help from drama teacher Mr. Evans, Alison has to put together a whole production team to get the show on the right track. While managing` the play, her grades, and her friendships, Alison meets Charlotte Russell who is auditions for the play. Charlotte is cool and would not seem to be interested in Alison, but seems to be showing her hints, even though Alison is not sure of Charlotte's sexuality.

What I really liked about The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is the amount of sexual representation. Our main character Alison is gay, along with one of the side characters who on the production team who is in charge of the costumes. One of the characters comes out before the end of the novel, in order to save his relationship that has been closeted. Charlotte is pansexual, which I thought was very interesting to have that addition. Alison's relationship with her sister and her best friend was very enjoyable too. I thought that Mr. Evans was a great character and it is always nice to see a teacher passionate about their work, even though his plans for the play weren't feasible. The pacing was good and the events of the book were well set up.

What I wished there was more of was the play itself. We are at the practices, but we don't hear much dialogue, just Alison taking notes and occasionally leading exercises. I thought that the book would be more centered around the play, but it was more focusing on Alison and Charlotte and Alison, Alison's sister, Annie, and Alison's best friend, Becca. It also focused a lot on Alison trying to set up Becca with her crush. It focused more on the high school life and relationships than the play itself.

Altogether I really enjoyed my time reading this fun and fluffy contemporary. If you are interested in an LGBT YA contemporary with a high school play involved, I think you will enjoy this book. The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life comes out today, September 22nd, so be sure to pick up your copy!

This was a cute YA novel following high school senior Alison on her goal to set her up as the front-runner for Valedictorian by pulling off "co-producing" her school theater's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I went into this giving the book a much higher rating, but as the story unfolded, it felt like poor execution of character stakes and story beats. One of the subplots of the book is Alison's emerging sexuality and her interest in the "coolest" girl at school, but this storyline doesn't really go anywhere and had it been completely removed, the story still would have been exactly the same. It's a shame because the two characters have some semblance of chemistry, but then it's stated that one claims the other isn't "out enough" (for the life of me I have no idea where that conclusion came from; it was in none of their, albeit short, conversations) which is used to generate tension but it never feels genuine. Also out of left field is the rationale behind an argument that happens a bit later--but all of this feels so out of touch with the main story of the play. There were so many opportunities to mirror Alison's "real life" with the story of the play, and based on the love triangle date at the beginning of the book, that's where I thought the author was leading this. Instead, the story became a summary of Alison's days leading up to the play with a couple of confusing interactions along the way and moments that puzzle me as to how she was a self-described great student and nerd without every really showing signs of either.
It was a quick read and cute, but not much more than that.

This was a light hearted YA read with LGBTQ+ representation. I really enjoyed this fun and at times quirky romance, which was a quick and easy read. I don't usually read romance but this stood out for me and I enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation.

I related to Alison's pursuits of perfection, being a perfectionist myself, and it was really interesting to see how the author tackled this issue. Alison was an honest character and that adds to her sense of character. But I would have enjoyed it even more if there was a bigger sense of character development and maybe a little bit more to the characters, who were a little flat at times.

I loved that this was centred around a high school play, it really sets the tone for the high school drama. It was an enjoyable, fluffy romance and I would recommend it if that is the kind of book you go for! The cover is also really nice!

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating - 4 stars.

Shakespeare Ruined My Life follows Alison, a high schooler trying to become her classes valedictorian. On her quest to achieve valedictorian, Alison ends up agreeing to produce the school’s play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. As readers, we follow her trying to deal with the pressure of pulling off the play, dealing with relationships, and trying to be comfortable with her sexuality and others knowing about it.

I like that this book showed genuine teenaged feelings. While I felt that Alison was a bit annoying at times, she also just sounded like a regular teenager. Throughout the book Alison is always dealing with trying to be her best academically while still trying to have a normal teenage social life. I have to admit that I did have a few issues with this book. Those being that many things seemed to be overly exaggerated thus making them unrealistic. My one other issue with this book was the romance. I felt like there could've been such great potential between the two characters, but it fell a little short and was a bit awkward at times. Overall these downsides didn't impact my reading experience too much and I still found this book to be such a joy to read. I thought that this was such a fun and easy read that had lots of great representation within its characters. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a quick fluffy book!

I read this for a blog tour.

I am a recovering theatre kid so this book spoke to me on so many levels. I have been involved in shows where things can go wrong, as an extra I once stood on an actor's stomach and thought I'd injured her badly (Romeo & Juliet 70s punk style, she was on the floor and I had to jump off a box and she wasn't supposed to be there, then I fell off the stage and almost landed on the mayor!), then there was the year our leading man got stoned on opening night and couldn't remember his lines in front of the headmaster, mayor and other local notables - as stage manager I had to stop our director/drama teacher from killing him during the interval. Basically I've seen a lot of drama on stage and off.

So I empathised massively with Alison, producing her school's Midsummer Night's Dream, when an actor quits, her costume designer has a relationship malfunction and she gets threatened by the theatre mafia!

This book was a total hoot, I was laughing out loud at times (cue some strange looks from my very own Mr Shakespeare, my husband (yes that is our last name)) and cheering Alison on as she went on a date with the hot girl of her dreams (and corgi lover), Charlotte.

I highly recommend this book to any theatre kids out there, or anyone who loves funny, entertaining books with heart.

This book was honestly not the right thing for me because I don’t think I am the target audience. This book is said to be for young adult readers but honestly I would says it’s better for older side of middle school. Because this book really dramatizes what high school is like and how teens act. And with this being so dramatized it made most characters annoying and stereotyped. With how dramatic and very descriptive it made everything feel so cringey. I felt that none of the characters were fully developed and this book did not show much, but it tells you everything. The ending felt very weird and rushed, and I’m not sure it felt right. And the main relationship in this book I did not really see it, it kind of progressed out of nowhere to me. I saw more of a connection of Allison, main character, with anybody else. The only relationship I liked was Ben and Zach, and you only hear about it. But I honestly did kind of like Mr. Evans because he was funny and I think him being dramatic was well for him. And I did like that this was an lgbtq+ representation but in comparison to other books this felt off to me. Overall, this wasn’t the right book for me but it is a cute read that I could see my cousin reading.

***ARC Review***

When I started this book, I wanted to DNF it almost immediately. Now I’m sad that it’s over. The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life is a fun, witty, and relatable story of a teenage girl’s struggle with life, love, and everything else. The book reads a bit like a younger teen’s diary in a way that I think appeals to younger YA readers, myself included, but that might not be appreciated by the many adult readers of the YA genre. The characters are diverse and extremely relatable, sometimes to the point of it being almost uncomfortable. I was absolutely emotionally attached to all of the characters by the end of the book, which is always a good thing. The book was entertaining and filled with both laugh-out-loud moments and extremely cringy, awkward lines, though the latter decreased in frequency over the course of the book. The plot was mainly fun and lighthearted, though it has its fair share of heavy moments. The story also conveys multiple important messages and some things I personally needed to hear. The plot started out a bit slow, but like everything else in this book, got increasingly better and more intriguing and was overall a sweet and fast read. I have a tendency to write a review in my head as I read a book so I do have a few things to note from the beginning that really stood out to me as problematic and worthy of note. The first is the use of the phrase, “gay or at LEAST bisexual.” This just makes it sound like bisexuality is somehow inferior? Um, no. And the second is the blatant avoidance of the word “lesbian” in the first 75% of the book. What is up with that? Overall though, most of the issues that present themselves towards the beginning of the book get resolved as the story progresses and gives way to a legitimately good book.
When all is said and done, The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life is a good book so what I’ll say to any potential readers who may be scrolling through reviews here is to KEEP READING, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I found this book enjoyable. I was drawn to this story because I love the theatrical arts.
The thing I found that most hindered my rating of this story is that I wanted more.
I found the story charming, however I was hoping for more of the play to be focused on in the end.
I enjoyed the character of Alison, mostly because she was a character I could see so much of myself in when I was in high school - the high achiever, perfectionist.
And the relationship between Alison and Charlotte is another thing I just wanted more of.
If this book had gone into more depth and been a bit longer I could have seen it being a 5 star read for me.
I will be picking up books from this author in the future!
Thank you for the review copy.