The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life

Alison Green's dream is becoming her year's valedictorian. So when one of her teacher asks her to co-produce this year's school play, she immediately agrees. But when auditions start she realises the absolute mess this production is, and how much time and effort pulling this play off will take. And then there is Charlotte, the most beautiful girl in her class that surely could never like her back, right? But when Alison's thought-through plans and machinations start driving her friends away, she starts to realise that high school may not just be all about good grades and top achievements...

This is such a cute, fun book! Full of jokes, misunderstanding and awkwardness, it is a fun journey through the final year of high school, with all its ups and downs. The pages just slipped by as disaster after disaster strikes the upcoming show, forcing all crew members to improvise and work together to make it happen after all. Alison's character development is so great to read. Pick this one up for a light and funny read full of interesting characters and a Shakespeare play that starts to feel way more relatable than anyone thought.

Oh my god, this book was so cute ! Just a little fun read with a lot of humour and a bit of representation since our character, Alison is a lesbian, anxious girl who want to produce her high school production, a midsummer night's dream (it's my absolute favorite play by shakespeare).

It was a little cheesy but not too much, just the perfect amount of cheesy.
What I liked a lot about it, it's such a fast read with a fast placed history. You don't have to wait 200 pages to become interresting.
And can we talk about the writing style ? I loved it, it's was really fun.
There"s a High School Musical vibes so... Now that I just finish it, I have to watch the movie haha
Just read it, perfect read for summer or back to school period :)

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life drew me in with the gorgeous cover and the interesting description. I like a lot of what this book has to say, but not necessarily how the book says it. First, it skewed much younger than I anticipated, reading more like a junior novel than YA. That's fine once I was used to it, but it took me by surprise from the description and age of the characters. The take on Shakespeare's work was fun to read, but the author relied so heavily on stereotypes for the writing of the characters that it was hard for me to believe in them long enough to enjoy the story. The concept and the presentation was there, but the storytelling left me behind.

This is a very funny book for YA readers, and especially those who are (or are not) familiar with Shakespeare. It's quintessential YA and it's very funny witty writing.

This was quite a fun read, and I really enjoyed the fact that things don't get nicely wrapped up for all involved. While the book has wacky elements, much of the story still felt grounded and real.

I was looking for something lighthearted and wholesome after the heavy reading I have been doing. I loved reliving highschool through Alison and experiencing the stress of the school play as well as her a personal life. I love the focus on the LGBTQ+ community and how, for all of us, sometimes it's hard to balance everything and we feel that we have messed up everything even though there is a simple solution. This is such a perfect read for any teen who is struggling with the pressures of highschool, identity and balance.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a very easy enjoyable read. The plot isn't that original but it's written in a way that makes it very cute and likeable, the wonderfully diverse cast of characters are all appealing and each adds their own zest to the story.

This was an insanely fun book. As a former theatre kid I appreciated all the humor. I thought that our main character was extremely relatable and fun. I liked the relationship between the main character and her sister and they had a great dynamic. I loved the best friend character and her relationship with James. My absolute favorite is how whenever the main character is stuck and doesn't know what to do she consults this red binder and that red binder almost becomes a character itself and I thought that was great. I also loves how the show is undoubtedly a disaster but the ending is still satisfying because we see all that has come out of it.

I would include this book on my classroom bookshelf. I think a lot of my high schoolers would be able to relate to it.

This was such a throwback to my high school year, putting on plays with a shoestring budget, enthusiastic actors and friends who got roped into prop/costumes/set design! This story is fast paced and well written. The characters are witty but still teenager-like, they don't sound like 30 year old actors cast in a teenage movie. It is a really quick and enjoyable book with a good plot, lesbian romance and nice POC representation. I really enjoyed it, even as a full grown adult (sigh...) How I wish I could be a teenager again, but just for the putting on plays aspect!

This is the perfect read for a variety of reasons. As an educator who teaches Shakespeare in her classroom, I can easily see this as being a delightful gateway novel to get my students to reflect on Shakespeare in a unique way. Jansen takes a highly revered yet challenging author and makes him relatable to a younger audience.

Taking a much beloved play, 'A Midsummer's Night Dream', many of the comical errors one finds within the play itself comes to life in the reality of Jansen's characters. Following the quirky heroine, Alison Green, readers will both laugh and cringe as she navigates through the murky waters of trying to produce a school play while also inconveniently falling in love.

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

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

This was a super fun contemporary! I really loved the parts of the book set at the main character’s house and with her friends, the one thing that wasn’t super interesting to me were the parts with so much backstage theater lingo. This is a great stand alone with fantastic LGBTQ+ rep! I’ll be making an instagram post about this soon!

The biggest flaw in this book is that it ends! What a nice, funny, unpretentious, wonderful book!
I laughed a lot with this reading, what a wonderful book, I wanted you to come to my country, I loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It is set to be published in September 2020.

"The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life" by Dani Jansen is a fresh YA novel with a high school setting, several LGBTQ+ characters and a convoluted tangle of romantic subplots that gives a nod to "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
The novel is funny, entertaining and gives the reader an honest insight on what it means to come to terms with one's identity while juggling schoolwork, family matters, extracurricular activities and one's very first crush.
Although the characters felt a bit stereotypical and the plot twists were not exactly unexpected, it was a pleasant read, and I recognized in these pages many things I remember from my own high school days.
I can definitely recommend this book to any young reader who is struggling with being different, not only because of being LGBTQ+, but for any reason at all

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen is a drama-filled story of theatre, friendship, romance, and perfectionism. As valedictorian-wannabe Alison Green takes on the responsibility of producing an increasingly catastrophic high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, she learns about her relationship with success and her relationships with those around her.

A very amateur Shakespeare production provides the perfect backdrop for Alison’s journey of self-discovery, and Jansen has done the research needed to build it beautifully. In the noisy cafetorium—an impractical hybrid of cafeteria and auditorium—financial crises, cast dramas, schedule conflicts, and artistic clashes find their home. Jansen’s setting word gives what Alison’s best friend, Jules, calls “Ye Olde Shakespearian Disaster” all the scope it needs to be a delightfully disastrous as possible.

Throughout The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life, Alison is focused on a single mission: become valedictorian. This conviction, combined with Alison’s inherent perfectionism, shines through in all of her decisions, fast leading her to burnout. Alison is driven and relatable, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t make mistakes. She gets caught up in taking on too much, she interferes in other people’s lives, she neglects her relationships in favour of success, and she finds herself constantly afraid of what others think of her. But as the story progresses, Alison begins to discover more about who she is and who she can be. While she doesn’t let go of her hopes and dreams, she starts to understand that it’s okay not to be perfect, and she learns to more greatly appreciate the people in her life.

The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a book about trying new things, accepting imperfection, discovering oneself, and building relationships. It also features some great queer representation! I’d recommend The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life to readers of Becky Wallace’s Far from Normal, Becky Albertalli’s The Upside of Unrequited, and Poppy Nwosu’s Taking Down Evelyn Tait.

This book was a fun treat filled with unexpected turns in the story.

What I loved most in the book would be the fact that it is centred around a play in high school which will focus particularly on a set of students. This theme being the forefront brought out the capability of the author to do complete justice to those dorky, fun, superb characters. I expected a little more details on the play that they were producing but sometimes that was a good thing that not much of the play was stressed on and instead the same amount of importance was given to the individual characters. The book on the whole was a humorous treat for me and j think I laughed aloud twice when our lead was unable to control the situation. The fact that life is full of defeats and embarrassment and how we live up to that is so well detailed.

This story of LGBT+ people who have so many varying mentalities and social pressures is seen in this book and this was quite a differently written book. The amount of love, care and acceptance shown in this book is heartwarming and I was engrossed throught the entire read. It was well written and I would recommend it for a light and fun read with a touch of emotion.
Thankyou netgalley for the copy #netgalley #theyearshakespeareruinedmylife

A very well written and engaging teen story.


Alison Green dreams of being the valedictorian. Nerdy, socially awkward, a little emotionally clueless, gay (out to her parents, sister and best friend), Alison is really every girl. She harbours a secret crush on Charlotte, a super cool girl but cannot imagine doing anything about it. Her best friend, Becca, has a crush on Alison's friend, Jack, and is always tongue-tied in his presence. 


Without meaning to, Alison finds herself the producer of the school play -- a role she's wildly incapable of handling. 


The story is about Alison's action packed school year.


The writing is just so easy, funny and engaging that reading this is so much fun. Twitterpated -- its been a decade since we've seen an author use this delightful word.


Alison is a real person who makes mistakes, creates messes, hurts people, apologises, has some level of self-awareness -- just a complete human being. We love the whole show-not-tell way the characters, their strengths and failings and their growth is written. 


There is not a single character that we didn't like -- Becca, Annie (Alison's sister), and one really tertiary character, Jenny -- particularly stand out. The romance between Alison and Charlotte has some cute moments, but it's not like there is any major focus on it. 


This is a super-light, breezy, extremely entertaining read.

This was a really sweet book!

Alison has one goal: become her high school’s valedictorian. She’s willing to do just about anything to get there, including produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which becomes dubbed Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster. From budget cuts to actors dropping out, as well as personal drama, no one is quite sure whether the play will truly be a Shakespearean comedy or end in a tragedy.

I really enjoyed this book. There was a lot of comedy, just enough angst and drama to add conflict but didn’t go overboard. The main characters were great, but I did find that some of the side characters could have used a bit more detail. I found myself forgetting what most of them looked like. But, overall, this was a really fun story.

Alison spends most of the book grappling with what it really means to be “out” at school, dealing with her perfectionist tendencies, and trying not to meddle in other people’s lives. I appreciated that this book had characters who were from a variety of LGBTQIA+ identities.

*Review copy provided by NetGalley*

This is a truly wonderful book. The characters had a wonderful backstory and a few had quite surprising secrets.

Alison Green, a wannabe school valedictorian takes on the role of "Co-Producing" the schools play 'A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM' only when the teacher she is supposed to be co producing the performance pulls out. Alison is left to pick up the pieces of crew fallouts, keeping the set artist happy, dealing with her crush on Charlotte (one of coolest people in her year) and helping Ben who reveals a surprising secret to everyone. As well as trying to produce the show on meer peanuts, due to an issue with the director/fill - in actor., and accidentally saying yes to a date with her best friend Jack, when one of Alison's other friends actually really likes him, just to complicate everything by 1000x.

Overall a truly wonderful read and one of the most fun and light hearted books I have read in a while. High praise to Dani Jansen.