Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors

[description from author site]

Two Juliets,
both alike in desperation. . .

Seventeen-year-old Mimi Wallingford, of the Broadway Wallingfords, has a life most girls can only dream of—complete with the starring role in her family’s production of Romeo and Juliet. But acting is not her dream, and she’s fighting for the right to trade her script for a scalpel and become a doctor.

Fourteen-year-old Juliet Capulet, of the Verona Capulets, has lived a lonely life—imprisoned by the feud that consumes her family and by her iron-fisted mother’s forcing her into an unwanted marriage. She will do anything to avoid her betrothed, even if it requires faking a boil on her bottom—or something more dangerous.

During the play’s final performance, Mimi’s wish to get away actually comes true when she and her heartthrob costar, Troy Summer, are magically transported into Shakespeare’s Verona. Now that she knows the real Juliet, Mimi doesn’t want to stand by and allow the play to reach its tragic end. But if saving her new friend means changing the ending of the greatest love story of all time, will she and Troy ever make it back to Broadway?

Review:

Having read and really enjoyed Suzanne Selfors's other novel, Coffeehouse Angel, I was extremely excited to begin this one. While I do think Coffeehouse Angel is far superior to Saving Juliet, this is still a fun, enjoyable novel.

I wasn't a fan of Romeo and Juliet when I read it in school, so I especially enjoyed all the twists on the original storyline and characters. It was a little weird to read such a drastically changed version of the story, but I liked the twists in the plot. I wasn't as fond of the characters' new personalities because they were awfully flat, as they are not heavily present in the book. It was nice to read about a not-love-obsessed Juliet, sure, but I would have like to see her, and the other characters' personalities developed more. Mimi and Troy are a bit more developed and not stereotyped- Troy is not an airhead celebrity, and Mimi takes charge and is determined.

The plot was mostly predictable, especially the Mimi/Troy plotline, but is still fun to read about since it is so unique. What slowed the book down, for me at least, were Mimi's explanations of the Shakespeare characters. If I wasn't already so familiar with the Shakespeare characters her explanations would not have bothered me as much. They were good descriptions of the characters, but they were almost textbook-like. I was also bothered by some of Mimi's other narration; at times she would say things like "Did I feel ___ when that happened? No." or "Was I dreaming? No, I couldn't be." over and over. It was rather annoying, but overall Mimi has an amusing voice that is fun to read.

The ending of the book is a bit too happy for my liking, but it ties things up, even if some plotlines (like one with the modern mean girl, Clarissa, who appears like twice in the whole book, and the one with Mimi's mother) were tired up too quickly and sloppily.

Saving Juliet had the potential to be fantastic, but fell a little short. Despite that, however, I'd recommend it if you're looking for a fun, enjoyable, light read- I would just say not to expect too much.

7.5/10

Links: Suzanne's website

Walker/Paperback/Amazon/B&N/Borders/IndieBound