Dahlia Adler ï 1 FREE READ
Fifteen acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics!
West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings!
Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest). That Way Madness Lies
I only requested this anthology so I could read the Lear story and move on with my life (in my quest to read every Lear retelling I can get my hands on), but what can I say, once I had it on my Kindle I couldn't resist. Even though I don't particularly like YA and didn't have the highest of hopes that these stories would engage with the plays in particularly interesting ways. Still, there were some pleasant surprises here.
That Way Madness Lies is a YA anthology by a handful of noted writers, each retelling a different Shakespeare play. The selection of plays itself is very good--there are the crowd pleasers as well as a couple of unexpected ones. The organization of this anthology bothered me on a couple of levels--first off, why is The Winter's Tale placed in the Late Romances category but not The Tempest? We're also frequently treated to 1-page author's notes after stories, all of the same tenor; this is why the original play was problematic and here's how I decided to fix it. Which, aside from being jarring and downright annoying, showed such a blatant disregard for Shakespearean scholarship that I had to laugh--yes, of course this is a commercial anthology intended for a young audience but my god, patting yourself on the back for being brave enough to consider The Merchant of Venice through Shylock's perspective as if scholars, directors, actors, and audiences haven't been doing exactly that for centuries is solipsistic to the extreme.
Anyway, as always with anthologies, it's a mixed bag. Some of these stories are unexpected and brilliant and others fall spectacularly flat. So, let's do this.
Comedies
Severe Weather Warning by Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley (The Tempest) - 4 stars
A nice and melancholy snapshot into sibling rivalry as a storm rages outside, delaying Prosper's sister's flight to a prestigious internship that she effectively stole from her sister. Really enjoyed this one and felt that it was one of the most successful stories in accessing the original play's themes even as a nonliteral reimagining.
Shipwrecked by Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night) - 3 stars
Twelfth Night meets high school prom--we've got some love and heartbreak coupled with mistaken identity shenanigans as one twin has recently come out as nonbinary and has started to resemble their brother. It's a bit corny but mostly harmless.
King of the Fairies by Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night's Dream) - 1 star
Midsummer from the perspective of the Indian child abducted by Oberon and Titania. Hands down one of my least favorites from this collection; it couldn't be more heavy-handed and patronizing if it tried. If you like McLemore's writing you'll probably like this story; I simply do not.
Taming of the Soulmate by K. Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew) - 3 stars
A soulmate AU where Katherine doesn't see color until she meets Petrucio at her sister Bianca's party; rather an inconvenience for her 5-year plan. I take umbrage at a modern retelling framing Petruchio as the Reasonable One, but I grudgingly ended up appreciating where this story arrived.
We Have Seen Better Days by Lily Anderson (As You Like It) - 2 stars
I found this story perplexing. As You Like It, as far as I'm concerned, is fertile ground for a reimagining that focuses on gender identity (a topic otherwise omnipresent in this anthology)--and instead we get... a story about summer camp nostalgia and daddy issues? Anyway, I'd be happy to put my expectations aside about what this had the potential to be if it were any good at all, but it was objectively one of the weakest in the collection.
Some Other Metal by Amy Rose Capetta and Cory McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing) - 1 star
I kind of hate Much Ado so I was probably never going to like this very much but... yeah, it was bad. It follows two actors, Tegan and Taron, who play Beatrice and Benedick on stage, and off-stage have an antagonistic relationship, but they’re trying to be set up by their director. The meta narrative was painfully obvious and would be more fun if you enjoyed Beatrice and Benedick's dynamic in the slightest which I can't say I do. This story is also set in outer space for reasons that are of absolutely no consequence?
I Bleed by Dahlia Adler (The Merchant of Venice) - 5 stars
Annoying author's note aside I honestly adored this. The Merchant of Venice + high school doesn't seem like a match made in heaven--right down to Antonio's occupation being declared in the title, this is an inarguably adult work. Part of the fun, then, becomes seeing how deftly Adler adapts this story's mature moving parts to a context which shouldn't work at all... but somehow does, brilliantly. It's a very literal adaptation which otherwise isn't my favorite approach in this collection, but I found this one very successful.
A Sonnet
His Invitation by Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147) - 4 stars
A couple take a road trip to California in the only story in this collection that tackles a sonnet. I have to say, this one didn't make a huge impression on me as I was reading (part of it due to being the shortest story in this collection), but interestingly it's really the only one I'm still thinking about after having finished.
Tragedies
Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow by Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet) - 4 stars
Yes, the title is stupid, but let’s move on. White actually does a remarkable job at capturing the simultaneous foolishness and lovability of the titular protagonists. This story is told entirely in text speak which admittedly is not my favorite, but it makes for fast, feverish reading, which is probably the effect that White intended. This story I felt was one of the most successful at transporting the emotional landscape of Shakespeare to a much smaller and more modern setting, and hands down the most effective story in the tragedy section.
Dreaming of the Dark by Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar) - 2 stars
Julius Caesar meets a private girl’s school and dark magic. The context of this one was so utterly contrived (Briony and Cassie have just killed Julia as a sacrifice to a dark god; Annamaria wants revenge) I couldn’t really take it seriously.
The Tragedy of Cory Lanez by Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus) - 2 stars
This one is probably better than I'm giving it credit for. Cameron Marcus, known by stage name Cory Lanez, is a rapper who was recently stabbed to death; this story tackles family, sexuality, and LA gang violence. Unfortunately it's also told as an oral history, and it's that format that I couldn't really get past--I don't think it works at all in short story form; the author hasn't earned the reader's investment in the character that we're mourning and the result is tedium. Which is kind of fitting for Coriolanus to be fair.
Elsinore by Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet) - 3 stars
Hamlet retold as a penny dreadful--we're in Victorian England, and Claudius is a vampire. Anne (Hamlet) and Camilla (Ophelia) team up to take him down. This will work for a lot of readers better than it worked for me, it simply wasn't to my taste.
Out of the Storm by Joy McCullough (King Lear) - 1 star
Oh boy, HERE WE GO. I was already approaching this with trepidation after despising McCullough's bestselling Blood Water Paint, but I think my mind was as open as it could have been under the circumstances. Anyway, I remain unconvinced that McCullough has read anything more than the wikipedia summary for Lear as this really failed to engage with it on... any level deeper than 'three sisters whose names start with G, R, C.' Written like a play script, it's a snapshot piece where we see Gabi and Cora at their dying father's bedside at the hospital; Rowan, the middle daughter, bursts in and we discover that she's absented herself from the family to get out from under their strict minister father's thumb. Arguments ensue; Rowan is accused of being selfish, she retaliates that she had the fortitude to escape, etc., that kind of thing. Look, I'm sympathetic to the fact that Lear is one of the hardest plays to retell and I'm happy for a reimagining to be nonliteral, as long as it accesses some of the original play's themes, which this just didn't, at all. Ample meditation on truth, power, aging, justice, human nature, and cosmic inevitability to draw from and you opt for... three sisters with an over-controlling father? (The play script format was insufferable as well; if this were a real play it would be peak 'family arguing at the dinner table' theatre.)
We Fail by Samantha Mabry (Macbeth) - 1 star
Just dreadful. Drea, a high school senior, has recently suffered a miscarriage, and her fiancé, Mateo, has been passed over for a football scholarship. When the two get in a car crash and their friend Duncan is pinned beneath the car, Drea convinces Mateo to wait before calling for help, so Duncan will die and Mateo can take his scholarship; and also because she's still mourning the loss of her child and needs to take control of their future. I really despise Macbeth retellings that have a hyperfixation on Lady Macbeth's fertility, and for that narrative to be given to a high schooler made it all the more perplexing and oddly melodramatic in a way that didn't show a similar self-awareness as the Romeo and Juliet story. This was too rushed as well; maybe it could have done something interesting as a longer story, but hurtling through the events of Macbeth at breakneck speed just didn't work.
Late Romance
Lost Girl by Melissa Bashardoust (The Winter's Tale) - 4 stars
This was a lovely story about Perdita who recently discovered the identity of her absent father, trying to cope with that as her new relationship with classics student Zal blossoms. It's short and sweet and a nice note to end on.
Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance arc gods, hear my prayers
Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance reading vlog https://youtu.be/OZ9PHc_Zr-U Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance 3.5 Stars
Well, the Bard has been given a contemporary short story makeover with mixed results!
I love reimaginings so this was always going to be a must read for me. Some of the stories were way more engaging than others. I really enjoyed 'Severe Weather Warning', 'Taming of the Soulmate', 'Partying is such sweet sorrow', 'I bleed', and 'Lost Girl'. I am ordering a copy for the library as I think these short texts are good for the unfamiliar text assessments, and also for comparative studies of contemporary retellings and classics. Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance This anthology contains 15 retellings of Shakespeare's works. What's neat about the collection is it was created by YA authors. So most of the retellings have a modern contemporary feel to them and that's what made it a fun read for me. I'll admit I struggled a bit in school when reading Shakespeare, and I'm glad this book serves a purpose of presenting his works but with a modern spin. Some of the stories in this collection I enjoyed so much, I now want to check out the original version by Shakespeare.
The list of contributors: Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).
Keep in mind I possess the average American's knowledge when it comes to Shakespeare's works. I know the plot of Romeo & Juliet and a few random facts about other plays, but that's about it. So you will have to seek out other reviews if you are looking to find out how each retelling measures up to the original.
My favorites out of the bunch were Severe Weather Warning, Shipwrecked, I Bleed, Elsinore, and We Fail. The entire collection showed off the authors' creativity. I liked how some authors included a note at the end to give more insight into their writing process. (To be honest, I would have loved if all of them had done that as well.) Not every retelling had a traditional story format. There was an oral history format, a play/script, and in the case of the Romeo & Juliet retelling it was comprised of text messages. The stories on average were 20 pages.
Recommend for Shakespeare fans as well as people who enjoy YA fiction.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for sending me an advance copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion. Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
This is everything I've ever wanted out of an anthology. Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance I loved most of the comedies, but the tragedies tended to not be as good. I'd absolutely recommend this to any Shakespeare fan, but the stories range from bland to amazing. My favorite stories of the collection are King of the Fairies, I Bleed, Some Other Metal, Elsinore, and Shipwrecked.
Severe Weather Warning: 1/5 stars. Cute I guess, but not too interesting and horrible as a retelling of The Tempest. I want to read their Taming of the Shrew retelling though.
Shipwrecked: 5/5. This was so cute and so effortlessly queer! I want an entire book of this!!
The Taming of the Soul Mate: 5/5. I usually hate soul mate stuff but I actually really liked this! I love Kate Minola though so I’m probably biased.
King of the Fairies: 5/5. Beautiful writing, but more of a sequel than a retelling. That being said, if Anna-Marie McLemore wrote a full-length Midsummer retelling with the ideas they included in their author’s note, I would absolutely buy it.
We Have Seen Better Days: 4/5
Realistically this is a 3 based on the plot, but I really liked the characters sooooo....
Some Other Metal: 5/5
Much Ado is my second favorite comedy so obviously I’m biased but I loved this one! I’ll always love all the takes on Beatrice and Benedick!
I Bleed: 5/5 stars.
Hard to read at times due to all of the anti-Semitism but incredibly powerful. As much as I loved this one, it does point out a flaw in the anthology: some stories are retelling entire plays, some are doing just a scene or two, some are set just after them, etc. Good variety, but jarring.
His Invention: 5/5
I’m confused, but in a good way. Creepy as hell and I want a whole book of this. What the fuck was this?
Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow: 4/5
Not the best R&J retelling I’ve read this year but still good. It was a slow start but I was fully hooked by the end. Not a fan of the open ending though. As a modern adaptation it worked really well, and the formatting helped!
Dreaming of the Dark: 3.5/5
I really liked the ending, but not much else. It had similar vibes to Hatchetfield stuff, which I really liked, but the characters were pretty boring and I didn’t care about any of them besides Anamaria. Cool concept though, I’d read a book of it.
The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History: 3/5
I’m not very familiar with Coriolanus and I’m not a huge fan of oral histories, but this was okay. I liked the concept more than the execution.
Out of the Storm: 2/5
Written in play format and with interesting characters, but it just didn't feel like a King Lear retelling besides there being what, three sisters and an abusive father? Disappointing. There could have been way more done.
Elsinore: 5/5
I want an entire book of this!! I was a bit disappointed that this wasn't f/f (since it had a genderbent Hamlet) but I also like the choice to turn Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship to a friendship. Guys it's Hamlet but with vampires, what more can you want?
We Fail: 1/5
I found nothing in this that I enjoyed. I hated the writing style and it really did nothing too interesting with the story besides what, setting it in high school? None of the characters had depth, and it was just incredibly disappointing. I love Macbeth, but this wasn't a good retelling.
Lost Girl: 4/5
I really loved the writing in this one, such a good take on The Winter's Tale! Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance So excited to have another anthology coming, and now that eARCs are available, I wanted to do the same thing I did with His Hideous Heart and put CWs in my review in spoiler tags. (Assume Death and/or Murder for all of the Tragedies.)
Ableism:
Anti-Semitism:
Child Abuse/Neglect (primarily off-page):
Emotional Abuse/Grooming:
Homophobia:
Miscarriage:
Parental Death:
Racism (including Microaggressions, Police Violence, White Supremacy, and Colonialism):
Self-Harm:
Threats of Torture: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance I've been screaming ever since this got announced and will be screaming until I have it in my hands!!! Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance (5/28 off the 2022-specific TBR)
two things before i start:
1. i like shakespeare so, so much.
2. i can be occasionally coaxed into the classic american pastime of being a hater.
i have felt, as of late, wherefore i know not, that i might be growing out of YA—not in the sense that one can ever be too old to enjoy a genre, but in the sense that i, personally, have found that i get the most enjoyment from... how do i say books written in subtle prose that are about really shitty people without making myself sound like a complete lunatic or like i'm shitting on YA (which CAN be subtle and intense and involve shitty people i know i know i know i know). whatever. the POINT is that YA hasn't been doing it for me as much lately, which makes sense because i'm not in high school anymore, and this is a YA collection, and i understand that & the fact that i'm not entirely the target audience! that said, i am at least partially the target audience in that i fucking love shakespeare and i fucking love shakespeare retellings, especially retellings that include gay people (as a great many of these did), and so i was pretty sure going in that i was going to enjoy this. and i did. i'm rating this collection 3 stars overall because these individual stories were REALLY hit or miss, but on a holistic level, i had so much fun regardless of all the hater things i am about to say.
without further/much ado: the stories.
severe weather warning (the tempest): 2/5
The weather worsens with every minute. In the neighbors' yard, the wind knocks over the plastic play structure, pushing it into the fence. The rain is incessant, and new clouds have gathered on the horizon. I know one thing for certain. We're all trapped here—together—for a while.
this is a rough start to this collection because it is, to put it plainly, not very good. i mean, the writing is fine, but a storm, a cat named ariel, and a sibling rivalry does not a tempest retelling make. the bulk of this story is 1. prosper being bitter about her sister (sure, cool, let’s get into that more!) and 2. Another Bland Ass YA Romance. and i get it. people like romance. i like romance sometimes! but the tempest specifically is SUCH a cool play, & then this story is like.
I never figured he wanted me, with my face full of freckles, frizzy red hair, and overly large soccer sweatshirts.
(and not even for a miranda/ferdinand dynamic, which would maybe have been apter; the main character is a prospero figure and the he here is just some random guy.) i mean, each to their own. do what you will. but i came here to read fun shakespeare retellings, not high school romance #32: The Boy Has Abs.
shipwrecked (twelfth night): 3/5
Vi entered the gymnasium through the eastern door. They smoothed down the lapels of their red velvet suit. Over and over and over. A nervous reaction born of the cliff that seemed to open at their feet.Be you. Tell everyone. Suffer the consequences.
loses points for the clunky prose (i think i just don't love mark oshiro's style. why is it so choppy), the cheesiness of it all, and the sense that it needed a bit more resolution (felt like a lot of buildup and then it all just sort of worked out; a story with this many characters really deserved more page time). wins points for nonbinary viola (YESSSSSSSS FUCK YES), viola/olivia (RE: YESSSS FUCK YES), putting all the gayest parts of twelfth night on-page, and being generally fun. not sure how i feel about this malvolio interpretation, but i’ll let it stand [tossing aside my large rock].
taming of the soul mate (taming of the shrew): 2.5/5
My name is Petrucio, he said firmly. And I'm your fucking soul mate.
folks. folks, i am not gonna lie to you. i really do not love making petruchio the polite reasonable character and katherine the antagonistic irrational character in a retelling of a play about a woman being gaslit and abused by her husband. otherwise, i like the concept, and i think the ending was effective even if the writing didn't always hold up (yes. i got emotional at the end), but i think this one is hobbled by its source material being what it is and the story not really pushing back on any of it.
king of the fairies (midsummer): 4/5
Titania tells me that my mother would have wanted her to have me.
LOVE the whimsical gorgeous writing LOVE the reckoning with colonialism in general and in this play (the story is from the perspective of the changeling child oberon and titania fought over) LOVE the way it makes midsummer somehow gayer LOVE the fact that trans people are real because dear god no one ever puts us in anything. and i LOVE that stupid line about nick bottom. only 4 stars because it never made the nebulous jump to 5 in my head, but it did make me think that god, i need to read more mclemore.
we have seen better days (as you like it): 4/5
Dad swore Camp Arden used to be paradise, but every year that I was there, it got a little bit worse.
i wish this one had been longer; i love how well it captures the spirit of the original play and the characterizations of celia, orlando, and ESPECIALLY rosalind. i agree with rachel in that i was somewhat startled the story didn't take the chance to play with gender, but i'm willing to accept that it had a different focus: rosie's disenchantment, particularly with her father and the camp she used to love. (summer camp AYLI... fucking inspired.)
some other metal (much ado about nothing): 3.5/5
They set us up... to live out the story of Benedick and Beatrice. To fall for one another or some such nonsense.
TRAAAAAAANS PEOPLEEEEE. but also head-hopping? also, the main characters in this story did not need to be named tegan and taron. this story is set in space, which isn't really relevant but does allow for what i find a very clever title (the quote being that beatrice won't marry until god makes men of some other metal than earth); i wish it had done more with that setting, and i think all of these characters talk too stiffly for a story presumably set in the future, but i'm forgiving it because i like when trans people exist and are t4t.
i bleed (merchant of venice): 5/5
So if you don't pay the money back in a month...
I get to cut that 1488 out of his skin.
yeah this is the one. this is the one. standout story in this anthology, reason to read it, well-written, all i could ask from a merchant of venice retelling, etc etc etc. i'm a gentile, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but god this story is so fucking good.
his invention (sonnet 147): 5/5
All at once, she felt a welling in her mouth, the sudden desire to spit. She parted her lips and let a long bloom of blood spread down her chin and to the floor. Sophie touched her face with both hands and took them away warm and stringed with red. Outside, she heard Michael singing along to the radio. She stood with her mouth open.
this is a really really good short story. probably the best in the book on a technical level. i have no fucking idea what it has to do with shakespeare. it’s not based on a play, it’s based on a sonnet and has, like, a thematic connection? tangentially? love as frantic and corroding i GUESS? am i just too dumb to get how this relates? enjoyed it but confused about its inclusion.
partying is such sweet sorrow (romeo and juliet): 1.5/5
I love you
I'm sorry tonight got so out of control
You're the most important thing in the world
And I swear I'm going to protect you
man, come on. this reads like every archive of our own fanfiction written by high schoolers who were forced to read shakespeare in english class and wanted to make it funny. i'm biased against any r&j interpretation where romeo is a creep (i am emphatically of the belief that he is just some guy who is sad a lot and feels too much), but even disregarding that, this did very little for me. i didn’t love the characterizations or the style (despite the texting thing, none of these people sound like teenagers) and i especially didn’t love the shoehorned-in quotes. i did like this juliet a lot, though ;__; which is preventing me from giving this a flat 1-star.
dreaming of the dark (julius caesar): 5/5
The thing about the gift is, it doesn't matter how you call on it, not really. What matters is believing. What matters is knowing yourself and what you have to bargain with. And Julia—there is nothing she wouldn't give.
first line is the brutus and cassius characters being heterosexual. huge L. however. i fucking love julius caesar and i fucking love the conceit of “group of high school girls [and one they/them iirc] who have summoned a dark spirit” and god the characterizations in this are SO good. and line references! caesar as literal sacrifice! if a retelling of something i love can entertain me while also making me think god [source material] is so good then it wins in my mind and this wins. the only genuine issue i have is that the story keeps hinting at something that happened to briony and i don’t think it ever tells us? which felt very anticlimactic. my other complaint is that brutus and cassius should be lesbians. however. caesar and antony WERE lesbians so i’ll allow it.
the tragedy of cory lanez: an oral history (coriolanus): 4/5
There are no monuments to Cory Lanez in the Rose Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California. Briefly, on Ohio Avenue, a poster of the rapper/singer had been taped to a palm tree and, over the course of a few days, several bouquets of goldenrod and roses had been laid at the makeshift memorial. Within the week, the whole thing had been dismantled, but not before the poster had been vandalized, a red X spray-painted across the seventeen-year-old boy's face.
this is a REALLY interesting spin on coriolanus (coriolanus and aufidius are rival rappers; coriolanus's postmortem story is told by his friends and family in interview format). my first thought upon finishing it was “this could have been longer; i would read a whole novel of this” and honestly, i would, but upon reflection i think the length suits the formatting of an oral history. 3.5 for content + .5 for said formatting because i LOVE innovative formatting.
out of the storm (king lear): 3/5
CORA: Please. Don't do this here, with him there. Still breathing, still sucking the oxygen out of the room. Still tearing us apart.
i love to paint the titular king lear as the villain i LOVE to focus on his daughters over that shitty old man (and i do think lear is a fascinating and multifaceted character who merits exploration, but i also understand why this story used him mostly as a setpiece, for length and thematic reasons). that said, this one fell flat for me, which sucks because i love both this play and—i'm gonna say it again—weird formatting.
elsinore (hamlet): 1.5/5
When she looks at me, she wears the wickedest smile. Camilla faces me, the near product of the monster we face. Now I know, now I am certain: my father was killed by a vampire.
speaking of plays i love and stories that didn't work for me. i had this one down for 2 stars in my notes app but the more i think about it the more it annoys me. vampire hamlet is a banger fucking concept, but this was just... not all that well-executed. it was set in the 1890s, but none of the character voices read that way, nor did the journal entries read like journal entries. the dialogue was fake-deep. the prose in general was mediocre. we did not need a straight-up alas poor [name] reference. i did like the dracula references, but the journaling thing didn’t work here; the story seemed crunched into the length allotted. also, L + no horatio + your hamlet and ophelia are both girls but they’re not even lesbians
we fail (macbeth): 2/5
It wasn't like I was going to graduate at that point anyway. I refused to go to class, and the counselors had urged my teachers and principal to let me take as long as needed to heal from my traumatic incidents, the first of which was losing the baby. The second was the wreck.
another one where i love the concept and am getting increasingly irritated that the execution fell through. the writing was fine, i guess, but the story suffered from constriction to such a short space, and honestly it doesn't really tangle with any of the themes of macbeth at all. the ending was clearly meant to be ambiguous and imply further things, but it just left me unsatisfied.
lost girl (winter's tale): 4/5
The story can end however you want it to end. Even if it doesn't make sense. Even if it doesn't seem likely. The Greeks loved a deus ex machina.
this is one of the best stories in terms of how it works as a retelling, and also, honestly, in how much i liked it. a lot of these stories try to tackle everything happening in their play at once, and rarely succeed, but this story balances its narrower focus with a clear consciousness of its self-referential status to the overarching plot of the winter's tale. the way the storytelling thing and the classics thing and the tree thing all weave together as motifs... the way i love this straight couple i saw less than 20 pages of... really well-executed & a good ending note.
and a final ranking, because i fucking love sorting shit:
1. i bleed
2. dreaming of the dark
3. his invention
4. lost girl
5. king of the fairies
6. we have seen better days
7. the tragedy of cory lanez
8. some other metal
9. out of the storm
10. shipwrecked
11. taming of the soul mate
12. severe weather warning
13. we fail
14. elsinore
15. partying is such sweet sorrow Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance