When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle: Review

 I love retellings. Especially, I love it when an author takes a book/play/poem and spins it so that it is totally different from the original. This was the case with WHEN YOU WERE MINE by Rebecca Serle, a retelling of Romeo & Juliet - from the perspective of Romeo's ex-girlfriend, Rosaline. She was a character in the Shakespeare play, but is only ever mentioned, never shown. However in Serle's contemporary YA version, modern day Californian teenager Rosie is the starring role, along with her best friend-to-boyfriend Rob (Romeo) and her scheming cousin Juliet. Slightly weird for me to read, though, considering my parents are called Rosie and Rob *cringe*!
Here's the Goodreads summary:

In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo’s original intended—Juliet’s cousin Rosaline—tells her side of the tale.

What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything.

Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy… and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet’s instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob’s heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends…

Things I loved about WYWM:
- Rosie's friends. Charlie and Olivia, her two best friends, were very real, really 3D characters with their own character traits, personalities, hopes, fears, crushes, and everything you don't see often enough in secondary characters in YA.

- Rob/Romeo. He felt real, and his relationship with Rosie was great. Serle was also good about making the reader fall for him in the beginning, which made it sadder when him and Juliet got together.

- The setting. I read most of this watching the rain sluice down the window here in grey, depressing England, so reading about sunny San Belarino (I think, haven't got the book with me atm) made me happy. It also made me want to live in the US. High school sounds so much more awesome than boring secondary school. Pep rallies, American football games, hot jocks, optional classes like creative writing....

- Len. I didn't like him to start with, but he really grew on me. And he wasn't all piercing green eyes and hulking muscles, either, which made a refreshing change.

Things I didn't love about WYWM:

- Constant reminiscing. I liked the way Serle wove in the characters' past, but when every second sentence was a memory, it grated a bit. Okay, Rosie and Rob were friends for ages. We get it.

- Juliet wasn't very well developed. And no, I'm not being pervy, I mean in the character sense. She came in, was b*tchy, got Rob, etc. Although I did like how she wasn't portrayed as that lovely and tragic. She was portrayed just how I'd imagined Shakespeare's Juliet.

- The ending. Without wanting to give anything away, the ending was a bit rubbish. I wanted wham bam thrilling death pact, or something that makes me gasp, like the original Shakespeare ending. All that suspense leading up to the ineviteable ending, and then...meh.  

But overall, unlike plenty of reviewers on Goodreads, I really enjoyed When You Were Mine. Well worth a read, and definitely pick it up.

What do you think of retellings? Any you read that you think were totally untrue to the characters/plot, or any that you actually prefer to the original? And is it me or is the UK cover (above) much less boring and samey than the US one?

Memory Monday - Prove Yourself A Hero by K.M. Peyton

PROVE YOURSELF A HERO REVIEW

photo credit

Author: K.M. Peyton

Published: 1977

Summary:

'A lot of rough hands thrust him uncompromisingly into a very small box. He was forced down by the back of his neck till his forehead touched his knees; the sides of the box pressed against him, and when they put the lid down it was hard against his back.'

Kidnapping is always an unpleasant business, but in Jonathan Meredith's case it is positively
barbaric. Kept for hours on end in claustrophobic confinement, he remembers that he used to imagine suffocation as an innocuous death. He would never think that again.

A taught and chilling story, set in the tough world of
horse racing.'

[Summary taken from the back cover of the Puffin Plus 1982 version]


This is probably one of my favourite books ever, for three reasons.


1) Jonathan, the main character. Mentioned in my 'about me' section (because I love him), he is such a vibrant, real character, who if he was real would be just the sort of person you'd want to hang out with. When Jonathan is out on deck (read and you'll know which bit I'm referring to) it's so beautifully and emotively written that it made me tear up a bit. And unlike many books with male main characters, K.M. Peyton's main characters show their emotions, and that makes them all the more 3-D.

2) The kidnapping theme. I love reading books about kidnapping, don't know why (maybe it's something about the danger?) and this one does it so well, that it's a bit of a thriller.

3) K.M. Peyton's writing. There's a reason why she's a real favourite. Plus, plenty of her books are excellent 'cross-over' reads - I know plenty of 40+ people who still read them and love them.

So basically, if you're looking for a good read that makes you think while still being exciting, sad, and hopeful at the same time, read this book. It's not in print at the moment, but very easy and cheap to buy on Amazon UK.

Who else has read this, or another of Ms Peyton's books? And does anyone have any old faves from childhood (or that they discovered on their mum's bookcase, like me), to recommend?