A Midsummer Night #nofilter

OMG Shakespeare

by Brett Wright, William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of the greatest stories ever told . . . in texts?!
 
What if the fairies and star-crossed lovers of the forest had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this fun and funny adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays!
 
Four lovers who can’t decide who they have a crush on.
One mischievous fairy with a love potion.
Total chaos in the fairy world, the human world, and everywhere in between!
 
<3 and h8 . The classics just got a whole lot more interesting. ;)
 
tl;dr A Shakespeare play told through its characters texting with emojis, posting photos, checking in at locations, and updating their relationship statuses. The perfect gift for hip theater lovers and teens.
 
A glossary and cast of characters are included for those who need it. For tl;dr means too long; didn’t read.

Genres: Humor, Young Adult, Retellings, Shakespeare, Fantasy, Classics, Romance

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[Selene · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Nemo (The ☾Moonlight☾ Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who not only studied this play, but was unfortunately cast as ('Mrs') Bottom in my college production (HA HA LET'S CAST THE MOST UNATTRACTIVE PERSON AS BOTTOM HA HA SO ORIGINAL) I know this text pretty well. I found this reinterpretation funny yet I disagreed on some basic points. In my version, Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding is not a happy affair, because Theseus has defeated the Amazons and is taking her by force.

That aside, I can only be criticising the great Bard himself when I say that even now, having been in the play, I still get confused between Hermia and Helena. Their names are just so similar that when I'm speed-reading it's easy to get confused!

I felt that this version was a little more light on the details and as such didn't work quite as well as the Macbeth version. It was still hilariously funny with the limit on emojis as with the Macbeth version.

I felt that this play was a little light on the details and would work better as a refresher for a seasoned Shakespeare reader, but perhaps not as an introduction to the text for a younger reader.

I received this book for free from Penguin Random House Australia in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Gunjan (NerdyBirdie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read YOLO Juliet in this edition a while ago, and needless to say it was pretty ridiculous. I don’t have that much time to read right now, so it’s definitely a lot of fun when I get to go through these during my spare periods in the library. I actually haven’t read the original play—which I’ll definitely make sure to do now if I get my hands on it—so I didn’t really catch on the jokes. Also I think there was a Hamlet joke in this?

Anyway. 3 stars because this is pure fun and entertainment!

[Rand]

And thus begins the introduction of emojis into adaptations of classic literature as contemporary American discourse shifts into ideograms.

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want Shakespeare to be an easy read? Tell the story via text, emoji, location check ins, and status updates instead. I was skeptical when this series rolled into my library, but I gave it a try anyway. Yes, of course, you're missing the beautiful language Shakespeare wrote, which is half the point of his plays. but you get the point of the story, told in a silly but effective format. I have a sneaking feeling Shakespeare would approve. I was certainly amused. This book was slight enough to read in two sittings, and was fun enough to enjoy it the whole time and to be surprised and slightly disappointed at how short it was. Whether you're a fellow Shakespeare-lover or a newbie to his works, or trying to get young people in your life to read these plays, I recommend checking this out for a fun hour or two. Definitely a lot more fun and relatable than Cliff Notes. :)

[Kareena · Rating 4 out of 5]

So silly 😜

[Rigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was chaotic as hell but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be. I'll never read the original though 😂

[Alice Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really funny! The more there are, the funnier they get... But don't read them without reading the real plays first or it's not fun.

[HufflepuffGirl✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very funny, and it made the story easier to understand for younger audiences. The speech is a little outdated at this point because it’s 7 years later but still very good!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was ridiculous but so is the original play so it sort of fit lol.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more!

This is a bundle of joy. I have been meaning to get a glimpse at these emoji-Shakespeare retellings that all les bloggers have been talking about lately, and since I have never really known about A Midsummer Night and what it promised for readers, I was thanking the library gods that my local branch had picked this one up. There are many, many reasons or situations that will enforce you to pick this book up. And of course, as I always do with books that I enjoyed, I will tell you why and when to.

This is your ultimate Shakespeare go-to.

If you're a HUGE Shakespeare fan (as I am), and if you're just looking for a quick read that will take you (and your vocabulary-emoji skills) a quick amount of time to read, this is perfect. I could seriously say that it was. I wish that I had read the original play beforehand so I could compare, but I seriously bet that Brent Wright did a magnificent job creating a redo of the epic story that everyone has been talking about for centuries, literally. It does not seem like this is fiction. Wright includes IM messages, notes, secret conversations between the characters and group messages that spun me around. It seemed like I was hacking into Shakespearean characters' phones and reading what they were up to. I felt easily connected to the characters and that some were even relatable to. Not the donkey, though. Not the donkey.

The abbreviations and emojis add an extra spin of magic.

So there are fairies. Marriages and engagements that are going wrong. Girls hiding their secrets about who they actually love deep down. But one of the best ways that all of this bizazz was expressed was through the use of emojis. YES. It was such a modern, hip but still original use of the story that we all have heard of and had on our TBR lists for years. You need this 112 paged novel if you're one of those people who cannot read the original playwright, because I totally understand.

I made ships.

Ships do not always work when we're reading a legit classic that was set in the sixteenth century or whatever. But I honestly found people (HERMIA, DEMETRIUS, LYSANDER!) who should be together and everything was so wonderfully placed together that I adored it.

I sincerely recommend picking this, or any of the other emoji Shakespeare books up, no matter what kind of reader you are. It's a quick, fast-paced half hour read that will leave you giggling and going to buy all of William's books online, Amazon Prime shipping to your house with drones. It's that chaotic and gorgeous.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun read. I read the original play in high school and loved it, so I thought I'd check out this version. It's silly, but so is the original play. I also think these versions of Shakespeare's plays can get young readers interested; they could read these versions on their own, and be more willing to read the regular plays when they have to.

[Millie West · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOLD.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as YOLO Juliet but still funny and a cute way to introduce Shakespeare to younger readers.

[Latifa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven’t read the OG version, but this definitely highlighted the *dramaaa*. I tried it, but I couldn’t do the emoji overkill

[Julia (Shakespeare and Such) · Rating 3 out of 5]

EGEUS: Anyway, can I exercise my right as her father and make her obey me? Either she listens to me and marries Demetrius 💏... or I have her killed, TBH. 💀

HERMIA: DAD! You know you started a group chat, right?

I can see everything you're writing. INCLUDING KILLING ME. 😢

3.6/5 stars

Plot: 4/5 - As this book is the entirety of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, retold in "chatspeak"... it would be pretty hard to mark it down points for plot. Brett Wright stuck very true to the original story, just simplifying certain plot points/motivations. Not really any complaints here because the original is my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies. I love the mixed-up lovers, the fairy shenanigans, the annoyingly bad troupe of actors, it's all good fun.

Characters: 3/5 - Again... characters are pretty much the same and they're already ones that I enjoy. With the simplified language and quicker pacing it was a bit harder to connect with any of them (there just wasn't any time!) but they were all there and accounted for. Titania and was especially true to character, I loved her modernized lines. And Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are always my favorite part.

Pacing: 4/5 - Given the format, I thought the length of this book was perfect. It would have been kind of insufferable to read these texts for more than 100 pages, so kudos for brevity. That being said, I did take it down to four stars just because it was a little faster than I would have liked, I thought there were a few scenes that could have lasted longer and given us more time with the characters and the wacky situations.

Writing: 2/5 - I'll give it this- there were a handful of moments that were funny enough to make me actually laugh out loud or share with a friend. That being said, we're going from the bard to cringe-worthy text lingo that sounds VERY FORCED and VERY MUCH like it was written by someone's dad. It was weird to see every single acronym capitalized, as well as perfect punctuation with such casual language. Almost no one texts like that, and I doubt Hermia would. There was also a glossary in the back of the acronym and emojis, as though one couldn't possibly figure out what they meant! Except of course, for the two acronyms I've never seen anyone use in my life and I'm fairly certain he made up. HDU Brett!! (That's how dare you. Did you know? Because I did not.) There was also one case where the emoji made no sense... it was a frying pan with an egg and I'm pretty sure they wanted a magnifying glass lol. That's more of an editing note but I digress. Lastly it was odd to me that sometimes he chose to use emojis in lieu of words (i.e. "I'm in 💘 with you!") and other times just very redundantly (i.e. "Meet me in the woods! 🌳🌲🌳"). In my opinion, emoji usage is like, an art form, and your emojis are helping to convey the mood of your message, not just repeat what you're talking about. There were a few instances where this was done perfectly (Titania's "I can't even with you. ✌️" and Hermia's "I should fight you too! 💅") but those were diamonds in the rough. Most of the book was like my former examples.

Enjoyment: 5/5 - Look, I'll make fun of this book but it was really amusing and I genuinely enjoyed reading it. It was especially hilarious to imagine the scenes happening, like Helena is three yards behind Demetrius as she stalks him through the woods and he's texting her "stop following me!!"... it's fantastic. Overall, for a bonus book from a LitJoy Crate and for a fun addition to my Shakespeare shelf, I'm not mad I read this.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

I am not a huge Shakespeare fan *gets things thrown at* but I can appreciate who the man was and what he did. I do love Romeo and Juliet so...

Anyway, I wanted a quick read and that's absolutely what I got. I did think the concept was cute and fun. never seen before and interesting but overall, I'm not exactly sure how to feel about this. I am not too knowledgeable about this play but, I guess, I understand it a bit better now? Maybe.

The only time I saw something remotely related to it was in the movie Get Over It with Kirsten Dunst, martin Sheen and Shane West so... yeah... nothing to really have the best idea. I should consider watching the movie with Michelle Pfeiffer... Anyway...

Like I said, I am not that into Shakespeare though I appreciate who he was and what he did and maybe, if I had been more into that and, possibly theater and such, maybe I could have appreciated this more. But I did like the idea of modernizing it with the use of emojis which was pretty cool and funny. It's just overall not really my thing though.

[Alexa (Alexa Loves Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happen to be a Shakespeare fan, so it was a no brainer that I was going to read this. I am always on the hunt for iterations of his work that are modern, easy to read and also worthy of recommending to others. This is one such read. Like "srsly Hamlet", this is also told entirely in text, status updates and tweets and other modern day forms, and I thought it was a clever twist that really worked in making the story more accessible.

Now, even in its original play form, the characters and scenarios can get very confusing when reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. While I did get a little bit muddled while I was reading, it would eventually become clearer to me as time wore on. I really like that the author took the highlights of the series and worked that into this new form of the narrative. So it still has the magic and humor and mischief, but it also is distilled down to basics.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series of Shakespeare plays told through texts.

It can be difficult to read Shakespeare. I was introduced to his plays in elementary school, so I’ve always loved them. However, I find that modern adaptations can be a great tool to help kids decipher classics. A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream is a complicated story, with lovers getting mixed up by magic. This book is a fun way of telling the story through texts and social media.

I even learned new things while reading this story. There is a glossary of emojis and abbreviations at the back of the book. I had to look up a couple of the abbreviations while reading, because I had no idea what they meant. Still, this was a fun and hilarious book!

I highly recommend this book to fans of Shakespeare, and to people who struggle to understand his plays.

[Wolfie Smoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very glad I read this. It will help me understand the actual play so much better when I see and/or read it!

I liked how it was told as if they were really communicating by text and it wasn't just a text talk translation. I also liked how it was told in
a bunch of different social medias (Text, Facebook, Group chats, etc.)

My one and only complaint is the bad language (mainly in text talk such as WTF,) it was very disappointing.

Overall I think this is a wonderful thing to have if you're studying Shakespeare. Although I do have to say that I still had to look up/decipher some of the text talk that I didn't understand, but that was still better than trying to decipher the actual thing.

People who don't understand Shakespeare but would like to.

[Molly Tessnear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this unique, modern take on a Shakespeare classic, and one of my favorites, in fact. Telling a story using the mediums people use most today - emojis, texts, Facebook, etc. - is growing in popularity, as evidenced by things like the recent emoji movie trailer for "Everything, Everything." As a former English major, I do wish more people would read the original stories, but as an English teacher of high school students, I can appreciate anything that will get students interested in the classics, especially when it speaks in a language they understand best. I definitely plan on keeping this and maybe even using it in the classroom for an assignment on how to rewrite classic stories using emojis. All in all, a really cool idea and a fast, interesting read!

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK so it's last day of the OWLS and I was so not going to finish my last read so I needed a book written by two authors and this was the smallest thing I had and I think it works being Brett Wright and SHAKESPEARE haha I was desperate!
I've actually had this book for a long time and I hadn't picked it up so I'm glad I finally did. I didn't know the play that well so I googled a summary and then read this but it's the play but told through text messages and emojis and it was actually pretty funny.

[Victoria Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakespeare translated into modern text chats with emojis and slang words?

I can’t lie; my inner Shakespeare snob shuddered slightly when I first saw this book but actually, it’s a really fun introduction to the play and a good way of getting the story across!

I am teaching the play to Year Seven in the summer and I know the kids will get a kick out of seeing this version too!

Big thanks to Charlotte for gifting me this for my birthday; it was a lot of fun!

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ok...I didn't like it as much as the other OMG Shakespeares I've read, or as much as Darcy Swipes Left (which remains my reigning favorite of these text parodies). There wasn't anything specifically wrong with it that I noticed, maybe this play just didn't translate to as many chuckles when put into text lingo. Still funny, still an easy read, and still OMG Shakespeare.

[kalireadsdreams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very quick read but really not for me. Maybe I didn't appreciate it because I haven't read the original play but still I don't see the point of this book. Not a big fan of the concept and definitely not worth the price it retails at (very happy that I didn't pay for this, to be honest).
I won't be picking any other classic in this format.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

rating: 3.75 stars

I enjoyed this one, the least of the 3/4 I have read in this series. It just didn't show the good and bad parts of the play like I wanted it to. I wasn't a fan but I was engaged until the end though, so that's something in of itself.

This is one of my favorite plays too, which is upsetting. I was expecting more , so that may just be the hype. Also another super quick read.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read the original play, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of this one. However, it was HILARIOUS. It really makes me want to read the original, so I am definitely adding that to my list even though it already was. I think the texting and emojis make the story even funnier. It was absolutely ridiculous and I could not stop laughing. What a great take on a classic.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but it helps to be familiar with the original play. Since there is not the benefit of much detailed description or voice for each character to understand his or her uniqueness, the book reads a little slower than I would have expected for this type of novel. Still, both my daughter and I found it entertaining (while waiting in the doctor’s office).

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually quite enjoyed this. I have been wanting to read a Mid summer nights dream for a while now and this was perfect because 1 its easier to read that the classics 2 i am able to read this in one sitting 4 stars I would absolutely recommend to anyone who wants to read a classic in a simple modern day text. :)

[Emilou · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF This is my favorite Shakespear play, and I was excited to read this because I thought it was going to be funny and creative. It reeked of effort and wasn't funny at all. Perhaps the editor should have been a bunch of teenagers because the modern text language felt forced, like someone trying too hard.