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Romeo and/or Juliet
Romeo loves Juliet. Or Rosaline. And Juliet loves Romeo. Or Viola. Or Orlando. It's Shakespeare as you've never played him before.
In this choose-your-own-path version of Romeo and Juliet, you choose where the story goes every time you read! What if Romeo never met Juliet? What if Juliet got really buff instead of moping around the castle all day? What if they teamed up to take over Verona with robot suits? Whatever your adventure, you're guaranteed to find lots of romance, lots of epic fight scenes, and plenty of questionable decision-making by very emotional teens.
All of the endings—there are over a hundred—feature beautiful illustrations by some of the greatest artists working today, including New York Times bestsellers Kate Beaton, Noelle Stevenson, Randall Munroe, and Jon Klassen.
Packed with exciting choices, fun puzzles, secret surprises, terrible puns, and more than a billion possible storylines, Romeo and/or Juliet offers a new experience every time you read it. You can choose to play as Romeo or Juliet (obviously) but you can also play as both of them, or as Juliet's nurse, or, if you're good, you can even unlock a fourth playable character! That's right. We figured out how to have unlockable characters in books. Choose well, and you may even get to write the world's most awkward choose-your-own sex scene.
In this choose-your-own-path version of Romeo and Juliet, you choose where the story goes every time you read! What if Romeo never met Juliet? What if Juliet got really buff instead of moping around the castle all day? What if they teamed up to take over Verona with robot suits? Whatever your adventure, you're guaranteed to find lots of romance, lots of epic fight scenes, and plenty of questionable decision-making by very emotional teens.
All of the endings—there are over a hundred—feature beautiful illustrations by some of the greatest artists working today, including New York Times bestsellers Kate Beaton, Noelle Stevenson, Randall Munroe, and Jon Klassen.
Packed with exciting choices, fun puzzles, secret surprises, terrible puns, and more than a billion possible storylines, Romeo and/or Juliet offers a new experience every time you read it. You can choose to play as Romeo or Juliet (obviously) but you can also play as both of them, or as Juliet's nurse, or, if you're good, you can even unlock a fourth playable character! That's right. We figured out how to have unlockable characters in books. Choose well, and you may even get to write the world's most awkward choose-your-own sex scene.
400 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2016
354 people are currently reading
9675 people want to read
About the author
Ryan North
538 books1,603 followersHi, I'm Ryan! I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and since then have written several books. You can read my Wikipedia page for more, or check out my author site at RyanNorth.ca!
I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.
I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good
I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.
I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,102 reviews
November 4, 2022
i owned this book for...i want to say about 99.74 years, but it was probably more like 7. which is still insane.
for that entire time, i wanted to read this just enough to not actively get rid of it, without ever wanting to read it enough to, you know. actually read it.
and then after somewhere between a handful and an incalculable amount of time later, i did read it. and i felt entirely meh about it even still.
to be expected, i guess.
bottom line: life is full of surprises! except for sometimes it's not.
for that entire time, i wanted to read this just enough to not actively get rid of it, without ever wanting to read it enough to, you know. actually read it.
and then after somewhere between a handful and an incalculable amount of time later, i did read it. and i felt entirely meh about it even still.
to be expected, i guess.
bottom line: life is full of surprises! except for sometimes it's not.
June 8, 2016
this is super fun! on my first readthrough as juliet i ended as a spinster pirate, so A++ adventuring really.
November 23, 2016
New York Times bestselling Romeo and/or Juliet is a choose your own adventure type of deal, a ridiculously entertaining take (or takes, since there are plenty of them) on a classic that’s pretty ridiculous in and of itself. A classic it may be, but the word timeless doesn’t apply to this particular work, and the older I get, the more annoyed I am by Romeo and Juliet both.
Ryan North took the famous tale and explored its weaknesses, but he also added pretty much everything that crossed his mind, from ghosts and robots to naked, sword-wielding fathers. The best thing by far is that you make your own choices as you go, from the character you want to play to the path you want to take. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of work that was required to put this book together, but the effort paid off. From the very first page Romeo and/or Juliet is an exercise in hilarity.
If you choose to play as Romeo, prepare to be a lovesick teen obsessed with ridiculous poetry. As Juliet, you will be a ripped, self-obsessed girl interested in muscles and boys. Juliet is a bit of a pushover, always ready to do everything her mother tells her to, but you’re there to make things better and push her in more dangerous directions. It’s your game after all!
Some of the paths end quickly, always with painful and ridiculous deaths. On some of them Juliet and Romeo don’t even meet, and on some they meet but things go in strange directions. Sometimes the book pushes you to change characters, usually when one becomes boring or the other’s life seems more eventful. In any case, North addresses his players the entire time, not hiding the fact that he’s the one actually running the narrative.
Regardless of where you end up, you’ll jump right back to the beginning eagerly. I tried retracing my steps several times, but it didn’t always work. I got tangled up more times than I can count. The easiest thing to do is laugh until you cry at Romeo’s and/or Juliet’s misfortune and go right back to kill them again. Not all paths have tragic endings – there are a few possibilities for a happily ever after as well. After a time, though, you begin hoping for the other kind, mostly because they’re far more entertaining.
Romeo and/or Juliet is the weirdest, funniest book I’ve held in my hands in ages. Sometimes it gives the impression of trying too hard, but overall you’ll want to take this journey again and again until you discover them all.
Ryan North took the famous tale and explored its weaknesses, but he also added pretty much everything that crossed his mind, from ghosts and robots to naked, sword-wielding fathers. The best thing by far is that you make your own choices as you go, from the character you want to play to the path you want to take. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of work that was required to put this book together, but the effort paid off. From the very first page Romeo and/or Juliet is an exercise in hilarity.
If you choose to play as Romeo, prepare to be a lovesick teen obsessed with ridiculous poetry. As Juliet, you will be a ripped, self-obsessed girl interested in muscles and boys. Juliet is a bit of a pushover, always ready to do everything her mother tells her to, but you’re there to make things better and push her in more dangerous directions. It’s your game after all!
Some of the paths end quickly, always with painful and ridiculous deaths. On some of them Juliet and Romeo don’t even meet, and on some they meet but things go in strange directions. Sometimes the book pushes you to change characters, usually when one becomes boring or the other’s life seems more eventful. In any case, North addresses his players the entire time, not hiding the fact that he’s the one actually running the narrative.
Regardless of where you end up, you’ll jump right back to the beginning eagerly. I tried retracing my steps several times, but it didn’t always work. I got tangled up more times than I can count. The easiest thing to do is laugh until you cry at Romeo’s and/or Juliet’s misfortune and go right back to kill them again. Not all paths have tragic endings – there are a few possibilities for a happily ever after as well. After a time, though, you begin hoping for the other kind, mostly because they’re far more entertaining.
Romeo and/or Juliet is the weirdest, funniest book I’ve held in my hands in ages. Sometimes it gives the impression of trying too hard, but overall you’ll want to take this journey again and again until you discover them all.
February 20, 2023
He llegado a 15 finales y solo puedo decir que es ALUCINANTE.
Una risa de libro, tronchante y con momentos buenísimos.
Romeo es super chistoso y julieta una badass de cuidado.
Esta "reinterpretación" moderna e interactiva me ha fascinado completamente.
Es un humor absurdo, no esperéis humor inteligente porque no lo hay. Es al más puro estilo hora de aventuras o rick y morty, idioteces, referencias sexuales y muchas tonterías.
MUY RECOMENDADO.
Una risa de libro, tronchante y con momentos buenísimos.
Romeo es super chistoso y julieta una badass de cuidado.
Esta "reinterpretación" moderna e interactiva me ha fascinado completamente.
Es un humor absurdo, no esperéis humor inteligente porque no lo hay. Es al más puro estilo hora de aventuras o rick y morty, idioteces, referencias sexuales y muchas tonterías.
MUY RECOMENDADO.
January 3, 2018
I think that I'm just really bad at Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type books. My decisions almost always lead me to an early death or a premature resolution. I played this several times and never got beyond more than a chapter's worth of pages. I finally ended up just going through the book out of order, looking for the promised plot twists and hilarious illustrations but honestly, I was a bit disappointed. I just didn't find the book to be that funny. It was over-the-top and forced. Not my kind of humour maybe.
I loved the concept, but didn't like the execution. I think that what it comes down to is that this really just isn't my kind of book.
I loved the concept, but didn't like the execution. I think that what it comes down to is that this really just isn't my kind of book.
June 18, 2020
I don’t know if I’ve truly “finished” this book as the choose your own adventures have a LOT of different outcomes, but I went through the story over 15 times with different pathways so I’m calling it a win!
This was fun, odd, kind of over the top, kind of an homage to Shakespeare, kind of its own thing...the whole nine yards. At the beginning of my trials, I thought the author unfairly gave Romeo/the men all the fun parts and side quests and left Juliet to either one-off “endings” or the boring traditional stuff, but I eventually found the Juliet’s Nurse’s old-school video game side quest and that was worth the entire adventure, so that was great and at least something for the women of the story. I still think Juliet got the short end of the stick....but in a way that is true to the source, so...
Overall, a really fun way to spend a reading experience and not at ALL dependent on you loving the source material at all to enjoy this one. Recommended for those who like the concept!
This was fun, odd, kind of over the top, kind of an homage to Shakespeare, kind of its own thing...the whole nine yards. At the beginning of my trials, I thought the author unfairly gave Romeo/the men all the fun parts and side quests and left Juliet to either one-off “endings” or the boring traditional stuff, but I eventually found the Juliet’s Nurse’s old-school video game side quest and that was worth the entire adventure, so that was great and at least something for the women of the story. I still think Juliet got the short end of the stick....but in a way that is true to the source, so...
Overall, a really fun way to spend a reading experience and not at ALL dependent on you loving the source material at all to enjoy this one. Recommended for those who like the concept!
December 11, 2017
Ideja mi se svidja, i voleo sam ovakve knjige kada sam bio mali. E sada problem u ovoj izvedbi moze biti da nisam vise mali ali jednostavno na duze staze ova knjiga je dosta naporna za citanje. Humor je ok ali nivo razbijanja cetvrtog zida ala Dedpul je stvarno previse i covek uopste nemoze da se upusti u pricu. Nekako je suvise sve okrenuto na zez. Ima par fora, i vise nego par, ali kao sto rekoh na duze staze smara.
Ima potencijala al meni nije leglo previse.
Ima potencijala al meni nije leglo previse.
July 6, 2016
I haven't gone through every path yet, but I've gone through quite a few. Mostly as Juliet (except when, as Juliet, I pretended to be Romeo trying to seduce Juliet, that is me, but then somehow became Romeo, now me, trying to seduce Juliet, now no longer me.) so I feel safe reviewing this a bit.
This is basically the best kind of fun to have with your friends--especially book lovers, English majors or Shakespeare lovers. North has an irreverent tone that, while it doesn't always work completely well with the actual jargon/lines from Shakespeare, does make it fun to read and run through multiple times in one sitting.
As a Choose Your Own Adventure book sometimes the paths seem utterly contrived...but North admits this will happen bc come on he can't account for EVERY variable as genuine experience.
---
Your name is Juliet (or Romeo). You live in Old-Timey Verona, where we've set our scene, and are either too milquetoast to tell your parents no or in love with the idea of being in love, thus setting into motion a tale of star-crossed lovers. Or not. I mean Juliet, if you just say 'yes' to your mother you can go and marry boring old Paul Rudd...I mean Paris and Romeo you have a chance to go and get that Rosalind girl you spend most of your opening pining after for some reason.
Or Juliet you can run off and be a pirate! Romeo you can...I have no idea what you can do otherwise, I refused to follow his path because omg he is so annoying. Juliet gets choices like "run far far away from everything for adventures" while Romeo gets "do you go chat up the girl?".
Of course you could be that person who follows the story as Shakespeare wrote it (North helpfully has little hearts next to the choices that will lead you down that tragic angsty path). Personally I vote you say "no" as soon as you to your Mother, run away, chat up some guy at a bar, and somehow make your fortune on the high seas instead. (can you tell I love the pirate ending for Juliet?).
North plays fast and loose with the time period, the play, the characters, the character motivations, Shakespeare's intentions and pretty much everything else you can think of for him to play fast and loose with. Even if you follow the "canon" path for R&J, North is at pains to be like "are you really sure that's a great idea? Here's a better one!" to tempt you towards a more satisfying ending. Its actually more of a chore to ignore his glib asides, irreverent commentary and anachronistic observations to complete the "canon" version then it is to go with the flow towards a different ending.
Each segment is short enough that if you want to play this as a party game (which I heartily recommend) you can, passing the book around to each person as choices are made. Each ending's illustration is alternately absurd (a muscle-bound, fiercely grinning Juliet swinging a sword while in a dress!) or sweet (Juliet and a beau living in martial bliss far away from the idiots in Verona), breaking up the text. I did flounder at first with the page set-up however; this isn't traditionally numbered. As some snippets are barely a line or more then a page, you have to be careful when moving from choice to choice to make sure you are at the BEGINNING of that choice (sometimes on the previous page).
Overall this was a fun, inventive way to spend my time. Like the OMG Shakespeare books I think they may also be a good way to get reluctant readers into the classics. Look, even though I love Twelfth Night and Midsummer's Night Dream and Macbeth - they are NOT easy to get through. Especially if you go for the really old text and not the slightly updated so at least they don't have weird punctuation and apostrophes everywhere text. For reluctant readers, or readers who struggle with reading due to attention span or not reading English fluently (for whatever reason), books like this can help bridge that gap.
North does a fine job of presenting the actual text (especially if you follow the canon path), while making it accessible to everyone and giving context. Paired with a unit on Shakespeare in Modern Times or some such thing, I think this could be a fine teaching tool.
Or do like me, break out the vodka (or rum) and have a ridiculously fun time with your friends. Either way, this is a winner of a book.
This is basically the best kind of fun to have with your friends--especially book lovers, English majors or Shakespeare lovers. North has an irreverent tone that, while it doesn't always work completely well with the actual jargon/lines from Shakespeare, does make it fun to read and run through multiple times in one sitting.
As a Choose Your Own Adventure book sometimes the paths seem utterly contrived...but North admits this will happen bc come on he can't account for EVERY variable as genuine experience.
---
Your name is Juliet (or Romeo). You live in Old-Timey Verona, where we've set our scene, and are either too milquetoast to tell your parents no or in love with the idea of being in love, thus setting into motion a tale of star-crossed lovers. Or not. I mean Juliet, if you just say 'yes' to your mother you can go and marry boring old Paul Rudd...I mean Paris and Romeo you have a chance to go and get that Rosalind girl you spend most of your opening pining after for some reason.
Or Juliet you can run off and be a pirate! Romeo you can...I have no idea what you can do otherwise, I refused to follow his path because omg he is so annoying. Juliet gets choices like "run far far away from everything for adventures" while Romeo gets "do you go chat up the girl?".
Of course you could be that person who follows the story as Shakespeare wrote it (North helpfully has little hearts next to the choices that will lead you down that tragic angsty path). Personally I vote you say "no" as soon as you to your Mother, run away, chat up some guy at a bar, and somehow make your fortune on the high seas instead. (can you tell I love the pirate ending for Juliet?).
North plays fast and loose with the time period, the play, the characters, the character motivations, Shakespeare's intentions and pretty much everything else you can think of for him to play fast and loose with. Even if you follow the "canon" path for R&J, North is at pains to be like "are you really sure that's a great idea? Here's a better one!" to tempt you towards a more satisfying ending. Its actually more of a chore to ignore his glib asides, irreverent commentary and anachronistic observations to complete the "canon" version then it is to go with the flow towards a different ending.
Each segment is short enough that if you want to play this as a party game (which I heartily recommend) you can, passing the book around to each person as choices are made. Each ending's illustration is alternately absurd (a muscle-bound, fiercely grinning Juliet swinging a sword while in a dress!) or sweet (Juliet and a beau living in martial bliss far away from the idiots in Verona), breaking up the text. I did flounder at first with the page set-up however; this isn't traditionally numbered. As some snippets are barely a line or more then a page, you have to be careful when moving from choice to choice to make sure you are at the BEGINNING of that choice (sometimes on the previous page).
Overall this was a fun, inventive way to spend my time. Like the OMG Shakespeare books I think they may also be a good way to get reluctant readers into the classics. Look, even though I love Twelfth Night and Midsummer's Night Dream and Macbeth - they are NOT easy to get through. Especially if you go for the really old text and not the slightly updated so at least they don't have weird punctuation and apostrophes everywhere text. For reluctant readers, or readers who struggle with reading due to attention span or not reading English fluently (for whatever reason), books like this can help bridge that gap.
North does a fine job of presenting the actual text (especially if you follow the canon path), while making it accessible to everyone and giving context. Paired with a unit on Shakespeare in Modern Times or some such thing, I think this could be a fine teaching tool.
Or do like me, break out the vodka (or rum) and have a ridiculously fun time with your friends. Either way, this is a winner of a book.
September 16, 2017
Monthly buddyread with Melissa :)
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Melissa's review here
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2.5 stars (extra rating for the artwork/pictures)
Not bad overall, parts of it were fun. I tried a few different paths to see what would happen and took turns as Juliet and one as Romeo.
There were some funny moments but most of the writing felt awkward to me... maybe aiming at a younger audience? (Speaking only for the paths I took)
Story got old quick though *shrugs* Not sure how to judge my progress but I (and Melissa) got through a fair bit methinks.
Wouldn't recommend the Nurse storyline... it was neat that it proceeded like an old-style video game but nothing special overall.
I'll have to try another "choose your adventure" type novel again one day... this was my first since I was a kid.
---
Melissa's review here
--
2.5 stars (extra rating for the artwork/pictures)
Not bad overall, parts of it were fun. I tried a few different paths to see what would happen and took turns as Juliet and one as Romeo.
There were some funny moments but most of the writing felt awkward to me... maybe aiming at a younger audience? (Speaking only for the paths I took)
Story got old quick though *shrugs* Not sure how to judge my progress but I (and Melissa) got through a fair bit methinks.
Wouldn't recommend the Nurse storyline... it was neat that it proceeded like an old-style video game but nothing special overall.
I'll have to try another "choose your adventure" type novel again one day... this was my first since I was a kid.
Read
February 10, 2017I’ve been wanting to read the Hamlet version of this, so when I saw this, I grabbed it out of curiosity and because I love the artists involved in these books. It was way more wacky and hilarious than I expected. I found myself flipping back and forth to read every path.
— Jessica Yang
from The Best Books We Read In December 2016: http://bookriot.com/2017/01/03/riot-r...
— Jessica Yang
from The Best Books We Read In December 2016: http://bookriot.com/2017/01/03/riot-r...
February 5, 2018
I am not big on Romeo and Juliet but this was hilarious (mostly because it just made fun of them the entire time).
July 13, 2023
Reseña completa http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com/...
Una reinvención del clásico de Romeo y Julieta, con una historia interactiva donde tú puedes elegir ser Romeo o Julieta e ir eligiendo su camino, con más de 100 finales e ilustraciones.
Es un libro muy ameno y rápido de leer, y la verdad es que me apetecía algo así, más ligero, divertido y sin grandes pretensiones, algo perfecto para desconectar, además hacia años que no leía un libro de “elige tu propia aventura” así que ha sido el momento perfecto.
La edición es tremenda y llena de detalles, hay ilustraciones a color, mil opciones donde elegir, cuentos interactivos dentro de la propia historia… en fin una puñetera locura muy bien pensada y elaborada.
La pluma es desternillante y moderna, con referencias de todo tipo (hasta sexuales 😂), haciendo partícipe al lector de manera más envolvente y creando un ambiente distendido.
Una divertida y alocada historia interactiva.
Una reinvención del clásico de Romeo y Julieta, con una historia interactiva donde tú puedes elegir ser Romeo o Julieta e ir eligiendo su camino, con más de 100 finales e ilustraciones.
Es un libro muy ameno y rápido de leer, y la verdad es que me apetecía algo así, más ligero, divertido y sin grandes pretensiones, algo perfecto para desconectar, además hacia años que no leía un libro de “elige tu propia aventura” así que ha sido el momento perfecto.
La edición es tremenda y llena de detalles, hay ilustraciones a color, mil opciones donde elegir, cuentos interactivos dentro de la propia historia… en fin una puñetera locura muy bien pensada y elaborada.
La pluma es desternillante y moderna, con referencias de todo tipo (hasta sexuales 😂), haciendo partícipe al lector de manera más envolvente y creando un ambiente distendido.
Una divertida y alocada historia interactiva.
June 26, 2021
I did not enjoy this. This is my second chooseable path adventure from the author. I really enjoyed the first one but this one was not for me. All the different situations either seemed too similar or ended to hastily. There was a lack of variety and in the name of humor all we got is a lot of sexual innuendos and teenagers trying too hard to be funny. I cringed a lot throughout.Unlike the previous one where we had situations close to the original plus those completely outrageous and different this one was mostly meh. What I like about such novels is that there is no limit to imagination. Sadly this was not upto mark. The concept as usual is very creative and unique but it lacked in execution.
January 22, 2019
I must confess I expected a bit more. The reading playthrough is too short for a book with 400 pages. It makes for lots and lots of different possible universes with dozens of endings, from the most vulgar to the most craziest. However when each branch is starting to really pick your attention it ends, leaving a sentiment of frustration.
Also, Ryan North writing style is not my cup of tea, tries to much to be funny, making jokes with every little detail, even if some of the jokes are very well constructed from an intertextual point of view.
Also, Ryan North writing style is not my cup of tea, tries to much to be funny, making jokes with every little detail, even if some of the jokes are very well constructed from an intertextual point of view.
October 23, 2017
This was such a fun book! I was eyeballing it for a few weeks before I picked it up as I wasn’t sure whether I’d be into the whole “choose as you go” thing. Turns out, I am! “Romeo And/Or Juliet” was a hilarious, smart, and entertaining book I will definitely be re-reading. I read the book in about 30 different ways, some ending after only ten pages, some making it much farther through the book. This novel was completely unpredictable, and because of that I was never bored.
One of my favourite things about “Romeo And/Or Juliet was the humour. While reading, I literally laughed out loud – more than once I might add – which is pretty rare for me. Sure, I might smile and blow out of my nose really hard if I read something funny, but this book had me full on ugly laughing. Not only were the characters hilarious, but the interpretation of the original play, the crazy endings, and the overall stories. The plot twists were plentiful, and incredibly silly- the good kind of silly.
At the start of the book you decide whether to play as Romeo or Juliet (I chose Juliet). I should mention that it did take me a couple of early deaths to get the hang of the “pick as you go” thing, but after a bit I figured it out.
My one piece of advice is to USE A BOOKMARK. I’m one of those readers that usually doesn’t use a bookmark. I generally try to remember the page, but I usually end up rereading a few pages before finding my spot- it’s never bothered me. The problem is, things rarely go in chronological order while reading “Romeo And/Or Juliet”, so you often find yourself jumping from the 40th part to the 18th then up to the 67th… this wouldn’t be a problem if you use a bookmark. If you’re like me, though, you’ll waste a lot of time restarting much farther behind then you should be. I figured that a bookmark was necessary pretty quick, but just save yourself the trouble and use a bookmark when you read this one.
If you’re looking for a light, endlessly entertaining read, I very much recommend “Romeo And/Or Juliet”. The familiarity with the original play puts the novel inside your comfort zone, but still manages to challenge it.
-R
One of my favourite things about “Romeo And/Or Juliet was the humour. While reading, I literally laughed out loud – more than once I might add – which is pretty rare for me. Sure, I might smile and blow out of my nose really hard if I read something funny, but this book had me full on ugly laughing. Not only were the characters hilarious, but the interpretation of the original play, the crazy endings, and the overall stories. The plot twists were plentiful, and incredibly silly- the good kind of silly.
At the start of the book you decide whether to play as Romeo or Juliet (I chose Juliet). I should mention that it did take me a couple of early deaths to get the hang of the “pick as you go” thing, but after a bit I figured it out.
My one piece of advice is to USE A BOOKMARK. I’m one of those readers that usually doesn’t use a bookmark. I generally try to remember the page, but I usually end up rereading a few pages before finding my spot- it’s never bothered me. The problem is, things rarely go in chronological order while reading “Romeo And/Or Juliet”, so you often find yourself jumping from the 40th part to the 18th then up to the 67th… this wouldn’t be a problem if you use a bookmark. If you’re like me, though, you’ll waste a lot of time restarting much farther behind then you should be. I figured that a bookmark was necessary pretty quick, but just save yourself the trouble and use a bookmark when you read this one.
If you’re looking for a light, endlessly entertaining read, I very much recommend “Romeo And/Or Juliet”. The familiarity with the original play puts the novel inside your comfort zone, but still manages to challenge it.
-R
August 13, 2016
A+ for concept, but I didn't much like the execution. Tries way too hard to be funny, which makes it all fall flat for me, and the writing isn't particularly good.
August 8, 2017
2.5 stars
This was a fun idea and I really wanted to love it. It reminded me of many of the books that I bought from Scholastic Books during grades 6 and 7, puzzle books, mystery books, that a child could go through multiple times and still find new treats by taking different turns.
I don’t know how many times I started through this choose-your-own-adventure book, trying to actually follow the Bard’s version of the story, only to get distracted by goofy story lines that I just couldn’t pass by. Unfortunately, goofy was the general standard of the various branchings and the writing was a great disappointment. Less silliness and more depth would have been welcome.
I still don’t know if it was even possible to get to the traditional ending of the play. I lost interest in trying after about a dozen attempts.
This was a fun idea and I really wanted to love it. It reminded me of many of the books that I bought from Scholastic Books during grades 6 and 7, puzzle books, mystery books, that a child could go through multiple times and still find new treats by taking different turns.
I don’t know how many times I started through this choose-your-own-adventure book, trying to actually follow the Bard’s version of the story, only to get distracted by goofy story lines that I just couldn’t pass by. Unfortunately, goofy was the general standard of the various branchings and the writing was a great disappointment. Less silliness and more depth would have been welcome.
I still don’t know if it was even possible to get to the traditional ending of the play. I lost interest in trying after about a dozen attempts.
October 1, 2017
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKKp7...
Star-rating systems are inherently ridiculous (said the guy who ranks books on YouTube), but here in particular those three stars are really a 5 and a 1 at the same time. This book is as much fun as sitting on your hand till it loses all sensibility, yet it's somehow hilarious and exciting too. Is it good interactive fiction? NO! Is it worth a spin? Absolutely.
Star-rating systems are inherently ridiculous (said the guy who ranks books on YouTube), but here in particular those three stars are really a 5 and a 1 at the same time. This book is as much fun as sitting on your hand till it loses all sensibility, yet it's somehow hilarious and exciting too. Is it good interactive fiction? NO! Is it worth a spin? Absolutely.
May 11, 2018
Hilarious choose-your-own-adventure book! Just as I used to do with the ones I'd take from the library as a child, I read every single possible option. Nowadays it's easy using screenshots to do this. When I was a kid, I had to use a confusing mass of color-coded post-it notes. Isn't technology wonderful?
This book is particularly hilarious if you remember Romeo and Juliet very well. I wouldn't think that I'd remember it all that well because I haven't read it since high school. But that time I read in in high school, I was playing the nurse in an elaborate school production of it, and it turns out that I remember a great deal of it (despite close to two decades of that dream where you have to perform the play again for some reason and you don't know the lines).
An example of a hilarious joke in this book is:
His smooching was pretty good! Certainly competent, with no small amount of passion, though also strictly according to the beats and patterns laid out in Kiss Me, Kate: Kate “Kissable” Minola Reveals Her Ten Steps to Perfect Kissing Every Time. “You kiss by the book,” you say.
It's just way funnier if you remembered that she says "You kiss by the book" after they kiss the first time.
That's by no means the funniest part. I loled so very much reading this. It makes fun of the ridiculousness of the original story hardcore. Let me give you a clue: any time you decide to choose to, you know, CHILL THE FUCK OUT AND WAIT A MINUTE, or TELL THE TRUTH your fate improves. Decide not to get hitched right away? Good idea. Decide to stop and pick some flowers on the way to Juliet's grave? The day is saved! Decide to just tell the parents that you two are in love? Yay! Bliss for all!
Whether you like the original R&J or not, this book is an immense pleasure to read. So consider reading it! It costs like $5 on Kindle. If you know me IRL and want to borrow this book from me, Kindle lets you lend your books out to people, so don't hesitate to ask!
This book is particularly hilarious if you remember Romeo and Juliet very well. I wouldn't think that I'd remember it all that well because I haven't read it since high school. But that time I read in in high school, I was playing the nurse in an elaborate school production of it, and it turns out that I remember a great deal of it (despite close to two decades of that dream where you have to perform the play again for some reason and you don't know the lines).
An example of a hilarious joke in this book is:
His smooching was pretty good! Certainly competent, with no small amount of passion, though also strictly according to the beats and patterns laid out in Kiss Me, Kate: Kate “Kissable” Minola Reveals Her Ten Steps to Perfect Kissing Every Time. “You kiss by the book,” you say.
It's just way funnier if you remembered that she says "You kiss by the book" after they kiss the first time.
That's by no means the funniest part. I loled so very much reading this. It makes fun of the ridiculousness of the original story hardcore. Let me give you a clue: any time you decide to choose to, you know, CHILL THE FUCK OUT AND WAIT A MINUTE, or TELL THE TRUTH your fate improves. Decide not to get hitched right away? Good idea. Decide to stop and pick some flowers on the way to Juliet's grave? The day is saved! Decide to just tell the parents that you two are in love? Yay! Bliss for all!
Whether you like the original R&J or not, this book is an immense pleasure to read. So consider reading it! It costs like $5 on Kindle. If you know me IRL and want to borrow this book from me, Kindle lets you lend your books out to people, so don't hesitate to ask!
May 7, 2017
If you like Choose Your Own Adventure books, you will probably enjoy this gamified version of Romeo and/or Juliet. North provides a great many paths to take with a variety of endings from the original tragic one to completely-laughable-and-almost-unrelated-to-the-actual-story ones (I lost it laughing at Romeo's stint as a maid! I still don't know why that's so funny!). In that sense, it's either a lot of fun or a great deal of stress, depending on what you were looking for in your adventure.
I personally was looking for a middle ground, where the author takes a lot of time to craft a variety of endings, but doesn't lean overly heavily on the humor and gimmick of the choose-your-path nature of the book. In some places, I got that, but not across the board. This might be a result of my stress at these types of books anyway (I HAVE to know as many of the endings as possible!), but also the fact that I was reading it on a deadline for book club and podcast recording. This is probably a book left best in small doses that one reads for a brain palate cleanser from time-to-time.
There is some really fun art in a few places though, so even if you don't read it, you might want to flip through and see a few pictures. Some of my favorite parts include Romeo the maid, Juliet the pirate, a film noir detective version of Rosaline, drop-ins from other Shakespeare plays, and mini versions of Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and MacBeth.
I personally was looking for a middle ground, where the author takes a lot of time to craft a variety of endings, but doesn't lean overly heavily on the humor and gimmick of the choose-your-path nature of the book. In some places, I got that, but not across the board. This might be a result of my stress at these types of books anyway (I HAVE to know as many of the endings as possible!), but also the fact that I was reading it on a deadline for book club and podcast recording. This is probably a book left best in small doses that one reads for a brain palate cleanser from time-to-time.
There is some really fun art in a few places though, so even if you don't read it, you might want to flip through and see a few pictures. Some of my favorite parts include Romeo the maid, Juliet the pirate, a film noir detective version of Rosaline, drop-ins from other Shakespeare plays, and mini versions of Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and MacBeth.
May 15, 2016
Move over, No Fear Shakespeare. Ryan North's mashup of "Choose Your Own Adventure" novels and the Bard's most famous play is approximately 271 times more compelling, humorous, and enlightening than any Coles Notes rip-off. The genius of this book is in laying out very clearly which choices to pick to follow Shakespeare's play - if you want, you can essentially just read an updated version of the tale, replete with sassy modern commentary, or you can play out how some seemingly small changes to the story could have much different outcomes (if only Romeo had stopped to pick up some flowers for Juliet's tomb...) I was on board pretty much from the jump, where a choice to have brunch results in much better lives for all concerned, but it just keeps building (and branching) in delightfully unpredictable ways. North clearly knows the play, and his winking asides inform as much as they gently mock. This was a perfectly serviceable 4 star review, and then I "unlocked" a "secret character" path that is so genius, I have to elevate this to a 4.5. Well played, Mr. North.
June 10, 2016
I think I'm done with this one for now. I just can't seem to get past the beginning of the story, and I never really liked Romeo and Juliet anyway, and I just don't find this book as funny or surprising as To Be or Not To Be: A Chooseable-Path Adventure, and now I'm just bored. I think it's a case of, okay, I get it, but the joke's been done before and let's move on. You know?
But other people on here seem to be loving it, so what do I know?
But other people on here seem to be loving it, so what do I know?
December 1, 2019
A really inventive take on Romeo and Juliet, it works well in Kindle where you can follow the links easily. I found some of the teenage angst a bit irritating and the idea of Juliet as a body-builder just didn't work for me.
October 2, 2016
Actual rating 3.5
March 9, 2023
Ya os comenté por stories que me llamó mucho la atención este libro por su forma de estar escrito: tú decides la historia. Lees un fragmento y de ahí te salen opciones "si decites tal ve a 237", "si prefieres x ve a 12"... Es algo que me recuerda mucho a los modernistas, sobre todo a Faulkner y su The Sound and The Fury dónde escribió la historia y la rompió después para poner los fragmentos en su libro como quisiera (y se dice que si lees sólo lo que está en cursiva tienes la versión completa de Caddy).
Pero bueno, que me voy del tema, sigamos: aunque me gustó esto de "decide tú la historia" sí que me esperaba que la narración fuera más fiel al estilo de Shakespeare. Sin embargo, se nota la prosa contemporánea y los brotes de humor en sus páginas. Los protagonistas tampoco son los típicos (de hecho Julieta hace pesas).
Es un libro donde la finalidad en sí es el entretenimiento y el jugar: es algo diferente a lo habituado de "contar una historia" o "enseñar". Y me parece una maravilla (y un trabajazo) buscar nuevas finalidades al objeto típico que es el libro.
Hay muchos finales y se pueden hacer muchas versiones. Puedes volver al libro una y otra vez y en cada ocasión verte inmerso en una historia completamente diferente.
Como punto negativo, diré que me pasó que me fui al (ejemplo) 251 por equivocación (me había mandado a otro número) pero como no sabía de donde venía me perdí en la historia 😢 y tuve que empezar de cero, por así decirlo. Sé que será un sinsentido y muy complicado (porque varios números te pueden mandar al 251) pero saber la ruta de la que procedía me hubiera servido de mucho.
¡Y eso es todo lo que os puedo contar! Si queréis un libro, sin duda, diferente y sorprendente, os recomiendo mucho este (y, por supuesto, no esperéis leer la historia de Romeo y Julieta como os la han contado hasta el momento).
Pero bueno, que me voy del tema, sigamos: aunque me gustó esto de "decide tú la historia" sí que me esperaba que la narración fuera más fiel al estilo de Shakespeare. Sin embargo, se nota la prosa contemporánea y los brotes de humor en sus páginas. Los protagonistas tampoco son los típicos (de hecho Julieta hace pesas).
Es un libro donde la finalidad en sí es el entretenimiento y el jugar: es algo diferente a lo habituado de "contar una historia" o "enseñar". Y me parece una maravilla (y un trabajazo) buscar nuevas finalidades al objeto típico que es el libro.
Hay muchos finales y se pueden hacer muchas versiones. Puedes volver al libro una y otra vez y en cada ocasión verte inmerso en una historia completamente diferente.
Como punto negativo, diré que me pasó que me fui al (ejemplo) 251 por equivocación (me había mandado a otro número) pero como no sabía de donde venía me perdí en la historia 😢 y tuve que empezar de cero, por así decirlo. Sé que será un sinsentido y muy complicado (porque varios números te pueden mandar al 251) pero saber la ruta de la que procedía me hubiera servido de mucho.
¡Y eso es todo lo que os puedo contar! Si queréis un libro, sin duda, diferente y sorprendente, os recomiendo mucho este (y, por supuesto, no esperéis leer la historia de Romeo y Julieta como os la han contado hasta el momento).
January 3, 2026
Another send-up in the spirit of To Be or Not To Be: A Chooseable-Path Adventure (though Juliet is much less rad than Ophelia). Captures a few subtle logical deficiencies in the original. Like:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
April 13, 2019
So I “finished” meaning i chose a path and got to The End multiple times.
I wanted longer paths but otherwise it was fun and weird and something you can definitely pick up again and again and chose new paths and get new results.
I wanted longer paths but otherwise it was fun and weird and something you can definitely pick up again and again and chose new paths and get new results.
December 21, 2019
It's kind of hard to say you have read this book because there are so many outcomes, but I'm doing it. Super funny and entertaining!
December 23, 2019
This was a delight. Such an outrageous book. I read and reread it and ended up with 6 or 7 endings, and still there was so much I didn't read. I'll be reading this every time I need a good laugh.
October 27, 2018
Do yourselves a favor and keep playing this untill you discover the secret character, it makes the experience even better!
I loved North's previous book so much that this one almost crumbled under the weight of my expectations. The two are so similar that it felt as if there weren't that many new ideas in it. Don't get me wrong, it's still amazing, witty, funny, charming, feminist and exciting. But it doesn't take your breath away like the first one did. Maybe it's because I read them fairly close to one another. If I'd waited, let's say, a year after reading To be or not to be, I might have loved Julied and/or Romeno just as much. But some of the glamour was lost. It's still a great book though.
I loved North's previous book so much that this one almost crumbled under the weight of my expectations. The two are so similar that it felt as if there weren't that many new ideas in it. Don't get me wrong, it's still amazing, witty, funny, charming, feminist and exciting. But it doesn't take your breath away like the first one did. Maybe it's because I read them fairly close to one another. If I'd waited, let's say, a year after reading To be or not to be, I might have loved Julied and/or Romeno just as much. But some of the glamour was lost. It's still a great book though.
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