Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story

by Lisa Fiedler

Shakespeare's classic retold from another perspective

Rosaline won't let anyone or anything get in the way of her future as a healer. That is, until she meets Benvolio. Where Romeo's words had been hollow and unfounded, Benvolio's are filled with sincerity and true love. Now Rosaline finds herself caught between her feelings, her ambition, and her family's long-standing feud with the Montagues.

When Romeo turns his affections toward Ros's cousin, Juliet, their relationship brings the feud of the two houses to a new level. Rosaline and Benvolio hatch a plan to bring peace to the two families. But will they succeed?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Shakespeare, Retellings, Historical, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2006

About the author

Lisa Fiedler is the author of a number of popular young adult novels, including two retellings of a Shakespearean story from the female point of view, Dating Hamlet and Romeo's Ex. She lives in Connecticut with her family.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, so at the library last night I picked up two loosely-based-on-Shakespeare YA novels. I have a weakness, both for Shakespeare and for YA fiction, so it was fairly inevitable. I haven’t yet begun Ophelia, but Romeo’s Ex: Rosaline’s Story I began and finished last night.

My first impressions were moderate- the author’s use of quasi-Elizabethan language seems more of a forced affectation than an effective way to tell a story. It’s understandably simplified for the sake of modern readers (I don’t really believe in reading Shakespeare’s plays- watching them and hearing the words spoken aloud leads to a much richer and easier to understand experience.), but it still feels pretentious, particularly when lines from the actual play are interspersed in the book- always, always, in italics.

Until two hundred pages into this 246 page book I was unimpressed, but still sorta enjoying it. Rosaline was far more of a modern woman than would be acceptable in 1595, and her affections seemed just as fickle as Romeo’s (seriously, she kissed Mercutio and Benvolio in the same night, each time affirming that she loved the man with all her heart). It was nice to see the notion reflected that Romeo and Juliet are foolish, and not the Most Romantic Couple Evah. (I still remember the arguments I had about that when I was taking my Shakespeare class up in Madison… several middle aged women were absolutely aghast at my irritation with the pair.)

But the story lacked heart. We’re told that Rosaline wants to be a healer when she grows up (regardless that in 1595 a 16-year-old was considered an adult), but her healing skill seem to involve only patching up Romeo’s friend Petruchio (yes, he of Taming of the Shrew fame) at the beginning, and then noticing- with alarming frequency- that people Are Not Dead.

For a play where Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet all end up dead, only two of them are actually DEAD dead when Rosaline comes across them. Tybalt is in a coma- not from the sword-wound, but from hitting his head when he fell. Rather than telling the authorities, of course, Rosaline take him back to the healer and tries to cure him herself, while getting a replacement body to be buried in the Capulet tomb. While in the coma, Tybalt’s ghost watches over Juliet (which felt like a very forced way to keep an eye on the Romeo-and-Juliet part of the story while Rosaline’s stuff happens).

Don’t worry, she didn’t kill the replacement body- it was a man who was killed by a dog while trying to abduct 10-year-old Viola (from Twelfth Night- she and Sebastian are orphans being cared for by Benvolio).

Insert eye-roll here- but that wasn’t even the point where I lost my suspension of disbelief entirely. That may shock you, but I haven’t yet gotten to that point yet.

The story continued to be derivative in unnecessary ways. Rosaline had a balcony scene (with Mercutio), and planned a fake engagement with Benvolio to try to convince the families to stop feuding.

The truly ridiculous part comes directly after “for never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

So, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet are all lying dead in the crypt. The parents have sworn to call off the feud and erect statues. Then, everyone proceeds to leave the bodies there in their varying states of disarray, and go off and do… something. Benvolio, Rosaline, and Viola (for some reason), are there, and they’re trying to sneak Tybalt’s now actually-dead-body into the crypt. (Oh, did I mention that Tybalt’s ghosty-self went back to his body to die so that he could lead Juliet to heaven because Juliet’s ghosty-self was full of guilt over the suicide? No?)

They get inside and! Romeo and Juliet aren’t really dead yet! Rosaline can tell from some super-sense that Juliet is dying, but perhaps she can save them both!

And this is where I shrieked at the book.

Juliet is a breath from dying, Tybalt has been dead for at least an hour, and IN 1595, Rosaline decides she wants to DO A HEART TRANSPLANT.

I am not even joking. She wants to do a heart transplant using only Romeo’s dagger and Juliet’s wedding ring for a singular clamp. Now, I don’t know about you, but having a baby sister who has undergone several heart surgeries (no transplants) gives me the knowledge that THAT IS DAMN WELL IMPOSSIBLE.

After several pages, though, she’s convinced to not do it- why? Because Rosaline doesn’t know if Juliet could love Romeo if she had Tybalt’s heart.

WTF.

All of the good reasons she has to not do it- like… infection, blood types, white blood cells, SANITATION (these are people who thought bathing too often made one ill!), lack of training, lack of equipment… and she decides that Tybalt’s heart would prevent Juliet from loving Romeo.

So she instead make Romeo puke up all the poison, and he’s okay. They all sit there in the crypt until Juliet really dies (and no one else comes back), and 10-year-old Viola teaches herself to read, overnight, from gravestones.

Yeah.

Then, to teach the Monteagues and Capulets a lesson, Benvolio and Rosaline decide to make them responsible for Viola and Sebastian’s upbringing- because Viola looks so much like Juliet, it’s giving them a second chance.

Then Rosaline goes off to study medicine at a university in Padua. In 1595.

In a mere 46 pages, this book went from meh to WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR THINKING!!!

I ranted for a good hour yesterday about it. ARGH.

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosaline is NOT in love with Romeo—that simpering, lovesick, ANNOYANCE. In fact, she has no interest in falling in love or getting married or any of that. Nope. She’s going study medicine. Commit herself to science. And she isn’t going to waste her time on the feud between her family, the Capulets, and their archenemy, the Montagues, either.

She really couldn’t care less about of the Montagues.

That is . . . she couldn’t until the brawl. Where she gets hit on the head. And rescued.

And now, well, there is ONE Montague she would rather not just call her FRIEND.

A fast paced, tongue-in-cheek novel with plenty of action, heartache, and drama to keep both serious Shakespeare fans and casual dabblers entertained. To quote one particularly ridiculous, yet enjoyable line. “I boughteth it!”

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What's most impressive about this book is how many of my pet peeves it manages to combine in one place. The despicable "romantic" hero who has slept with every woman in town but says it will be different with this girl because now it's not just about sex, the obnoxious "plucky" heroine who anachronistically wants to have a career before starting a family, the incredibly annoying first-person, present-tense narration with shifting narrators, the pseudo-profound imagery that immature writers erroneously think makes them sound smarter than they are, the completely inexplicable decisions (i.e., the adults decide to send a young child who was just barely rescued from being sold into prostitution out alone on a longish journey through dark, bandit-infested woods in the middle of the night, and no one in the book seems to find anything wrong with this), the failed attempts at imitating Shakespearean language, the cliched and unoriginal plot points and stock characters, the unsatisfying ending -- all are present and accounted for. Seldom do books annoy me as much as this one did.

In sum: avoid, yaar.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I COMPLETELY loved this book! I loved Rosaline' s perspective; it was such a fine twist on Shakespear' s classics Romeo and Juliet

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When i first read this book two years ago, it was the third retelling I read focusing on Rosaline. I wasn’t a fan of the book, but I wondered if it was due to the Face Id read two great retelling beforehand. Now reading this book again after some distance I can say that it’s not that great. It’s an easy read but Rosaline goes back in forth between two men in the beginning and most of the plot is either slow or rushes. I can see ppl loving it and hating it. Overall easy read with a happy ending and weird events in the cemetery

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

First impressions: The author is trying to do some interesting things with language and modernizing the adaptation. However, the historical fact info-dump, the over-the-top modern representation of Rosaline, and some wild plot events all detract from the novel. Full review to come.

[Aerin O'Reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I mull this one over, the more I dislike it.

Any sort of literary pastiche is, in essence, fanfic. It goes back to Dante and beyond, no shame in that. Some great work has come from reworking the stories of others. But Romeo's Ex is less "Baker Street Irregulars" and more "message board that's probably going to give you spyware."

The premise certainly had potential, but Rosaline just ends up being Juliet But Better: older, prettier, wiser, braver. She's a Capulet too, but all three Montague boys are pining after her. Sadly, "all of the characters in love with her" is hardly the only Mary Sue checkbox ticked here. Yet another YA heroine whose problems derive from being just so darn perfect. Le sigh. The ending didn't quite go as far into shameless fix fic territory as it threatened to, but there was definitely a moment where I put it down, rolled my eyes, and said aloud, quite involuntarily, "Are you kidding me?"

The language is a good attempt, but falls flat. Fiedler, like so many others before her, doesn't understand that the dosts and goeths and thous actually have a grammar, and ends up throwing them around to the point where her characters sound like the Elizabethan equivalent of lolcats. And then there's the occasional decidedly anachronistic word that comes in and plops the lofty language flat on its face. ("Upchucks" will shine on in infamy, but was hardly alone in that.)

Ultimately, it wasn't the worst way I've spent three hours, but it's not something I'd particularly recommend.

[Lady Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow! I expected so much more out of this one! While I still do think that the cover art is absolutely gorgeous, the text inside is rather pitiable. While I respect the attempt, using quasi-Shakespearian language half the time mixed in with more modern sounding dialogue was a lost cause. It came off as ridiculously funny, which I rather fancy was unintended ("'Tis not thou...'tis I" (pg. 20) -- laughable, yes?). Too, in my opinion, one should either stick closely to Shakespeare's story or be very far off... this half-and-half nonense just doesn't work for me here. My other bone to pick happens to be with the characters... but it would be too much of a spoiler to lay that one out on the line.

[Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." We all know the tragic story of the young, star-crossed lovers. But what of Rosaline? What is her story? What role did she play in this famous drama? Never actually seen in Shakespeare’s play, she is nonetheless extremely important. For if not for Romeo’s crush on her, he would never have crashed the Capulet masquerade ball in the first place.

If true beauty comes from within, then Rosaline is truly a beautiful person. She is kind, courageous, gracious and thoughtful. She goes out of her way to help those in need. Extremely intelligent, Rosaline has dedicated her life to healing and has decided to forego love and marriage in favor of studying medicine. In fact, it’s while helping the wounded Petruchio that she first meets Romeo.

Benvolio is a minor character with great impact on our story. Romeo’s cousin is not as bloodthirsty as his companions and, in fact, tries to keep the peace on more than one occasion. Not just a pretty face, he is kind, thoughtful and brave. When he first sets eyes on Rosaline during the duel in the town square, he has no idea who she is. Although drawn to her physically, he immediately recognizes her bravery and selflessness when she attempts to save a child who has wandered into the midst of battle. When she is accidentally struck down and knocked unconscious, it is Benvolio who moves through the fray to rescue both Rosaline and the young boy and get them to safety. When Mercutio leads Rosaline to believe it is he who saved her, and Rosaline confesses to Benvolio her newfound admiration for the known womanizer, Benvolio (to his credit) does not correct her. Instead, he accepts her offer of friendship and even goes so far as to agree to dance with her at the masquerade.

Rosaline soon learns of Mercutio’s deception and comes to have true feelings for Benvolio. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline and Benvolio are a few years older and have more life experience. Being more comfortable with who they are as individuals, they make a better couple because they each bring something substantial to the relationship.

Rosaline is a strong, self-assured young woman who knows what she wants and is willing to sacrifice her immediate desires in order to accomplish her long-term goals. Practical to a fault, I particularly loved her reaction to Juliet’s proclamation regarding suicide should she not be able to be with Romeo. Rosaline unapologetically slaps her face. She sees Juliet as an immature, naïve, child and tries to get her young cousin to see the error in her judgment. Rosaline views suicide not only as a sin, but as a weakness, a defeat, and the path taken by a coward. She tells Juliet the best way to prove her father wrong would be to live. “There is nothing mighty in quitting life. The only victory is summoning the audacity to stay.”

I was more than pleasantly surprised by this book. Rosaline and Benvolio both have depth, are well rounded and fully fleshed out. I like Lisa Fiedler’s take on how Rosaline and Benvolio band together to try to save Romeo and Juliet. I also like that Benvolio doesn’t try to talk Rosaline out of pursuing her dreams. He loves her for who she is and supports her even at the risk of losing her. Above all, he’s a gentleman.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adaption of Romeo and Juliet focuses on Juliet's cousin Rosaline, a healer, who Romeo is pining for at the beginning of Shakespeare's play. Told in different points of view, Rosaline watches as her cousin and Romeo rush towards their tragic end, all while pining for Benvolio.

I enjoyed most of this book; it was a very clever twist on Romeo and Juliet and put things a lot clearer for me (for example, I somehow missed that Paris and Lady Montague died in the play). The plot was very creative in creating backstory for the known events (such as why Tybalt and Mercutio were both in the tavern). The incorporation of real phrases from the play also lends authenticity. What I did not enjoy, however, is the ending. First, Romeo actually lives, unbeknownst to the principals. This, I felt, greatly cheapens the story, although it was done so that Romeo could realize that his love with Juliet was impetuous lust, not necessarily true love. The other part I really didn't like was Rosaline rejecting Benvolio for years so she could go off and study medicine. It seemed like a contemporary mindset shoved in to this time period and didn't feel authentic. Then she just shows up years later expecting Benvolio to drop everything. I just didn't like that.

[MsAprilVincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

We never actually see or hear from Rosaline in Shakespeare's play, but she's still an important character; without her, none of the other action would have occurred.

This book imagines the story from Rosaline's perspective, how she reacted to Romeo's declarations of love, how she felt about the Capulet-Montague feud, how she helped the young lovers.

The language is that of the 16th century (though not in verse), so it could prove troublesome for less dedicated readers. I liked running into lines from the play; it was like a little game.

Benvolio gets a good deal of the spotlight, and Mercutio turns out to have layers. Even Tybalt comes off as more than a quick-tempered jerk. Paris is (as I've always suspected) stupid, and Rosaline herself is worthy of Romeo's worship, even though he's not really worthy of her.

The author is mostly faithful to the play--which, as a freshman English teacher, I've read about fifty million times--but there toward the end, it seemed like she was going for something so outrageous I considered throwing the book across the room. Fortunately she reined it in, but it was close.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that it was interesting the way the author worked in more plays by adding Characters from both "Twelvth night" and "The Taming of the Shrew." Though it is true that Patruchio is indeed from Veronia anyway and so was not hard to work in.

But I did not like the lack of Continuity. Juliet's sleeping potion is the same one from Fiedler's earlier book "Dating Hamlet." But in that book the potiion needed a waking potion to counteract it; instead in this book Juliet merely awakens on her own.

it also made me sad to see how much of a victim Juliet really was. It wasn't her idea to get married and the Frier is the one who gave her the cursed potion and her Parents weren't any good at all.

Of course we knew these thing from the Play but what makes it sad seeing how her best friend Rosaline keeps trying to plan everything and not listen Juliet. True Juliet is only Thirteen but everyone was planning her life and not asking her what she wanted.

[Sevita · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of you who despise spinoffs, don't worry. I totally understand your sentiments, but this story is different. There's something about the way it's written that grabs your attention and doesn't let go. The author puts a twist on the original ending of the story, and it really gets the reader thinking. I like how the story is told, not from the lovestruck fools' point of view, but from the point of view of Rosaline - the sensible young woman mentioned in the beginning of the traditional Shakespeare play. I would definately give this a try if you liked Romeo and Juliet. Even if you didn't, the author's take on the story is really interesting. I hope you enjoy the book if you do decide to try it!
Happy Reading :)

[Anne Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister's choice, but I thought it looked intriguing (ignore the somewhat lame title). It was well written overall and makes good use of both Shakespearean language/humor (does get edgy) and the Romeo and Juliet story. My main criticism is that it gets chaotic (especially as the Romeo and Juliet story hits its dramatic point), switching between perspectives and changing directions a little too often, and sometimes the characters are a bit inconsistent (although I do like the way she extrapolates them from Shakespeare's clues). It also mixes modern sensibilities with the 16th century setting in a way that sometimes works and sometimes reveals itself as incongruous; it's from kind of a feminist standpoint. But I guess she does that on purpose. It's a good story with a pretty good message.

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who love Shakespeare and those who have no idea who he is, this story is just a plain fun read. Delightful for its use of Shakespearan characters and dialogue, but giving those same characters new life and new adventures. I loved seeing the glimpses of other plays and characters, like Sebastian and Viola, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, etc.

The consistency of the dialogue and period details wavered a tad, and I did not feel as connected to the main characters as I generally like, but overall it was a good read. Ages 13 + approximately.

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I’m going to try to calmly and logically explain why this book didn’t work for me instead of just flying off the handle about it like I usually do.

In regard to the story, there were a lot of plot points that didn’t make sense to me. Rosaline, who has sworn that she will love no man and has upheld that promise all her life, suddenly falls in love with two men in one day. She never questions it or denies it; never even feels a hint of doubt or reluctance. She just sees two handsome men (Benvolio and Mercutio, who are as vastly different as any two characters in Romeo And Juliet), and decides, “Hey! I’m in love! That’s pretty neat.” She knows almost nothing about either man, other than they’re both attractive.

This leads to another problem: Rosaline’s disdain for Juliet’s and Paris’s betrothal. She asks how Juliet can even try to love Paris by only looking at him. But isn’t that the exact same thing Rosaline had done that very day?

It feels strange that there’s a balcony scene between Mercutio and Rosaline, at the exact same moment that it would have been happening to Romeo and Juliet. I understand why this happened, but it feels a little too on the nose. Rosaline decides Mercutio simply isn’t right for her and falls right in Benvolio’s arms. Literally.

The turning point of Romeo And Juliet (the entire reason the story ends the way it does!) is severely underdeveloped. Mercutio’s death is skimmed over at best, and Tybalt’s too. But surprise! Tybalt’s alive! Apparently Romeo needs to work on his swordsmanship, because he barely poked Tybalt with his sword. The problem is that Tybalt hit his head when he fell (why did he fall? Sheer surprise that Romeo managed to stab him at all?) and went into a coma.

Meanwhile, Tybalt’s soul is privy to all the other things happening in the play, including Romeo’s and Juliet’s relationship, Juliet’s abrupt marriage to Paris, the fake poison, and the “deaths” of Romeo and Juliet (and his old friend Paris?) But after she stabs herself, Juliet decides she doesn’t want to die. Her soul is clinging to earth, but it’s too late and she won’t live. Tybalt decides that he will let go of life and go with her into death. (This was actually pretty touching, honestly…)

Benvolio and Rosaline take Tybalt’s body to the graveyard to bury him or something, and come across the tragedy. But wait, Romeo and Juliet are alive! “Hey,” thinks Rosaline, “let’s transplant Tybalt’s heart into Juliet! What can go wrong!” Thankfully, she decides not to, but for no technical reasons. Only because she doesn’t know if Juliet can love Romeo with Tybalt’s heart. (Um, lady, that’s not how it works. That’s really your biggest concern?)

Instead of doing that, Rosaline gives Romeo some tonic to make him vomit up the poison. (O false apothecary, thy drugs don’t work.) Juliet dies (third time’s the charm). Rather than saying, “Hey, Dad, I’m still alive!” Romeo banished himself to Mantua forever. Benvolio becomes the guardian of some random kids, while the Montagues and Capulets pay for their upbringing. He proposes to Rosaline, who refuses, and leaves to go to medical school. She doesn’t come back until four years later. The end.

So no, I didn’t really like any of this. But I also didn’t like some of the technical choices that were made:

So many first person perspectives is a lot to deal with. It gets really confusing, and though I understand that what the characters were witnessing individually was important, jumping between five or six first person perspectives is difficult to read.

There was a lot of paraphrasing Shakespeare’s original work rather than writing what he wrote, and truly, I understand why the author made that decision. It might seem lazy to write exactly what Shakespeare wrote. But the conversations being glossed over were oftentimes story-building, character-building conversations. A reader unfamiliar with the original play might be incredibly confused by what was going on, since it seems to have been written with the impression that EVERYONE would understand, which simply might not always be the case.

There was also a lot of inconsistency. Tybalt truly dies at the same time Juliet does, which is supposedly after Friar Lawrence learns that Romeo hasn’t revived the letter explaining Juliet’s plan. Friar Lawrence arrives on the scene just as Juliet wakes up, right before she stabs herself. So why does Tybalt die right before Friar Lawrence even realizes that Romeo has no idea what’s going on? If Tybalt and Juliet die at the same time, then how come she only just wakes up as Friar Lawrence arrives? And even after she stabs herself, she’s still alive, even after Tybalt supposedly escorts her to death?

Rosaline spends several pages ranting about Paris’s lack of personality (which was admittedly quite entertaining), but she really didn’t have one either. None of the characters did. Even Mercutio, who is a dramatic, over-the-top character, was underwhelming. I think part of this is due to the lack of basic human emotion… from literally everyone. This was so frustrating to me. There’s so much going on, and so little reaction for the characters.

Benvolio especially should be feeling more than the rest of the characters combined. These are his friends dying. But Mercutio dies, and he doesn’t care. Romeo dies, and he doesn’t care. Romeo’s alive, and he still doesn’t care. He states that Mercutio and Romeo are his friends, but there’s absolutely nothing implying that it’s true. In the play (and every direct adaptation I’ve watched or read of it), we see clearly how close the three of them are, simply by how they interact. We’re rarely told directly that they’re friends, because we don’t need to be. We see it through their actions and the way they speak to each other. If I knew nothing about the original story, I would have thought they were mere acquaintances. Benvolio seemed mad when he learned that Mercutio pretended to rescue Rosaline. Being friends with Mercutio, he should have been especially hurt by this deception. But he never thought about it again after that. I understand that Benvolio is a very calm, level headed character, and he might not show all those emotions outwardly. But there are so many chapters from his point of view that his inner thoughts should reveal some of what he’s feeling. But he doesn’t seem to be feeling much of anything. The only emotions that anybody—anybody, without exception—seem to feel were passion and blind love, regardless if it was suitable to the situation or not.

And oh my gosh, what’s with all the hating on Romeo? Yes, he’s ridiculous and kind of silly, but he’s not a bad person. He’s just naive and impulsive. So why he is the only one being blamed throughout the story for all the unfortunate things happening? Romeo wasn’t the one who said they should “Go thither” to the Capulets’ ball; in fact he argued against it. He said he had a bad feeling about it, but nobody listened. Romeo wasn’t the one who said, “If that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage”; Juliet did. So while Rosaline is blaming Romeo for marrying Juliet and being (allegedly) responsible for her death, marriage was actually Juliet’s idea. There’s enough blame to be distributed amongst all the characters, so don’t go pinning it all on Romeo.

And I’m tired of Paris being used as a tool instead of a character. I’m not saying he doesn’t suck, and he definitely should rethink some of his life decisions, but he’s a proper character and should be treated as such. Villains are treated kinder than he is.

Now, there were some things I appreciated about it. Some of the conversations or lines were amusing, and I liked certain details such as Tybalt daring Rosaline and Juliet to pick the Montagues’ flowers for the Capulet feast. That was funny. I also liked references to the characters’ pasts, like Rosaline and Juliet accepting Tybalt’s other challenges. I even enjoyed reading about Tybalt’s spirit spying on everyone and learning his reactions. (Tybalt was pretty great). Unfortunately, these things were lost for me in the rest of the story’s flaws.

I liked the idea, but sadly, I just couldn’t connect with the story.

[Isabelle Mortensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first retellings of Shakespeare’s classics I thoroughly enjoyed. In high school, while other teens swooned about the romance of “Romeo and Juliet,” I was more interested in the side characters and their perspective on the famous tale of star-crossed lovers. This is a story for those interested in romance, even forbidden love, but who also desire to watch it blossom between young adults who can be rational and are not driven solely by their hormones. This is the story of Romeo and Juliet, told through the eyes of Rosaline (Romeo’s first crush and Juliet’s cousin in this adaptation), Benvolio (Romeo’s cousin), and other supporting characters from the original play.

While I strongly encourage high schoolers to give this book a chance, I don’t think it’s necessary to be read alongside the actual tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in English/Literature classes. Why? Mostly, there are more retellings of this very tale, even with the romantic pairing of Rosaline and Benvolio. I only recommend this be read after “Romeo and Juliet” so that teenagers can see the consequences of acting rashly in romantic endeavors in contrast to being patient.

CONTENT WARNING
-Implied sexual content (innuendo and activity)
-Language
-Violence

[Allison Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to read this story because I was fascinated with the idea of following a story about such a side and minimal character in Shakespeare’s work, Romeo and Juliet. Though many of the books I have read that are spun off of side characters, especially ones not done by the original author, have been disappointing with the portrayals of the characters, I had heard good reviews of this book and how the author followed the story line. I think I would recommend this book to a future student who enjoyed the reading of Romeo and Juliet.
If I were to use this book, it would be in a high school classroom. In my future classroom I would like to have a bookshelf of books that students could choose from for projects, potential extra credit, or light reading. This would be one of the books that I keep on that bookshelf.
Warnings
-Violence
-Sex
-Death

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF before page 50; the attempted Elizabethan style of speech was clunky, often trying to Shakespeare-ize modern expressions with poor results. Also, it was kind of annoying making Rosaline a healer's apprentice, mostly because it seems like that's the only 'independent-minded lady' job that seems to show up in these period YAs; it's a tired trope now. I liked that Romeo was portrayed as kind of an idiot instead of the Great Romantic Hero, but after picking up hints of increasing silliness from a few other reviews, I'm comfortable dropping this right now. I have too much else to read.

[Sam Bolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosaline’s story gives unique depth and insight into the classic Romeo and Juliet. Giving more characters thoughts and crafting a more vibrant background, this gives a new life to this tragedy. While the ending mostly stays the same, you are still left pining for different choices- leaving the moral the same as the play. The old English can be burdensome at times but does remind you that this is not a retelling but an addition.

[E. Sorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Shakespeare re-tellings. I love it when a tale gets re-vamped and a second chance. "Romeo's Ex" was excellently written, with a lovely twist on Shakespearean verse turned into prose and appropriate use of actual Shakespeare quotes in the text. It isn't easy to write like Shakespeare, so mad props there.

As for content, I love the idea of adding to Rosaline's story. She did seem to get something of a short straw in "Romeo and Juliet." She's mentioned a few times, never actually appears in the story, and then gets sent off to be a nun offstage. So giving her a story of her own is something I totally approved of and wanted to read. First person POV, switching between all the characters: great. I love that readers get to see things from Benvolio, Romeo, Mercutio, and Rosaline's POV. (I don't remember if Juliet got a chapter of her own or not...)

Okay, from here on out, there be spoilers. Enter at your own risk.

***********

To be honest, the only part of the book that I didn't like so much was that Rosaline, the main character, is so perfect. I mean, she is the main character, so it's totally to be expected that she is awesome and good and all that, and that's fine. It's the way everyone fell in love with her that sort of made me cry "Mary-Sue!" when reading. First Romeo, which is fine, because canon and duh, this is Romeo. But then Benvolio, who had just been thinking about wanting to be in love but not being able to manage it, sees her, and all of sudden he's head over heels. Even Mercutio, who has pretty much zero interest in love, finds himself having feelings for this girl, lamenting somewhat that "Romeo saw her first."

In addition to being highly desirable and beautiful, Rosaline is smarter than pretty much everyone in the book, and a skilled healer. She comes up with plans to save everyone, she chastises Juliet for her stupidity in falling in love with Romeo, and, of course, Juliet is shown to be cowardly for wanting to take her own life in the end. While I actually agree that Juliet makes some monumentally stupid decisions in the play, and that the overall plan of pretending to be dead and counting on Romeo (also known for impulsive, stupid decisions) to figure it out is one particularly egregious example, I don't think cowardice is the reason she did it. But I digress. Bottom line, Rosaline seems too good to be true for most of the book. Sometimes, I would be reading and I would just be like, "Is there nothing you can't do?"

But then... Mercutio. Oh the irony. Mercutio is the one who saves Rosaline from Sue-dom. She falls in love with him -a temporary, silly love, but it does show that Rosaline is capable of making bad decisions and ending up embarrassed when they backfire (as this one does, naturally: see above "Mercutio has pretty much zero interest in love"). And after her ill-fated attempt at romance with Mercutio, Benvolio has a chance to slide in and (in the fashion of Shakespearean lovers) make her fall in love with him in one night. So, overall, Rosaline is not immune to the fast-paced version of love that is so prominent in "Romeo and Juliet," which ultimately saves her from being a Mary-Sue in my mind. So yay!

For the rest of the book (mainly, the parts that aren't about Rosaline's questionable perfection), I quite liked it all. I liked Benvolio's POV. He sounds adorkable, in a ruggedly handsome way. And then there's Mercutio, who is unarguably my favorite character in the play, who gives us his POV with as much snark as I expected from him. I won't lie: I cried when he died.

Tyablt, whose POV I had never given much thought to, I must confess, was wonderful. I appreciate him now like I never have before. I practically giggled with glee when his floating spirit(grudgingly, so grudgingly) forgave Romeo and said "Oh fine. They can be in love I guess," with so much sulkiness. And then I cried when he died too.

(Alright, I cried when everyone died in this book. Except for that creep whose body they originally put in Tybalt's tomb. I was fine with his death. Creep.)

Also of note (for the cleverness of it, if nothing else) are the names of some of the minor characters. Viola and Sebastian, the pretty twins, are characters from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," Petruchio "Trooch" and Katherina, who Rosaline meets later in Padua, are characters from "The Taming of the Shrew," which is referenced by Petruchio's admission to Rosaline that his lady is "something of a shrew." Even the potion that Friar Laurence has the Healer brew for Juliet (to make her seem dead) is insinuated to come from "a lady in Denmark," which sounds to me an awful lot like a reference to Ophelia from "Hamlet," whose story Lisa Fiedler has re-told as well. (I haven't read that re-telling, but I definitely plan to.)

Anyway, this is a long, rambling sort of review but to sum up:

"Romeo's Ex" by Lisa Fiedler is a great book. The main character toes the line of Sue-dom, but manages to stay on the side of an acceptable protagonist in the end. There are lots of clever references to Shakespeare's words and other works. I would recommend the book to anyone who likes re-tellings of Shakespeare.

[QueenAgain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love the story and POV but I think the should be a little more action

[Monica ४ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling that is still filled with tragedy, but with a charming twist. Also I'm Rosaline/Benvolio trash so of course I enjoyed it.

[Julia via Stylish in the Stacks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, I couldn’t stand this one. Especially the changed ending to the play. Weak.

[Kimberly Turley McKell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take. I liked the different perspectives given. The ending was rushed.

[LillyRuth Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book! I won’t be able to think of Romeo & Juliet the same way.

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is familiar: Verona, Italy. 1595. Spring is turning to summer. Romeo is sixteen, Juliet, just thirteen. But this time we hear their story from Roseline, the sixteen-year-old beauty who became Romeo's first infatuation.

It begins when a young nobleman brings a wounded friend to a healer's cottage. The healer is away but her student, Roseline, is able to help. When about to leave, the nobleman asks her name, then gives her his: Romeo of the House of Montague. But she already know that. She is cousin to Juliet and therefore also a Capulet; she knows to whom house allegiances do and do not belong.

While the book does follow the events of the play, Roseline's role is fully integrated into it. For example, as a family member, she and Juliet prepare for the Capulet feast to be held that evening. Before Juliet meets Romeo there, she speaks to Roseline of her father's wish that she marry Prince Paris:

Juliet: "Paris seen from afar, is the very model of masculine worthiness. He would surely devote himself in full to she who would become his wife."
Roseline: "Wife?" I cry. "What does thou know of being a wife? You are only just learning to be Juilet." (p. 89)

The author not only stays consonant with the original, she also adds many things I liked:
* Tybalt, Mercutio, and Benvoglio benefited from Fiedler's attention.
* She added new material that fit in effortless. In one of these, Benvoglio and Roseline create a way to end the enmity of the two houses though it ultimately fails. In another addition, Tybalt does not die right away and another cloth-draped corpse stands in for him in the mausoleum.
* There were many scenes that amplify the original. For example, on page 226, Roseline chastises Romeo:

"You! You. Romeo, who loves only with your eyes... You met and admired one another and impiously called it love. 'Twas quick and bright and dangerous and magical. But you did not think. You settled for desire, but did not allow time for love."

There were also things that didn't work as well for me:
* I was not entirely sold on the use of Tybalt as a ghost here though it was certainly in keeping with Shakespeare's work.
* I enjoyed the interplay between the lines Shakespeare wrote and those of Fiedler but was a bit bothered to find his in italics.
* What seemed to be inconsistencies in period language bothered me. In Shakespeare's time, did people mix 'you' and 'thee' or 'thou'? If so, was it like tu and vous in French, based on age or status or used to make a point? See the last two sentences from the first quote from Roseline and Juliet marked page 89 above.

Altogether, I was surprised at how well Fiedler's story worked, in light of integrating so much new information and keeping to the style and details of the play. A very interesting idea and much talent at work in it. (246 p.)

[Anastasia · Rating 1 out of 5]

* Hardcover: 256 pages
* Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (September 19, 2006)
* ISBN-10: 0805075003
* Author: Lisa Fiedler
* Cover art: Love the cover art.
* Overall rating * out of 5 stars
* Obtained: My personal book shelf


Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fiedler
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
Rosaline won't let anyone or anything get in the way of her future as a healer. That is, until she meets Benvolio. Where Romeo's words had been hollow and unfounded, Benvolio's are filled with sincerity and true love. Now Rosaline finds herself caught between her feelings, her ambition, and her family's long-standing feud with the Montagues.
When Romeo turns his affections toward Ros's cousin, Juliet, their relationship brings the feud of the two houses to a new level. Rosaline and Benvolio hatch a plan to bring peace to the two families. But will they succeed? (Synopsis provided by goodreads)


Okay so I wanted to love this book. I really enjoy re-tellings of Shakespeare, myths and fairytales, if they are done well. For me, this book fell flat. I felt that the author was trying too hard to sound Shakespearean. There was a massive over abundance of words like "thee", "thou" and "doth". This was mixed in with more modern day writing as well. I found myself unable to enjoy the story I was wanting the book to pick a style of writing and stay in it.
I felt like the author disliked the original story and felt that Rosaline got the shaft in the original text and wanted to change her story. That's all nice and fine, but please don't make it clear how much you seem to dislike the original story. That takes away from your book.
I found myself skimming parts just to get to the end so I could move on to the next book in my pile.
I also found myself rolling my eyes everytime actual lines from the play were in placed in the text, they were always italicized.
The book ridiculously simple and felt like Fiedler was "dumbing" down the story for the reader. Most readers are smart enough to know what's going on thank you.
The story also felt very preachy saying how Romeo and Juliet hardly knew each other. Yes, this is true, in the play they only knew each other for a few days.
I could go on, but that would lead to spoilers, so instead all I'll say is there were some ideas brought up in the book that are ludicrous for a book set in 1595.
Sadly, the only thing I liked was the cover art.

If you are looking for a good re-telling I'd recommend Michelle Ray's Falling for Hamlet or Suzanne Selfors Saving Juliet. They are some of the best I have read.

[Phoenix]

More for my own use to look back on this book than as a review:
+:
-Rosaline isn't interested in Romeo and would rather focus on her healing career.
Multiple POVs keep the story fresh and interesting; an easy breeze to read.
-Short chapters with alternating viewpoints of mainly Rosaline and Benvolio but also including Tybalt, Mercutio and Romeo.
-Tybalt is shown to be more than just a brash, bloodthirsty youth; he is also shown to be a caring and mischievous cousin
-I love that Tybalt is given more of a role in this book than in the original play because he survives the fight with Romeo and his spirit watches over Juliet as his body remains in a catatonic state
-Tybalt rightfully calls Juliet out on crying more over Romeo's exile and not his death
-Rosaline recognizes that Romeo and Juliet's supposed love at first sight true love is less grand than the original play suggests, scolds Juliet for being willing to die for a man she hardly knows and had laughed at days ago
-Rosaline and Benvolio concocts a scheme theorizing that their union would end the conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets but Romeo and Juliet's union might bring it to new heights of violence
-Romeo gets saved by Rosaline and finds that he hardly knows anything about the wife he's grieving over and exiles himself to Mantua
-Rosaline turns down Benvolio's proposal to study medicine in another city.
-fleshed out characters: Benvolio the doe-eyed ladykiller who falls for Rosaline and wants peace for Verona, Mercutio the hotheaded daredevil who doesn't believe in love and thinks Rosaline is too good for him, Juliet the vivacious young girl who suppresses herself to be an obedient daughter, Romeo the handsome but foolish romantic

-:
-Rosaline goes from declaring celibacy to being head over heels in love with Mercutio after a case of mistaken hero and rescue romance, then falls for Benvolio
-insertion of characters from other Shakespeare plays: Viola and Sebastian and Petruchio

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I could make a noise to describe how this book ended it would be "Bleh". It started out so good! Stuff was going on! Rosaline was an exciting, strong female character! It was a clever tie-in to Romeo and Juliet!

I should have known something was up after the fight scene. Anyone who has read and/or seen Romeo and Juilet knows that Tybalt dies. Romeo kills him! But, no. Fielder just can't seem to let that happen. So, Romeo barely nicks him, and the fall to the ground from fear cracks his skull and gives him brain damage. He's in a coma for a few hours and then he dies.

But wait, it gets worse! Guess what? Romeo and Juiet are both NOT DEAD! No! Rosaline decides that if she gives Romeo this potion the Healer (who happened to be there) randomly had on her that causes Romeo to vomit up all of the poison he just took. And then she decides to perform open-heart surgery (this is 1599) on Juilet! She doesn't though, because "Juilet could never love Romeo with Tybalt's heart."

It is not okay to un-kill Shakespear's charaters!

So, throughout this mess Rosaline falls in love with Benvolio, but then tells him that she won't marry him. STUPID GIRL! Instead, she goes away to a college to study for four years! I didn't even care at the end when she "comes home" to Benvolio. Ugh.

Why, oh why, oh why did this book have to end so terribly? I was absolutely enthralled by the beginning and the middle.

Am I the only one that feels like SHAKESPEAR and SHAKESPEAR (this is who we're dealing with people) should be the only one to "tell you a little bit more about Tybalt and Mercutio"?

Romeo is still dead...always will be.