HRC Ravenclaw Common Room discussion

I can't decide if I like this book or not. I loved the parts set in 1340, and I enjoyed all the history woven throughout, but I found the main story rather tedious, and the main female character a bit simpering. I never believed the romance between the present day Giulietta and Romeo, so that didn't help matters. I was at least expecting a steamy love scene between the two of them, but, alas, it was glossed over. I kinda wish the whole book was a more fleshed out story from 1340. Those parts were better written and I was better able to connect to those characters.

I'm not done, yet, but so far I agree. The flashbacks are fun and I like the "real" story of R&J. The modern day story line is a bit forced and the "heroine" is a brat and her obsession with her twin (who is even brattier) is distracting from the storyline and doesn't serve the plot (at least to the point in the story I am on.)

I will admit though, I have a bit of a bias because I have always felt R&J is overrated. Not to sound like a hipster or a Shakespeare snob but I don't understand why it's so romanticised when there are much better plays by Willy out there.

That being said, I do want to finish the story and want to see how it pans out. It's not a bad story or poorly written (I do like the tone change in the exposition of the flash backs vs. modern sections), it just hasn't grabbed me to make me want to stay up all night finishing it.

This will sound like the most backhanded compliment ever, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. It is very 'Shakespeare does The Da Vinci Code' in the modern day bits, and I didn't like the main character either - she lacked personality for me somehow. Plus I felt like it took ages to get going and consequently everything felt a bit crammed in to the last five chapters or so. But then it is very well-paced and (to me anyway) the twists weren't immediately obvious, and I did like the flashback bits, so overall whilst it's not my favourite it's not the worst book I've read by a long chalk. Plus it's making me want to go to Siena...

I like it, but I don't love it. I think if it weren't broken up between 1340 bits & modern bits, it would be incredibly dull. the 1340 bits seem stronger for sure, I definitely agree that they're more compelling, but I think it would be a rough read if it were all that way. I'm only about halfway through now, but I can see the story getting stale--it's taking longer than I think it should to give me any answers, but I'm generally enjoying it--just now "can't put this down!" enjoying :p

And I agree--it's better than I was expecting it to be, but I wasn't expecting good

Sara wrote: "I'm not done, yet, but so far I agree. The flashbacks are fun and I like the "real" story of R&J. The modern day story line is a bit forced and the "heroine" is a brat and her obsession with her tw..."

Omg I agree about the brattiness. However, the sister actually gets better and by the end of the book i liked her a lot more than the main girl. Mostly because she had a backbone.

Laura wrote: "This will sound like the most backhanded compliment ever, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. It is very 'Shakespeare does The Da Vinci Code' in the modern day bits, and I didn't l..."


Oh, yeah, it definitely made me want to visit Siena, too! And that "Shakespeare does the Da Vinci Code" is spot on.

I just had a light-bulb moment around page 300. I figured out whey I'm not a fan of the Julie character! It's the same reason I am not a Katniss, Tris, or Bella fan. She's the main character, but doesn't actually do anything.

She's supposed to be the hero of the book but when you get down to it, she just drifts through the story waiting for another character to explain to her 1) what's happening to her, 2) what she needs to do/find, 3) what to do now that she found/did the thing. Julie herself doesn't actively participate in her own story, she just exists in it.

At least up to page 300 where I am, she doesn't take charge, she doesn't figure it out, she doesn't do anything but what she's told. She's just there. Hell, as soon as Janice shows up, Janice already knows more than Julie and is now the one figuring out how to escape while Julie panics because she was in the right place at the right time to find out who Romeo is.

Sara wrote: "I just had a light-bulb moment around page 300. I figured out whey I'm not a fan of the Julie character! It's the same reason I am not a Katniss, Tris, or Bella fan. She's the main character, but d..."

Yes! That is exactly right! And that's why I ended up liking her sister way more.

I'm warming up to Janice right now, too. I think Julie is just plain jealous of her sister and is projecting that Janice is jealous of her.

I admit that our heroine is a bit ... lazy... but I got thr impression that she thought she was supposed to act that way. I do like her sister though... she's a lot of fun. I also developed a crush on the hero... partly because of the scenestrike at the end, but partly because of reading it at 6 am after staying up all night. And the flashback scenes were my favorite part... I love history. Question... would the Church have considered that a suicide back then?

I agree with much of what has been said. At the beginning, I didn't expect much, mostly because I felt that the language was overly flowery and attempted to be too poetic - too Shakespearean. I got into the intrigue but it got to the point where I just wanted to know what would happen so I could be done with it, and the constant twists and turns got old, outlandish, and hard to follow.

It did make me want to visit Siena, and it was cool to learn about the history behind Romeo & Juliet (though I too think it's overrated).

I think I'm in the minority here, but I loved it. Until I didn't. I found the book to be intriguing and romantic and creative....basically until Julia & Romeo hooked up. Then it fell apart for me. The end seemed to try to answer questions but failed. I couldn't keep track of where the special items were and Umberto wasn't explained - why was he always so mean to the sister? If he was spying on them, why did he give Romeo the vial of fake hymen? How did he get back to Italy when he was wanted?
I definitely want to visit Siena and though the author did a fantastic job describing the city and its history.

Liz wrote: "I think I'm in the minority here, but I loved it. Until I didn't. I found the book to be intriguing and romantic and creative....basically until Julia & Romeo hooked up. Then it fell apart for me. ..."

Agree, Liz! That relationship really didn't work for me either.

I did like the book but I have to say it was mainly because of the 1340 parts. Two parts that I found seriously lacking were the relationship between the modern Juliet and Romeo and the relationship between the sisters. I felt like when Julie and Alessandro met she was very wary of him but in the space of a paragraph she is admitting she has full blown feelings for him. Lame. Also throughout the beginning of the story when she is describing her relationship with her sister it is as if they totally hate each other and yet when her sister shows up, there is barely any sign of that and they are suddenly best buddies. You don't throw away a life time of hate in just one day.

Beyond this though, I really liked how the 1340 parts of the story were used to progress the modern story and give clues about what the girls should do next or what they needed to know. A lot of the plot twists were a surprise and I love it when I don't see something coming.