Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay (Book review)

Title: Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: September 11, 2011
Genres: Romance, Drama, Horror
Medium: Hardcover, Bought

Juliet Immortal is the modern retelling of a a classic love story, except with a little twist. Instead of Romeo & Juliet committing suicide to be with each other, Romeo instead kills her, and they both come into another body every century and try to kill each other.

The idea for this novel is most original and interesting.  Even if you haven't read the famous Romeo & Juliet play by the great William Shakespeare, this novel is still a pleasure to read. It mixes mild horror (ghosts and rotten Romeo corpses, of course) drama (literally, she's involved in the drama department; Oh the irony) and lots of romance. This novels weaves an intricate tale of a hundreds-year-old romance torn apart by lies and mistrust, and instead replaced by hatred and anger. Full of suspense and true romance, this novel is one for the next hundreds of years.

The writing in this novel was also very nice, to match the plot if the novel. Very consistent. It is old-timey and Shakespearean at times, while modern and fascinating later. It's enchanting all the while, however. Magical, beautiful, and romantic meet horrific, action-packed, and creepy. A beautiful page-turner that captures the elegance of the original play, while still giving it a modern twist. The writing is polished, flows well, and manages the two POVs well, while giving both main characters emotion and depth.

The characters are also a key point to why this book is such a treasure. Juliet's voice inside of Ariel is magnificent, and her character clearly expresses her reasons for mistrusting Romeo and his antics, thought she soon learns she may not hate him, but hate herself. This much character realization here and character change. Romeo through Dylan was also very interesting to experience, as he comes to terms with what he's done, including what he's done to Juliet, and begins to change from his pompous self just the slightest bit. Then it is gone. Ben was probably my favorite character, as he was inspirational in the way that he learned from his mistakes and how to move on from them, not dwelling on the past and letting them dictate his life.

Not everything is like it seems in this novel. A beautiful spin or the Classic Shakespeare tragedy, this novel brings you in their world and won't let you go.