The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life (ARC Review)

A fun fall read great for fans of theatrical and Shakespearean themes, The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life is a quirky romance and YA contemporary with LGBT rep, fun friendship dynamics, and plenty of high school high jinks. 

When Alison decides to produce “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in an attempt to get valedictorian, she never thought it would be so hard. But as she crushes on the lead actress, butts heads with her lifelong nemesis, tries to play matchmaker to her best friends, and finds herself having more trouble than she expected getting together a good crew, the show begins to seem like one Ye Olde disaster after another.

With a heavy dose of humor and sarcasm, a flawed but relatable over-achiever main character, and lots of high school drama that doesn’t take itself too seriously, The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life is a great pick for rom-com lovers. A quick read with short and compelling chapters, the story has plenty of drama to keep things moving forward, and is interesting  and fast-paced enough that it can be hard to put down.  

But with an exposition-heavy beginning and the rest of the book feels rushed, the pacing of the book is overall off and the romantic tension is lost in the many other events which spring up too close together, as if the author is afraid of readers getting bored or running out of time to fit all the ideas in.

Although cute and fun, and somewhat relatable to anyone who has lived through the horrors of hell week of a high school production, the overall story doesn’t add much to the genre that other books haven’t done before and isn’t particularly original in terms of characters or plot, sometimes even sliding into stereotype territory. And, you’ll have to suspend your belief in some areas in order to stomach all the absurdities of Alison’s life, which get slightly more and more far-fetched as the story goes on.

Still, an enjoyable read for those looking for a story about friendship and high school drama with a little bit of female-female romance. I rated The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life 3.5 out of 5.

Thank you to Netgalley and Second Story Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.