Such Sweet Sorrow (Entangled Teen) Paperback – February 4, 2014

Jenny Trout's Such Sweet Sorrow is a sort of retelling/sequel to the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. To spice it up, she even weaves in Shakespeare's Hamlet into the story as well. It was an interesting read for sure, but I guess because I'm not big on Shakespeare (why yes I am one of the weirdest English majors you ever did meet!) I couldn't really get into the story all that well.Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are pretty much known classics in the world of Shakespeare. I read both in high school, so I knew their storylines fairly well. But now Jenny takes the tragedies to a new level. Romeo was saved from the poison he took and he lives again. All has pretty much been forgiven, the prince lifted his banishment, the feud between Capulet and Montague is over. But Romeo still mourns Juliet. He goes to see a witch to see if there's anything that can be done to bring her back--yeah necromancy at its finest!Romeo is then led to see a guy named Hamlet who's around his own age who supposedly can see ghosts. Hamlet as we know, was visited by the ghost of his father asking him to avenge his death when his brother killed him and married his wife. But Hamlet also sees other ghosts, and has been charged with protecting a portal that leads to the afterlife. And needless to say that Romeo enlists Hamlet's help in going through the portal and finding Juliet so that they may live happily ever after.I was quite surprised by how fast Juliet was found. Like before the halfway point, but there's still the matter of getting out of this underworld. And this place is huge. Many levels and more portals that take you to different parts of the underworld. Also, Juliet's mind isn't quite right for awhile. Being in the underworld, as a dead person/spirit changes you. Your mind works differently. It may torment you with your mistakes and make you see things that aren't there. Juliet has a little bit of issue with that clause, so Romeo must save his true love once again.Another surprising thing was the amounts of mythology Jenny weaved into the story. There were multiple ones as well. Greek and Norse were the ones I recognized immediately. It was a nice change of pace, but I definitely do not know my Norse mythology as well as my Greek! The theme of Romeo going after Juliet in the underworld definitely ringed as Greek mythology!I didn't really feel the romance between Juliet and Romeo. In fact, I was almost wondering if this space that seemed to have come between them would be filled with Hamlet! That would definitely change up his story, but luckily, Jenny didn't go that route. I might have imagined any tension between Hamlet and Juliet as well! But still, Romeo and Juliet seemed to have something keeping them apart for awhile. I just didn't get that overly romantic sense they are known for. Then again, their story wasn't a fave of mine. In college, it pretty much became a story of lust rather than love. Totally changed my outlook on it when I read it as a high school freshman.The ending wasn't at all what I was expecting. Which can be both good and bad. It was an ending that leaves you wondering if there is more to come. Especially with that last paragraph. I couldn't get a feel for what was going to happen to these characters. And while it was a good read, I just didn't get into it as much as I had hoped. Although, if you're more of a Shakespeare fan than I am, and you're okay with retellings and tweakings, then I definitely recommend reading this one! Also if you enjoy a good dose of mythology! This story would have a lot to offer you!Overall Rating 3/5 stars

I was very excited to read this book. I haven't spent much time or seen many Shakespeare retellings so I thought this one would be a great one to check out. I was grabbed by the cover and by the title. Unfortunately the story and the characters did not grab me. I found it very difficult to connect to the characters or get caught up in the story. It had a great concept but I feel it wasn't carried out well. It was quite a boring read for me.Romeo lost his Juliet and now he is on a mission to find her in the Afterjord and bring her back. Hamlet is out for revenge for her father's murder, he has been instructed he needs to find the gateway to the Afterjord. They team up together to work out their missions. Along they way they find Juliet and they are a fearsome threesome through the Afterjord fighting, surviving, and discovering.I want to say that I loved the idea of the book. It sounded so intriguing. I though it would be really really good. I wish I could say I thought it was but I just didn't like the book. I had some major issues with the book that kept me from wanting to really finish it but I also wanted to know the ending, so I kept on reading. It didn't do me any good. The story does not have an ending. So I added that to my list of problems.So first... I didn't care for the characters, of course I didn't dislike them either. I felt non committal to any of the characters in the book. They all had their moments that made me giggle or made me feel they were honorable or good... but they were far and few between. I just didn't connect with them. 'Juliet had my attention the most but I can't say much other than she was fearless, loyal, and she had some pretty great ideas while in battle. Romeo had a few good qualities, but mainly he was just whiny and selfish. Hamlet was at least humorous. For the most part. He had the best one liners and I think, given a bit more time with him, I could have really liked him. There just wasn't enough character building or personal interaction to really get to know the characters.The pacing was a bit off for me too. The beginning was very slow and even once the action began, it was non stop battling for their lives. I know that sounds like it would be great, but it wasn't. I felt there was too much fighting and too much detail in the fighting to be enjoyable as a book. As a movie it would probably rock. It just wasn't exciting for me at all.The writing was also confusing to me at times. They povs would switch between Hamlet, Juliet, and Romeo and was written in 3rd person. This would normally be fine, but the characters did not have a distinguishable enough voice for me to differentiate between them. It took me a while to figure out who I was following at the moment.That brings us to the ending. It finally started to catch my attention... in the last 50 pages of the book, then the book ends with no real resolution. The ending felt as if it will be a series, but I am not positive of this. Either way I am not happy. The ending left me needing resolution... so if its not a series.. no resolution. If it is a series... I have to read more or no resolution. Either way no resolution.I feel awful for not liking this book. It happens rarely and I really wanted to enjoy this book. I just didn't care for it at all. I do think it will appeal to those readers who love a non stop action adventure book. The positive of this book, the action scenes were written well enough to picture it all in my head... like a movie. I just prefer more character development and interaction. More story. And an actual ending.This was a boring and detached read for me.

I was a bit hesitant to read it because of my high expectations but it lived up to it. I can see why some might feel a bit bogged down with so much happening almost at once. It is the one thing that bothered me. I liked the interactions with Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet very interesting story and concept.

What a fun and colorful journey. I was hesitant to get back into YA fantasy at first but I'm so glad I read this one. I found myself wanting more at the end of each chapter.The characters stayed true to who they were in their already famous stories, but there was still believable growth in all of them. There were some delightful Shakespearean Easter eggs as well, and you don't need to be a Shakespeare snob to get them, I'm certainly not.If you like Norse mythology and/or Shakespeare, pick this one up.

I'm a huge Shakespeare geek with a particular love of Hamlet so I ate this up. Interesting interpretation of the characters, great world building. I hope the sequel is going well. I have to throw in: could we get some Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?