Review: Juliet Immortal

Juliet Immortal
by Stacey Jay
Published August 2011
304 pages




Description from Goodreads:


The most tragic love story in history . . .


Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

Review

I didn’t know what to expect from this book. Usually before starting a book I have a pretty good idea of the plot and tend to read other’s reviews but with Juliet Immortal I just glanced at the back before reading. Almost immediately I was swept into Juliet’s story. I can’t say enough good things about the author’s writing style it allowed me to connect with Juliet from the very first page and honestly I may have put the book down once only to find myself running back to it, I just had to know if Juliet found her happy ending. The retelling of Romeo and Juliet’s story was brilliant and truly original. There were no tragic lovers in this story instead Romeo led Juliet to her death for the promise of immortality by a group called the Mercenaries. Juliet was offered a chance to thwart Romeo by becoming an Ambassador. As an Ambassador Juliet battles Romeo for the life of soul mates throughout time.

The story begins with Juliet entering the body of teenager Ariel. In her quest to save soul mates from Romeo she meets Ben. Will Juliet finally find true love? I could really feel Juliet’s anguish and her need for revenge throughout the story. Her emotions were so raw everything from her hatred and her desire to love and to be loved all of these feelings were clearly conveyed to the reader. I spilled more than a few tears throughout this story. With each new body she enters her hatred for Romeo grows as she tries to stop him from making one lover take the life of another. Romeo oh Romeo….you can’t help but hate him through most of the story as he is selfish and destructive with little to no redeeming qualities. By the end of the story I didn’t quite like him but I had hope that he could be something better.


Ben was so charming and a perfect match for Juliet. Juliet struggled with her need to be loved for her real self and not the body she was occupying. From her first encounter with Ben she felt that he was seeing Juliet and not Ariel. I loved their chemistry. Everything was so intense between them but it never felt forced. I have to admit I was kind of hoping in the beginning of the story that Romeo would redeem himself for Juliet but I forgot all that after I met Ben :P  I wasn’t crazy about the ending but I think that is mostly because the story was so emotion filled and action packed that I was expecting a bigger bang but the ending was sweet. I did find Romeo’s new story to be intriguing. I am not sure if there will be future book about his new task?


So What's the Bottom Line?


Juliet Immortal was such a creative retelling of Romeo and Juliet and the character’s emotions made the story for me. The story ended up being a powerful love story reminding me of fairy tales where the battered princess overcomes all. If you like stories that add a twist to classic tales this one is definitely for you!

♥ ♥ ♥ = really liked it