Stacey Jay

This book is a wonderful take on the old Romeo and Juliet story with a great paranormal/supernatural twist.

The story takes place in modern times, and while I was thinking maybe it would be a knock off of R & J, I soon realized that it really wasn't. Romeo and Juliet are both in the story in modern times and while it technically isn't them it is their souls and it makes for a wonderful read. I was a little confused at first and would love more of a look at the Mercenaries and the Ambassador's, but everything was pretty cut and dry in the explanation of both entities.
I wasn't too happy with the ending of the book and would love to see this made into a series, as I would love to go a little farther with Juliet's ending and I NEED to know what goes on with Romeo...
All in all this is a book I am happy to keep on my e-reader and read again.… (más)

I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought it hinted a bit too much of Chess in the Downside Ghost series, and while I'm giving the author the benefit of the doubt for now, at times the similarity is a bit grating.

Minor Spoilers
Also---here comes another love triangle. Really? There is so much material in this world to explore, I just don't understand the need to throw this in there.

Plus, the whole mary sue aspect of two super hot guys pining over a seldom bathed borderline alcoholic is hard to swallow.

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the darker side of the world the book took and despite a few 1st in a series rough spots, think this series has the potential to become an 'auto-buy'.

I am on to book two, thanks to a road trip and hope for more goodness.

This book gets a B

… (más)

Note: this is more of a 4.5. I'll say this much, for a book about true love, soul-mates and finding 'The One' it really only accomplished one thing--I'm terrified of anyone who says that we have a forever kind of love. Seriously, either way you look at it (in the book at least) its a horrifying prospect.

To explain, everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet right? Young lovers, bitter enemies, dead cousins, secret weddings, poison and daggers cut short their lives (of woe). Well! Apparently in reality Romeo was a devious, manipulative creep who wanted life eternal (and was stupid enough to trust some shady folks to give it to him at their word) and Juliet was a naive, innocent who truly was Italian in all ways (deep love turned to deep hatred--Italians do nothing in half measures). So now the two are working for opposing sides (the 'Mercenaries' and 'Ambassadors') and either helping true lovers remain eternal or dashing their pretty hopes in a sea of jealousy, hatred and murder.

With me so far?

It only gets better from there.

Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, was never one of my favorites of his plays. I've always learned towards Twelfth Night or Taming of the Shrew. Always thought there was something faintly...disturbing about the young lovers sacrificing everything. So for me this fit my view on things perfectly. Juliet is bitter, cynical and reluctant to help true love when it did her so wrong. Romeo is is a selfish, conceited malcontent who's more than half crazy and delusional to boot. Their interactions are intriguing to say the least. In their own ways they're both insane, both liars and opportunists.

I liked the fact that Jay makes the characters just a bit sociopathic and mercenary. With perhaps he exception of Ben (who is about as close to perfect as you can get honestly), everyone else works hard to further their own agendas. Juliet, who is our primary narrator save for the few times Romeo does during the 'Intermezzos', admits that her views may have been skewed. She acknowledges that despite everything she's done as 'Nurse' has told her because it was easier. The epiphanies she has at the end--and they come one on top of the other practically--are thought-provoking. Did she view Gemma fairly? Was Romeo truly trying to redeem himself? Was she really helping because it was the right thing to do or because it was the simplest thing to do?

My only complaint is with the confusing ending. Jay starts discussing 'what ifs' and she kind of lost me, which is unfortunate because its important to the ending to understand where she was going. Not just for Juliet, but for Romeo as well. If that last bit with Romeo at the very end wasn't included, I think I would have understood better. As it is, the last few lines (and implication behind them) muddied the water. It left me wondering 'So...who exactly is on the wrong side again?'… (más)

It took me a little while to read this. I'm used to Jay's wry humor in her Megan Berry books (You are so Undead to Me and Undead Much?) or her satirical humor in My So-Called Death. So in other words I'm used to her Zombie humor. The Locket is a completely different horse. Jay's wit is evident--Katie is nothing if not a quick thinker--but it just didn't grab me the same way.

Everybody has mistakes they wish they could undo, so when Katie gets the ability to she jumps at the chance. Who thinks of consequences right? Whatever went wrong, fixing that mistake, things must end better right? These are the sort of questions Katie grapples with. She goes back, makes things right...but nothing ends how she likes it. I'm the sort of person who obsesses over how if I had gone left instead of right, or hung out with this friend instead of that one, would that have changed things?

This was a fairly easy book to figure out, there wasn't any tension or gripping surprises. I wouldn't necessarily say that it was completely predictable--some of the ripples from Katie's alteration to the time line surprised me certainly--but the end result was what I thought it would be. Look at it this way, she kissed Mitch for a reason. Undoing that doesn't mean that the underlying reason went away.

Jay does raise the question of whether just because you can change something, does it mean you should? Slipping back and forth in time isn't a piece of cake for Katie--the Locket kind of just drags her around in that regard--so there are times when Katie can make a decision to change something, but doesn't. Or her new decision is even worse then the old one.

Regardless this was an enjoyable and quick read, Jay's writing style appeals to me because its light and witty, not angst-ridden and prosy. Her books also highlight teenagers who aren't perfect, but who try to improve themselves and be a better person. By anyone's reckoning I think that's a win for Young Adult novels.… (más)