WHEN YOU WERE... Romeo Montague's ex-GF
the REAL victim of Shakespeare's most famous play
Hello, friends! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and holiday. To kickstart the new year, I thought I’d do a quick review of a recent read. And by recent, I mean I only just finished it last night.
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle is a retelling of Shakespeare’s most famous work Romeo and Juliet through the eyes of the play’s most neglected character, Rosaline Capulet. Rosaline is Juliet’s cousin, and the girl Romeo is in love with at the beginning of the play. After he meets Juliet at the Capulet’s banquet, we literally never hear Rosaline’s name again.
This is mostly because Rosaline was never quite meant to be an actual character, functioning simply as the first push that sets events in motion. But as Serle asks in the introduction: Who was she? Did she love him back? And how did she fare being almost entirely forgotten, a sidenote in the greatest love story ever told?
I’ll cut to the chase. This book is good. Not blow-your-socks-off good. But good.
I’m not a die-hard fan of contemporary fiction, and I was certain that modernising the events of the original play, which takes place in 14–15th century Italy, to modern-day California was going to be a cringe-fest.
But Serle defied all odds and subverted expectations — with great success, I might add. Here’s why I think it works.
❛These violent delights have violent ends.❜ — Tackling an overdone plot
Rosaline “Rose” Caplet is a 17-year-old high school senior. She’s kind, intelligent, and plays the piano. Her parents are wise, loving, and supportive of her endeavours, and she and her friends Olivia and Charlie are tighter than bark on a tree. Simply put, Rosaline is smart, hot, and thriving in her lane.
Only thing is, she’s also in love with her best friend Rob (Romeo) Monteg. And as we know how the story of Romeo and Juliet goes, this does not end well for Rosaline — or anyone else, for that matter.
At first, Rob appears to be very into Rosaline, and they start dating. Kind of. But when her super-rich, drop-dead-gorgeous cousin Juliet returns to their hometown and sets her sights on Rob, Rosaline soon finds her world ripped apart by the very person she’s admired and treated like a sister since childhood.
If you think this sounds chick-flick-y, you’re right. In the introduction, Serle says she drew inspiration from beloved rom-coms such as Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, and She’s All That. Because of this, I went into this book expecting a lighthearted (slightly trashy) teenage romance, but very quickly realised that it is so much more!
Stupid borrowed last names aside (I mean, Caplet and Monteg? Yuck.), I never once felt like Serle was playing Connect The Dots. Thanks to her use of first-person present tense, my attention was fully on the characters the entire time. In fact, I was so immersed in Rosaline’s thoughts that I forgot I was reading a Romeo and Juliet story, and was shocked when the things that happened, happened.
Another thing that caught me off-guard was the COMEDY. Like, this book is hi-larious. The entire length of the story is blanketed by this unique brand of dry, tongue-in-cheek humour that never crosses into Slapstick territory. The characters all feel like real people you might have known from school, and Rosaline herself is likeable and empathetic without being a childish Mary Sue.
❛Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting, it is a most sharp sauce.❜ — Surprisingly tight writing
Speaking of childish, yes, they’re all in high school, and it is obvious — almost painfully so — in the narrative voice. The prose is constructed of broken-up sentences and a ton of speech fillers. BUT! it is all done very naturally, like Serle actually hung out with real-life teenagers of the 21st century instead of referring to Riverdale or Scream Queens for dialogue inspo (unlike other authors).
At the same time, it’s also important to remember that Rosaline is a teenager, so she’s obviously not going to talk or think like a white-collar worker trapped in a pre-lunch Zoom meeting with a boss she hates, and we shouldn’t expect otherwise.
I want to digress a little here to note that this might be one of the downsides of reading YA as older adults: We’re so used to a certain level of practicality and ‘adultness’ that we come to expect it of all characters, regardless of whether it makes sense for their ages, circumstance, and personalities.
For example, a headstrong or morally grey character isn’t suddenly going to be submissive and ‘do the right thing’ before any development has taken place. Yet, we’re always so bamboozled when they do something that deviates from what we deem ‘common sense’. I’m guilty of this sometimes, and IMO it’s so important to remember to read with awareness of space, people, and context.
Context matters so much.
That aside, Serle can definitely write. As mentioned, the sarcastic undertone and snarky quips made me laugh out loud several times, while heavier topics like grief and fate I feel are dealt with in a tasteful manner. But it is at the ending that she really flexes her skill.
The last few pages are basically a monologue about the lovers’ deaths, but Serle breaks down Rosaline’s grief in a way that is both poetic and palatable. Her message on dealing with the loss of a loved one, though a tad oversimplified, I believe will speak to a lot of people — even if they aren’t a teenage girl caught between two feuding families who’s had her boyfriend stolen by her cousin only for both of them to end up dead.
If I were to criticise anything, it would be that the basis for the family feud is, IMO, a little dumb, and doesn’t make Rob and Juliet’s romance feel ‘wrong’ like it’s supposed to. The ending also feels slightly rushed, resulting in a rather unsatisfying conclusion to the feud. Then again, does anyone really GAF about the parents? 😬
❛These times of woe afford no time to woo.❜ — Romeo is lowkey the villain
I’ve seen a couple of reviews bashing this book for painting Juliet as the bad guy in order for Rosaline to appear as the affable girl-next-door. I personally never got that vibe, and besides, Rosaline is the MAIN CHARACTER, guys — we’re meant to like her; we’re meant to see Juliet as the selfish girl who swooped in and stole her boyfriend.
So, I raise you a third perspective: Neither Rosaline nor Juliet is the bitch. The REAL villain here is Rob-slash-Romeo, because doing a complete 180 on a girl in the span of .4 seconds is such fuckboy behaviour.
Now, I’m not saying he deserves to DIE for it. It’s just that if it happened to me, I don’t think my best friends would let him walk away with all his extremities intact. But that’s a rant for my next issue. About how it’s Romeo’s fault, I mean. Not about detaching appendages from cheating bastards.
All in all, When You Were Mine is a super fun, no-bullshit ride that still shocked and entertained. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy but worthwhile read.
Oh yeah, it also got (loosely) adapted into a Hulu film that’s basically 15th-century Clueless, so I’ll defo be watching.
Read my 2022 Book Roundup 👉 Ranking All 38 Books I Read In 2022
Or check out previous issues!
“…so she’s obviously not going to talk or think like a white-collar worker trapped in a pre-lunch Zoom meeting with a boss she hates…” 😂 good rant on the importance of accurate voices.