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Review: When you were mine by Rebecca Serle

When you were mine by Rebecca Serle
Published by Simon and Schuster



"What's in a name, Shakespeare? I'll tell you: everything.
"Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her--and when he finally does, it's perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose's best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn't even stand a chance.
Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet's instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob's heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends.

*** 

I really loved this book and the main character Rose.

Rose is meant to be with Rob. They've grown up together as best friends but lately things have started to change and it seems like their friendship is going to develop into something more. They've been on one almost perfect date and kissed and Rose is just waiting for Rob is ask her to be his girlfriend. That is until Juliet arrives.

Juliet is Rose's cousin whom she hasn't seen in 10 years. She sweeps in and takes Rob from Rose before Rose even realises what is happening. As you can imagination Rose is angry and devastated at the same time and doesn't know what she should be doing next. How should you react when the boy you are meant to be with suddenly isn't yours anymore/

Without spoiling the story I'll say that I really enjoyed seeing how this book played out for several different reasons.

I really loved the relationship between Rose and her best friends Charlie and Olivia. They have the kind of friendship I longed for as a teen where they depend on one another completely and are there for one another no matter what.

I loved how the author really made you root for Rob and Rose as a couple which made it all the more heartbreaking when things went wrong between the two of them as soon as Juliet arrived on the scene. I was rooting for them so badly that it made me want to stab Juliet and her man-stealing ways and give Rob a good slap to teach him to think with his brain and not his trousers

Once Rob and Juliet the story twists slightly as you see how Rose goes about living her life without him and as you get to see her question whether she was meant to be with him. The addition of a character who was very much secondary at the start of the book into her life and the change you see in him now that Rose isn't blinded by Rob is really interesting to see

The ending is but devastating and uplifting at the same time which I thought was really unusual and not something I saw coming.

All in all a book I really enjoyed and not at all like I expected it would be.

Comments

I did like Rose, although not so much her friends, and I was so disappointed that Rob just through her over. I did like that Rose wasn't completely ruined by it, that she chose not to play dirty to get him back. Despite knowing this was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the end still surprised me.
serendipity_viv said…
I shall look out for this one.
Jess said…
I loved this book! Glad to see you enjoyed it too :)
TheBookMogul said…
I saw this when I was putting stock at out my work the other day and I thought I might like it. I am going to have to have a look at it.