Reputation by Lex Croucher

Reputation by Lex Croucher

Lex Croucher’s YA look at cliquiness and social mores mixes the modern sensibility of an episode of Bridgerton with the fancy parties and social hobnobbing one expects… from an episode of Bridgerton and throws some Mean Girls in on top. Reputation is definitely not period accurate, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t find it…

Always Jane by Jenn Bennett

Always Jane by Jenn Bennett

Always Jane is about the daughter of a chauffeur who suddenly finds herself at the center of a love tangle.  It’s a spirited, modern spin on the Audrey Hepburn classic Sabrina. The sons of a rock music producer, himbo Eddie Sarafin and his more level-headed, brooding brother Fen have been vaguely aware of Jane  Marlow…

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe and Jessica Spotswood

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe and Jessica Spotswood

With apologies to Paul Simon, it seems there are 50 million ways to rewrite Little Women. I’ve seen modern adaptions that switch the book’s setting and time period; versions that give us a living Beth or a Jo/Laurie union.  Versions where the Marches are vampires or werewolves, or just plain horny.  The four folks taking…

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

Romeo and Juliet – but in space, with the addition of some Wuthering Heights thrown on top of the pile.  That’s the theme of Kathryn Barker’s Waking Romeo, which plays with and modernizes the play’s tropes.  It’s dizzying, it’s messy, but it’s nonetheless compelling because it’s fun and inventive.  Overall, the book will likely please…

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

I have been blown away.  Chloe Gong set a high bar with These Violent Delights, a 1920s fantasy version of Romeo and Juliet which transports the story’s action to Shanghai.  Our Violent Ends is the first book’s equal.  Gong’s talent remains unstinting.  You need to read this book. It’s now 1927, and Juliette Cai is…

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