- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Merit Press (December 18, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1440552649
- ISBN-13: 978-1440552649
- Source: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
- Rating: 4.5/5
The Blurb:
After a mistake with big financial consequences topples her throne, former it girl" Miranda Prospero is bitter: she finds herself stranded in a crazed new world, holding court among geeks and misfits at a mall Hot Dog Kabob stand. Then, she gets her chance for revenge. When the storm of the decade snows in the mall workers and last-minute shopaholics for a long winter's night, Miranda sets out to get back at the catty clique who was behind her exile. But there's a complication. She somehow gets handcuffed to sullen loner Caleb. With him (literally) bound to her side, Miranda learns more in one night about her own heart, and human nature, than she ever did as prep royalty. With this twisted take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes prove again that, from Juliet's grief to Cordelia's rage, no one knew about teen angst better than the Bard. His wisdom holds up nearly half a millennium later.
The Review:
This is a great retelling of one of Shakespeare's greats. If you enjoy Shakespeare and modern takes on them, then you'll certainly like this book. It's a quick read too.
I love how Kim and Amy create this great little world for Miranda. The character development is great and you really get to know her. I also loved how they developed the relationship between Miranda and Caleb. When I read a book it is really about the characters and the arcs that they go through. I feel that Kim and Amy did a great job developing the different characters in the story.
I was personally a fan of Shakespeare growing up- I know, I'm weird. But I think that these modern retellings help to give the current generations that may not have a taste for Dear William a chance to get to know his works and the concepts behind them. With the A Twisted Lit Novel Series, I think these two authors are really helping with that.
This is a great book for those that are testing the waters of Shakespeare, of those that enjoy a good retelling, and YA lovers.
This is a great retelling of one of Shakespeare's greats. If you enjoy Shakespeare and modern takes on them, then you'll certainly like this book. It's a quick read too.
I love how Kim and Amy create this great little world for Miranda. The character development is great and you really get to know her. I also loved how they developed the relationship between Miranda and Caleb. When I read a book it is really about the characters and the arcs that they go through. I feel that Kim and Amy did a great job developing the different characters in the story.
I was personally a fan of Shakespeare growing up- I know, I'm weird. But I think that these modern retellings help to give the current generations that may not have a taste for Dear William a chance to get to know his works and the concepts behind them. With the A Twisted Lit Novel Series, I think these two authors are really helping with that.
This is a great book for those that are testing the waters of Shakespeare, of those that enjoy a good retelling, and YA lovers.
- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Merit Press (January 18, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1440552614
- ISBN-13: 978-1440552618
- Source: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
- Rating: 4/5
The Blurb:
Double, double, toil, and trouble! The quest for high-school royalty can turn deadly when teen ambition outstrips reason. Skye Kingston is a shy shutterbug who prefers observing life from behind her camera lens. She doesn't know she's stunning, and comes off the sidelines only when she's forced to by the terrifying events of one treacherous school year in Alaska. A boy named Duncan is dead, and his death may or may not be an accident. Skye's three new best friends are eerily able to foretell the future, and cheerleader Beth might be more than a social climber--she quite probably is a sociopath. Then there's Skye's growing attraction to the school hottie, Craig, The Boy Who Would Be Prom King. But their time is crossed by fate. There's already been one death, and who can say if it's only the first? As Skye falls for Craig, she also slowly realizes that he is caught in the crosshairs of a deadly plot. Can she save Craig and herself from a murderous fate? Exposure is not only a modern take on the classic Macbeth, it's proof that nothing has changed since Shakespeare riffed on the subject nearly half a millennium ago: the quest for power can lead to bloodstained hands.
The Review:
The second book in the A Twisted Lit Novel Series doesn't fall too far behind the first one. Amy and Kim really know how to take a beautiful work of art and redo it- keeping the mastery.
Unlike the first one that dealt with Shakespeare's Tempest, this time we get to experience Macbeth in a new light (I'm a fan of that story in particular). Once again they have managed to take something that is very specific in language, timing, and morals and modernize it.
They breathe life into their characters and story. And they make them believable. I mean, they could totally happen in real life. This time around we get to know Skye and Craig. This book is full of intrigue and mystery. It's a great read for those that love a good character arc. Kim and Amy do a great job at creating their characters.
If you love a good retelling of a great story like Macbeth, then you'll want to check this out. Seeing that these girls took on such a hard play in the first place, it definitely needs to be read. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
The second book in the A Twisted Lit Novel Series doesn't fall too far behind the first one. Amy and Kim really know how to take a beautiful work of art and redo it- keeping the mastery.
Unlike the first one that dealt with Shakespeare's Tempest, this time we get to experience Macbeth in a new light (I'm a fan of that story in particular). Once again they have managed to take something that is very specific in language, timing, and morals and modernize it.
They breathe life into their characters and story. And they make them believable. I mean, they could totally happen in real life. This time around we get to know Skye and Craig. This book is full of intrigue and mystery. It's a great read for those that love a good character arc. Kim and Amy do a great job at creating their characters.
If you love a good retelling of a great story like Macbeth, then you'll want to check this out. Seeing that these girls took on such a hard play in the first place, it definitely needs to be read. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
About the Authors
Kim has been in love with Shakespeare's plays since middle school (and she's even dated several Hamlet-types). Her mom is thrilled that Kim is finally putting her BA in Renaissance Lit to good use.
A contributor to the anthology The May Queen, Kim's writing has appeared in literary journals and other publications, including the SoMa Literary Review, Kitchen Sink, and Elle Magazine. She is currently working on her Master's thesis on Henry James at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles. With her friend and Twisted Lit series co-author Amy, she writes the popular blog about book-to-film adaptations, Romancing the Tome.
A contributor to the anthology The May Queen, Kim's writing has appeared in literary journals and other publications, including the SoMa Literary Review, Kitchen Sink, and Elle Magazine. She is currently working on her Master's thesis on Henry James at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles. With her friend and Twisted Lit series co-author Amy, she writes the popular blog about book-to-film adaptations, Romancing the Tome.
Amy Helmes co-authored "Exposure" and "Tempestuous," the first two in a series of Shakespeare-inspired YA novels known as "Twisted Lit." She's also written a compendium of tongue-in-cheek dating guides including the pseudo-scientific tome "Boys of a Feather: A Field Guide to North American Males." Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Amy graduated from Xavier University before migrating to Los Angeles. In 2004, she competed against record-setting champion Ken Jennings on the trivia quiz show "Jeopardy." (No surprise, she lost.) She obsesses over classic literature (and film adaptions thereof) at her blog, "Romancing the Tome," and dishes on love triangles and evil twins as news editor for the nationally published Soaps In Depth magazine.
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