I’m a simple girl, you tell me there’s an anthology of YA stories adapted from Shakespeare’s plays and I’ll read it. That Way Madness Lies doesn’t disappoint, it’s an excellent collection of stories that Shakespeare lovers will love and many of the stories work as a great introduction to Shakespeare’s works that reluctant teens may be wary of reading themselves. As with any anthology there were some winners and some losers, but mostly winners in this bunch!
Read my thoughts on all the stories in the collection below:
COMEDIES
“Severe Weather Warning” by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka – 3.5 stars: All Prosper wants to do is get her internship-stealing sister Patience to the airport on time, but a tornado warning, a surprise break-up, and sheltering in a cramped bathroom with her first kiss and a heart-broken boy threatens to get in the way of all of that. Aside from the storm and some character names, this didn’t have much to do with The Tempest, but I liked the voice of the characters so much that it didn’t really matter.
“Shipwrecked” by Mark Oshiro – 5 stars: It’s prom night and Antonio thinks this is the best opportunity to help his best friend Seb get with the popular Olivia, but Seb wants to help his twin Vi with Olivia, but Seb doesn’t even like Olivia, he likes someone else. What could possibly go wrong? “Shipwrecked” perfectly got the feel of Twelfth Night, the humour, the mistaken identities, the love and queerness. Beautiful, my favourite story so far!
“Taming of the Soul Mate” by K. Ancrum – 3.5 stars: Katherine is goes to her sister Bianca’s secret engagement party when suddenly her grey world becomes filled with colour, as it literally does when someone finds her soulmate. But Katherine doesn’t want a soulmate and is very annoyed at the inconvenience of it happening now. This story had promise, and it gets the vibes of The Taming of the Shrew‘s characters perfectly. But the world of the story is a confusing concept that may have worked better in a longer novel but not so much in a short story.
“King of the Fairies” by Anna Marie McLemore – 3 stars: Titania and Oberon’s changeling child dislikes how she is darker from the other faeries, until she meets another with the same skin as hers. I thought the idea behind this was good, and it was nice to see some focus given to the changeling child that, though briefly mentioned, drove the plot in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I’ve never been big on fairies, so this wasn’t my favourite but I know some people will love this.
“We Have Seen Better Days” by Lily Anderson – 2 stars: Rosie, Cece, and Lando return to Camp Arden to find Duke, Rosie’s dad, and bring him back to the real world. I’ve never read As You Like It so I really didn’t understand the connections with this one. None of the characters were especially memorable and neither was the story.
“Some Other Metal” by A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy – 4 stars: The Ods Bodkins, the galaxies renowned Shakespearean acting troupe, have just finished their run of Much Ado About Nothing. Taron and Tegan, who played Benedick and Beatrice, have discovered their troupe put them in these roles in the hopes of setting them up together. Outraged, the two actors plan revenge, but what if there are some romantic feelings there? I really enjoyed the world of this sci fi world of this story, the characters, and the metaness of the characters in the story to the characters they played.
“I Bleed” by Dahlia Adler – 5 stars: Bas wants to take out the popular Persia, but he needs money to do it. His friend Tony suggests going to Shai, the Jewish boy he torments, because of course Jews have money. Shai agrees to lend the money, as long as Tony agrees to give him the tattoo on his right arm if he doesn’t pay up. This was such a masterful adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, easily my favourite in the collection. It’s a difficult one, Adler tackles antisemitism head on to really show the issues with Shakespeare’s Problem Comedy.
SONNET
“His Invention” by Brittany Cavallaro – 5 stars: Sophie and Michael, newly dating, are going on a trip to California when Sophie begins mysteriously bleeding from her mouth. This was an excellent, literary, a touch surreal, and layered. Based on Sonnet 147, the story definitely gets the darker aspects of love that seems sweet. I was skeptical of a story based on a sonnet, but this was brilliant!
TRAGEDIES
“Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow” by Kiersten White – 5 stars: Romeo and Juliet in group chat, can it get any better than that? White did an absolutely beautiful job modernizing this classic, and it was so funny! A weird thing to say for a tragedy, but it just made the ending all the more sad. Absolutely brilliant!
“Dreaming of the Dark” by Lindsay Smith – 4 stars: Julia is dead, and Cassie, Briony, and the rest of their coven believe her sacrifice is enough to earn the Dark’s favour. But Anamaria is angry and suspicious at the strange way Julia died, but she isn’t about to ignore a chance of answering to the Dark either. Julius Caesar meets The Craft in this dark and twisty retelling. I loved the vibe of this and never would have thought Julius Caesar and witchcraft would work so well, but here we are!
“The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History” by Tochi Onyebuchi – 4 stars: Popular rapper Corey Lanez has died, and those who loved him will tell his story. I’ve never read Coriolanus, I’ve heard good things about it (especially the production with Tom Hiddleston). Still, I enjoyed this retelling of it. It felt like I was reading a podcast transcript which made it more modern. The format kept me hooked!
“Out of the Storm” by Joy McCullough – 5 stars: Gabi and Cora wait for their sister Rowan to come to their dying father’s bedside to sign the papers that will remove him from life-support. This was an excellent retelling of King Lear, I liked that it was written as a script and how differently McCullough wrote these characters. I wish this story was longer and that we learned a little more though, I loved this!
“Elsinore” by Patrice Caldwell – 5 stars: HAMLET AND VAMPIRES, EVERYTHING I LOVE IN ONE PERFECT STORY! I love that Caldwell chose to tell this as an epistolatory story like Dracula and how she perfectly melded two different stories.
“We Fail” by Samantha Mabry – 4 stars: After a miscarriage and a car accident that ends in tragedy, Drea and Mateo are drifting further and further apart. But Drea knows what’s best for Mateo, she knows how to lift him up and let his light shine, if only he could see it that way. Mabry’s adaptation of Macbeth was an interesting one, I particularly liked the theme of grief and how too much tragedy can effect people’s psyches.
LATE ROMANCE
“Lost Girl” by Melissa Bashardoust – 3.5 stars: Everything in Perdita’s life seems to be going well, she’s in the school she’s always wanted to study in and is in a happy relationship with Zal, but when her Aunt Polina reveals a long hidden truth about her parents, she doesn’t know how to handle it or if she’s worthy of Zal’s love anymore. I’ve never read A Winter’s Tale, I’ve heard it’s a strange one, I know about the bear. Still, I loved the characters in this one and would love to read more from this author.
Publication: March 16th 2021
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: (eBook)
Source: Libby
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Anthology, Retelling, Shakespeare
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
Fifteen acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics!
West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings!
Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).
Sarah O'Connor 