[Review] When You Were Mine - Rebecca Serle

Title of Book : When You Were Mine
Author : Rebecca Serle
Publisher : Simon Pulse

Rosie knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. They are best friends, next door neighbors, and the soon-to-be cutest couple in their senior class. Rosie has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect.

But just before their relationship becomes completely official, Rosie’s cousin Juliet moves back into town. Juliet, who used to be Rosie’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. 

Rosie 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, Rosie 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’ve never heard of this book until pulseit.com provided it for free, for a limited time though. But I finish this in one sitting so it’s a pretty quick read. I was hooked by this book because of the blurb. When You Were Mine retells Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet from another point of view with a little twist. Actually I’ve never read Romeo and Juliet (but I’ve been meaning to) so all I know is there’s Romeo, there’s Juliet, they love each other but their families hate each other, they die, the end. I didn’t even know anything about Romeo’s ex, Rosaline. Anyway, I know now and this book is written from her point of view.

Since the blurb sounds promising, I had high expectations from this book. Maybe I set the bar too high because I think this book is not great, but okay. The conflict in this book is intriguing, but this is a young adult book, which means that the main characters are high school student/ teenagers. In my opinion, Romeo and Juliet love story is a serious tragic love story. How could a teenager be so sure that she’s found the love of her life? What I’m saying is, the story comes out like it’s just a typical teenage high school romance and Rosie just happens to have the same name as the characters of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet so she tries to dramatize her love life.

Despite of that, I did enjoy reading this. Sometimes, Serle could make me sympathize with Rosie. She also creates this adorable boy named Len. I do like some metaphoric words that are used to connect Rosie’s story to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet too. Yet, I’d rather see this book as a contemporary YA book, not a Romeo and Juliet retelling book. I actually love the idea of seeing the story of Romeo and Juliet from Romeo’s ex perspective. Maybe if the author wants to make it work, she needs to do some alteration, adjust it with modern life. 

I’m not sure if I would recommend this book. But it’s a quick read. So, if you’re intrigued by the premise, you probably want to read this book. probably.