Review of : The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper


Page Count(Hardcover Edition): 402 pgs.
Publisher: Greenwillow books, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Released: May 27th, 2008
Genre: Young Adult Romance
My Rating: 4/5
Date Started: June 25th, 2012
Date Finished: June 28th,  2012
Source: Library


Synopsis:

Italy . . . Shakespeare . . . but no romance?

Kate Sanderson inherited her good sense from her mother, a disciplined law professor, and her admiration for the Bard from her father, a passionate Shakespeare scholar. When she gets dumped, out of the blue, for the Practically Perfect Ashley Lawson, she vows never to fall in love again. From now on she will control her own destiny, and every decision she makes will be highly reasoned and rational. She thinks Shakespeare would have approved.

So when she is accepted to a summer Shakespeare symposium in Verona, Italy, Kate sees it as the ideal way to get over her heartbreak once and for all. She'll lose herself in her studies, explore ancient architecture, and eat plenty of pasta and gelato. (Plus, she'll be getting college credit for it--another goal accomplished ) But can even completely logical Kate resist the romance of living in a beautiful villa in the city where those star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet met and died for each other? Especially when the other Shakespeare Scholars--in particular Giacomo, with his tousled brown hair, expressive dark eyes, and charming ways--try hard to break her protective shell?

"In fair Verona, where we lay our scene . . . "
(from Goodreads)


Wow. I really, really liked this book. For one, I love YA romance, so it was a definite plus for me. This is a book that I could read many times more in the future. I think I truly enjoyed reading it because it had two things : A fun and playful mood of Italy and also the undercurrent of the real life Romeo and Juliet. Those two combined made this a favorite in my collection.

Let me talk about the characters a bit. The two that I enjoyed the most, of course, were Giacomo and Kate. I mean, you can't really dislike main characters unless it's a badly written book. The side characters, like Lucy and Benno, also had their part in the story. Tom, Silvia, Lucy and Benno all contributed and made the story knit tight. They all had their own certain flair that the story would have been missing if one wasn't there.


The story line was very cute and quite amazing. As I delved deeper into the book, I found development of characters and emotion. Kate changed into happy, in love and kind. Giacomo  learned his lesson and finally saw that love was right in front of him.


I loved the ending and thought it fit perfectly with the rest of the book. The Authors Note at the end was surprising because I didn't think that The Juliet Club actually existed. Here's what is says: 


The Juliet club (or II Club di Giulietta, as it's known in Italy) was founded in Verona in 1972. Since then, the club has received thousands of letters every year from people of all ages around the world. The letters, which are all answered by volunteers, usually ask for love advice. Sometimes, they simply tell the letter writers own love story. To learn more about the Juliet Club, visit the Website at www.julietclub.com.
If you'd like to write to Juliet, send your letter to:

Club di Giulietta

Via Galilei, 3

1-37133 Verona

Italy

I'm thinking of sending my own love letter.. haha :)

The Juliet Club was a very good read, and I recommend it to anybody who reads this review!