Review: Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

August 9, 2011

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Synopsis:
The most tragic love story in history . . .
Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

My Review:
I am a huge fan of Stacey Jay's other books so when I found out about Juliet Immortal, I was ecstatic!! I love the play Romeo and Juliet so I was eager to see where Jay would go with her book. Juliet Immortal ended up rocking my world. It is a gorgeous and conflicted novel in which Romeo is the very bad, very wicked bad guy and Juliet wasn't a damsel in distress!  I think I like this novel more than the actual play because it puts women in a better light and it was much more complicated and entertaining! I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Juliet is a very tortured girl whose life was ruined all because of Romeo and his selfishness. She thought that he loved her and that they would be together forever, but boy was she wrong. Romeo betrayed her and she is out to get revenge on him by helping soul mates end up together and working for the good side, the Ambassadors. Romeo on the other hand, works for the Mercenaries and his job is to get soul mates to turn against one another and kill the other soul mate. Both of them have their work cut out for them in Juliet Immortal when everything changes and they learn some things that make them question what they though they knew.

I have to say that Juliet was a fantastic protagonist. She doesn't claim to be something that she is not and will do whatever it takes to get the soul mates together forever. She goes to extremes and is even willing to sacrifice her happiness for those who may not deserve it. I did get a bit frustrated at her at times for making excuses for Ariel's (whose body her soul has taken refuge in to get a set of soul mates together) best friend Gemma. She was an awful person who had absolutely zero redeeming qualities going for her.

And then there was Romeo. He was so twisted and disgusting. Definitely not the Romeo that Shakespeare created. He is absolutely obsessed with Juliet and does so many crazy and awful things to her. But then there were also times where I wanted to cry for him. I could see that he was tortured and I was so confused about who he really was. I definitely gained a new perspective on Romeo.

My absolute favorite character in Juliet Immortal was Ben. He and Juliet's first meeting makes quite the impression! I was laughing so hard and freaking out at the same time during that scene!! The more I got to know Ben, the more I respected and came to care for him like Juliet. He isn't afraid to go after what he wants and I admire him for that. It doesn't hurt that he reminds me of the guys from Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry trilogy!

I had such a great time reading Juliet Immortal and I devoured the novel in less than 24 hours. Juliet Immortal is a highly addicting read that will leave you wanting more from Jay's creative world!

My Rating: