I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Midsummer Night #nofilter by Brett Wright, William Shakespeare
Series: OMG Shakespeare
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on January 5, 2016
Pages: 112
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of the greatest stories ever told . . . in texts?!

Imagine: What if the fairies and star-crossed lovers of the forest had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this fun and funny adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays!

Four lovers who can’t decide who they have a crush on.
One mischievous fairy with a love potion.
Total chaos in the fairy world, the human world, and everywhere in between!

and h8. The classics just got a whole lot more interesting. ;)

tl;dr A Shakespeare play told through its characters texting with emojis, posting photos, checking in at locations, and updating their relationship statuses. The perfect gift for hip theater lovers and teens.

A glossary and cast of characters are included for those who need it. For example: tl;dr means too long; didn’t read.

I’ve always been fascinated by Shakespeare’s plays. But, like many, I find them confusing and hard to understand. I’ve taken classes on Shakespeare, purchased “Shakespeare for Dummies,” Googled translations and even watched the movies. But I still have a hard time grasping the language. A Midsummer Night’s Dream happens to be one Shakespeare play that I DIDN’T read in school. And I never got to it on my own, though I own it! But I’ve read and watched adaptions, retellings, etc and I know the basic premise – which made me SUPER excited to read this book!

I found myself reading A Midsummer Night #nofilter more carefully than the other three books in the OMG Shakespeare series – again, because I haven’t read the actual play and was more intrigued and curious for this one than the others. I was also able to follow who the characters were in this one, better than I was with the other three, because I’ve read so many adaptions and retellings – Also, because I LOVE faeries, so I had no issues remembering who Titania, Oberon and Puck were, especially! Knowing who the characters were went a long way in keeping any confusion at bay!

I also found the hashtags in A Midsummer Night #nofilter to be completely hilarious. I mean, all of the OMG Shakespeare books have been hilarious – how could they not be?!?! – but the hashtags were ESPECIALLY funny in this one!

Overall, this was definitely my favorite of the OMG Shakespeare books – for so many reasons! Between being the most excited for this play and better following who the characters were, I was able to pay more attention to the story itself. That made it incredibly enjoyable! And, honestly, it’s kind of inspired me to read the actual play now!!!

Whether you want to learn Shakespeare or teach Shakespeare, I highly recommend this book. You’ll never view Macbeth in the same way, ever again! And you’ll (actually) enjoy reading it!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

YOLO Juliet by Brett Wright, William Shakespeare
Series: OMG Shakespeare
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on May 26, 2015
Pages: 112
Format: Hardcover
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Romeo and Juliet, one of the greatest love stories ever told . . . in texts?!

Imagine: What if those star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this fun and funny adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays!

Two families at war.
A boy and a girl in love.
A secret marriage gone oh-so-wrong.

and h8. The classics just got a whole lot more interesting. ;)

tl;dr A Shakespeare play told through its characters texting with emojis, checking in at certain locations, and updating their relationship statuses. The perfect gift for hip theater lovers and teens.

A glossary and cast of characters are included for those who need it. For example: tl;dr means too long; didn’t read.

I’ve always been fascinated by Shakespeare’s plays. But, like many, I find them confusing and hard to understand. I’ve taken classes on Shakespeare, purchased “Shakespeare for Dummies,” Googled translations and even watched the movies. But I still have a hard time grasping the language. And Romeo & Juliet is by far one of the most well-known of Shakespeare’s plays. There are so many retellings and adaptions based off it – not to mention the fact that the concept of “star-crossed lovers” pretty much originated with Romeo & Juliet and can now be found all over the place in books, movies/TV shows and plays.

With that said, YOLO Juliet was hilarious and entertaining. I sped through it in roughly an hour and a half. It took something complex and broke it down into an easy-to-understand language that teens today will be able to connect with. It made Romeo & Juliet fun to read, even with the tragic events that take place in the play. My brother teaches English and he definitely wants to add these to his classroom library – something I think every teacher should do! It will make teens WANT to read the classics because they’ll be entertained and amused, rather than bored and confused.

Also, can we talk about how hilarious and ironic that title is, considering how the play ends?

So, whether you want to learn Shakespeare or teach Shakespeare, I highly recommend this book. You’ll never view Romeo & Juliet in the same way, ever again! And you’ll enjoy reading it!