#mercutio and benvolio deserved better

[lou-wilham]

There is nothing better than a cheese tour through time and space except. . .

It's cover reveal day for @ellebeaumontbooks & I's first co-author project Benvolio & Mercutio Turn Back time!

BLURB:

Verona has 99 problems—including a time machine.

All Benvolio has ever desired is a peaceful life alongside his spirited—albeit quarrelsome—roommate, Mercutio. But as the story goes, the course of true love never did run smooth, and when tensions between the Montagues and the Capulets reach a boiling point, Benvolio and Mercutio are dragged into the mess Romeo makes of all their lives.

Then an older version of Benvolio crashes into their lives, offering the opportunity to change fate, Mercutio does as he always does—seizes the chance. There's just one problem: no deal is without strings, and this one involves a deadly secret that Mercutio is determined to take to the grave.

What follows is a lively adventure through the ages, replete with love and heartache. Amidst the chaos, this inseparable duo will unravel the true depth of their friendship.

A riotous romp of a retelling of Romeo & Juliet. Side effects of reading may contain laughter, heartache, and a need for more. This light, sci-fi fantasy is the perfect shelf companion to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian, Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall, and The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles.

Publication day: July 31, 2024

Genre: Adult Sci-fi Fantasy Romcom

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, time travel, retelling, and they were roommates, deal with the devil

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/bmturnbacktime

Pre-order a Copy w/ a signed bookplate: https://forms.gle/qtTcP2Tgh6Vfbw3u8

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193907562-benvolio-and-mercutio-turn-back-time

Cover Artist Credit: @oblivionsdream

Tag for: @jokeringcutio

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

This makes me incredibly angry.

[ID: Screenshots of a Facebook post from user Advocatus Peregrini, which reads:

I was conversing with a fully-grown adult a few days ago, born and educated in the USA, who let this little gem drop:

"Well, it's like Shakespeare said, "Love conquers all!""

I pointed out that Shakespeare never said that, Virgil did, (Eclogues X) and Chaucer after him (Canterbury Tales.)

She said, "Oh I'm sure Shakespeare said that. In Romeo and Juliet!"

I sighed. I've been in that play several times, in different roles, and even directed it. That text does not occur in it.

But the real grind-my-teeth moment here was that if Romeo and Juliet can be said to have a message, it is most certainly not "Love conquers all," seeing as the lovers die by their own hands with a trail of their friends and relations' corpses in their wake.

Neither this fact, nor the fact that I knew the play, nor my explanation that Virgil and Chaucer used the phrase long before Shakespeare's birth dented her determination that "Love conquers all" came from Shakespeare.

"You don't know ALL the versions!" she protested.

All the versions?

Alternative Bard?

With every instinct screaming at me to let the matter drop, warning me that some horror that will not soon be absent from my nightmares waited around the next corner of this conversation. I pressed on.

It was a decision I was soon to regret.

I asked when she had first read "Romeo and Juliet." She said she had only read it once, when she was in Junior High. In the version she was taught, Romeo and Juliet survive, are reconciled with their parents, and are married in the church with their friends Mercutio and Tybalt arm in arm in the wedding party.

"Help me into some house, Benvolio, or I shall faint."

It turned out that her school had their own "version" of Romeo and Juliet, with an "uplifting" ending. This was printed and distributed by a religious education publisher. And it was the only version of the story that she had ever read. Of course she had HEARD other people say that the story was a tragedy, but she just assumed they were wrong.

And she did not see why MY version of Shakespeare should be considered better than HER Shakespeare, which, after all, had a much more wholesome ending.

I explained, in vain, that "my" version is definitive because Shakespeare actually wrote it (quiet, you Oxfordians. Don't make me stop this car) and the message of the play - that when adult stubbornness meets youthful impulsiveness tragedy ensues - is lost in the ersatz, happy-clappy ending.

She said the ending that had been Frankensteined onto Shakespeare's play by the "Christian Education" publisher was better than the original ending, "if the ending is as sad as you say it is."

At this point, I concluded that this was a person who deserved to go through the rest of her life "...safest in shame! being fool'd, by foolery thrive!" I bid her adieu.

After the conversation, I wondered, darkly, if that was to be the fate of Shakespeare, and all other literature if the happy-clappy people get their way - as harmless and "uplifiting" as a cheerleader's chant.

I wondered what these bowdlerizers would do with "Hamlet?" or worse, "Titus Andronicus" or "MacB-" Nothing wholesome, I'm sure. Oh, that's right, what they can't appropriate, they ban. Or burn.

In trying to protect children, we leave them undefended from "...the slings and arrows" that life will no doubt throw their way. Shakespeare raises the issues of tragedy - the fatal flaw, the last turning, the role of fate, as well or better than any author before or since. He is a gentle tutor, much to be preferred over that stern and dangerous teacher, Experientia Inopinatum.

But, as ever, it really isn't about the children. It's about the adults, and their desire to avoid answering difficult questions from agile young minds, who know no fear and swarm like eager flies around questions that have been boggling our best minds for millenia. To answer the questions that literature raises, you have to have thought deeply about them yourself. And that is something that few dare to do.]  end id

[mesanthropi]

please welcome my bootleg wlw romeo and juliet set in a college au!! in this au, paris dies suddenly of murder and rochelle montague (who's a 4th year college student + detective trainee) catches herself curious as to why. while all this is happening, she has her girlfriend juliet capulet! who's shocked at paris' death but is somewhat glad that she gets to stay with rochelle.

tldr of plot: rochelle plays danganronpa and the killer will shock you (wlw) (death) (a lot of it) (ft. tadeo (tybalt) and mars (mercutio) mlm) (bernadette (benvolio) deserves better)

did this for a group project. we're so doing this. i made them my ocs atp

[kaiya-sims]

Things i want to do in Veronaville:

- Bring back Claudio and Olivia and make her pregnancy come to term (undecided on the name for the baby but I would assume it would be a boy)

- Contessa Capp is alive, she was meant to be playable originally which we can see from her bio

- I may bring Cordelia and Caliban back too just because IMO VV has too many unnecessarily dead sims. Sure I guess there is the fued but it makes VV seem very empty with all these random dead sims

- Hero Monty deserved better and honestly I might bring her back pregnant just because

- Bring Viola Monty back as a teenager

- Give Viola an identical male twin (Sebastian)

- Potentially keep Viola and Sebastian living in the shadows of Romeo and Mercutio to create some sibling rivalry? Maybe they’re forced to live in the family house with Claudio & Olivia while Romeo & Mercutio live with the grandparents as potential heirs?

- Somehow rename Benedick and Beatrice Monty without taking away from Viola who is already established as a VV character (I hate that they give these names to twins but I don’t like renaming B&B to Viola and Sebastian since the discovery of Viola Monty’s existence)… I was thinking of naming them after Shakespeare’s real life twin children Hamnet and Judith but I’m not sure. The other option is Robson & Crane from Comedy of Errors but I don’t think either of those names sound particularly feminine for Beatrice…

- Create Benvolio and Rosaline from R&J but give them their own separate families so that we don’t just have three families in VV (maybe one of them could be the child of Puck’s bio parents for a twist which would technically make them Puck’s bio sibling?)

- The usual Romeo & Juliet storyline will play out but with more characters alive for the feud i think it would add deeper dynamics (i.e. Cordelia was neutral from Contessa’s bio)

- Tybalt and Mercutio will eventually be a couple… their enemies to lovers storyline is just *chefs kiss*

- I would also like to recreate Puck’s biological parents and potentially Bottom’s too since we’ve had confirmation from the storytelling images and game files that these sims were most definitely deleted

- Hal Capp’s face must be fixed!!! I would also like Miranda to have more involvement - maybe she falls for Benvolio or Rosaline instead of typically getting involved with Mercutio?

- Kent Capp is 100% gay there is no doubt in my mind I’m sorry to those who ship him with Bianca they are just besties

I mayyyy look at the alt VV by dreadpirate and also the more historically accurate VV i’ve seen on MTS and take some inspiration from both of these too but these are the general ideas that I have for an almost ultimate good end VV??

[margridarnauds]

If I may ask another, Romeo et Juliette?

A musical that I have a very, very complex relationship with.

It was one of my first French musicals -- not one of my favorites (I have ALWAYS been an Atia and Chouet girl), but one of my first. Good music, Aimer was one of my eternal, lovestruck romantic songs from my teen years, the OTP song to end all OTP songs; Verona was one of my favorite musical songs (once an Escalus fucker, always an Escalus fucker), I loved C'est le Jour (being used to historical lit and period dramas means I have....no reaction to first cousin marriages, so I shipped Tybalt/Juliet, sorry lads.)

There used to be a dedicated French musicals fandom on here, so I was talking with people who were more invested in it than I was, me and a friend once listened to the London cast together and memed it to death. And when that community imploded, I joined the RetJ fandom more specifically after a couple of years. And...I did enjoy it. I was mainly in my own little corner, but I was talking about it, I was creating content for it. I didn't agree with everything, especially the way that Japanese productions were routinely dismissed, and I thought that people could be very harsh on individual productions in a way that wasn't particularly fun, but...I did enjoy the experience. I did enjoy working with other people, especially since, as a Toho fan and ESPECIALLY as an Escalus fan (and as someone who really cares about the women more than Mercutio), I was very locked in my own little corner with a few other people.

I fell in love with the musical. And with Shakespeare's original. I still think that this is My Adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, because it is really wonderfully faithful while modernizing it without being grimdark or cynical (yes, even the Hungarian.)

And...I refuse to go into details, because I have no intention of dredging up old ghosts, but it ended. Badly. I evacuated myself from the communities I was part of, leaving them to someone who hated me because I didn't want to split the fandom. I wanted to leave quietly, discretely, while potentially keeping some bonds. They used it as an excuse to spread their smear campaign to my old circles, something that I only found out about over a year later. No one bothered to tell me. I noticed that people were pulling away, some people have even blocked me on here, or else quietly unfollowed me, but I didn't know why and I tried to convince myself it was paranoia. I reached out to someone and they assured me that nothing had been said about me. Something I later learned was untrue. I won't accuse that person of lying, because I don't have a timeline, and I understand wanting to keep the peace, but my reputation and my mental stability were NOT acceptable collateral damage. I was suicidal, dammit, and I'm not just mad at the people who started the smear campaign, but the people who didn't bother to listen to me when I needed them the most.

And...I would say I'm not bitter about it, but actually, I am. Of COURSE I'm bitter about it. Even if I wasn't the most active member, I was there for years. I deserved better. And it has profoundly impacted the way that I still carry myself in a fandom context, because some part of me is always looking behind my shoulder. (I. Have never been able to join the BG3 fandom in the way I'd have liked to for a number of reasons, including my ongoing fear caused by this incident.)

...but, by the same token, I did rebuild myself, bit by bit, with Takarazuka musicals, including the Zuka RetJ. I wrote RetJ fanfic for myself and, without having a fandom to worry about appeasing, I wrote what I wanted -- some of my longest fics of the last three years have been Benvolio/Escalus fics that I almost CERTAINLY wouldn't have published when I had the dead weight attached.

So -- gorgeous musical, the Toho production will eternally have a place in my heart. I'm very happy that I can look at it without shaking now.

[mercutio-of-escalus]

really love making a post (especially if it's about shakespeare) and just having people respond by acting as though I am actually mercutio from romeo and juliet. earlier i complained about not having anyone treat me the way horatio treats hamlet and someone said "yeah it really sucks that shakespeare didn't let benvolio hold you during your death scene. you deserved better, man" and you know what? I, real mercutio who is really from real romeo and juliet, did in fact deserve better

[tybaltsjuliet]

2, 5, 6, 10, 12

02. are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

benvolio and mercutio. nothing personal, benvolio. it's just that i imprinted my manifesting queerness on 1968 mercutio's longing gaze towards romeo in ninth grade english class. throwing back to my livejournal HP days: wolfstar. sirius black was madly in love with one of the marauders, all right, and it wasn't remus fucking lupin, i'll tell y'all that for nothing.

05. has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

that star wars ship. once upon a time, that might have been fun. then everything went radioactive and i've never forgiven either faction. would i have enjoyed jon and martin from the magnus archives more if the fandom for a horror podcast wasn't so obnoxious about not wanting their ships to be unsettling? probably not, honestly, but that certainly didn't help its chances in my eyes. (elias and jon forever.)

06. has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

i despised swan queen while watching once upon a time, mostly because i despised regina. now that i've grown up some, i...well, am still not crazy about her, but the fandom made me more sympathetic to her than the show ever did, and i have to admit i see the draw in the dynamic more now.

10. most disliked arc? why?

everything that happened to vanessa ives in season three of penny dreadful. my god, my god, why have you forsaken her/me? it made no sense whatsoever following all that she conquered in the first two seasons. it was disrespectful to her as a character and it was disrespectful to all of us who loved her and rooted for her and saw in her survival our own. and, most offensively, it was not supposed to be that way. i will die on the hill of "season three was rushed bullshit because of the sudden cancellation and they wanted to tie up all the ends however messily instead of leaving ambiguity, which actually would have been the better choice." john logan could offer me a million dollars to say that i believe he planned it that way from the start, and i would spit at his feet. (everything that happened to everyone in season three was absolute nonsense. ethan deserved better! henry jekyll, the most beautiful man on the planet, deserved more! i still don't know what the fuck they were trying to do with lily and dorian! but what they did to vanessa hurt the most.)

12. is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? why?

hm. i'll shout out to amilyn holdo again and mention her whole plotline, as well as the canto bight stuff in the same movie. everything was faintly ridiculous, yes, but at least it was interesting.

[ehhgg-art]

shh. they’re having a moment.

[probablyahuman]

I can't believe that shakespeare invented the bury your gays trope

[made-glorious-summer]

Here have a beautiful high quality thing that I definitely didn't make on my phone two minutes ago

[elive-potato]

Right in the feels. Hope ya'll have a nice day after seeing this :)

So like, I made this because I have a really important history exam next week and therefor am procrastinating hard.

[lou-wilham]

Verona has 99 problems—including a time machine. . .

All Benvolio has ever desired is a peaceful life alongside his spirited—albeit quarrelsome—roommate, Mercutio. But as the story goes, the course of true love never did run smooth, and when tensions between the Montagues and the Capulets reach a boiling point, Benvolio and Mercutio are dragged into the mess Romeo makes of all their lives.

Then an older version of Benvolio crashes into their lives, offering the opportunity to change fate, Mercutio does as he always does—seizes the chance. There’s just one problem: no deal is without strings, and this one involves a deadly secret that Mercutio is determined to take to the grave.

What follows is a lively adventure through the ages, replete with love and heartache. Amidst the chaos, this inseparable duo will unravel the true depth of their friendship.

A riotous romp of a retelling of Romeo & Juliet. Side effects of reading may contain laughter, heartache, and a need for more. This light, sci-fi fantasy is the perfect shelf companion to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian, Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall, and The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles.

Publication day: July 31, 2024

Genre: Adult Sci-fi Fantasy Romcom Tropes: Friends to Lovers, time travel, retelling, and they were roommates, deal with the devil

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/bmturnbacktime

Pre-order a Copy w/ a signed bookplate: https://forms.gle/qtTcP2Tgh6Vfbw3u8

Pre-order the special edition: Lou Wilham, Benny & Mercy Pre-order La Plata 2024 - Beventi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193907562-benvolio-and-mercutio-turn-back-time

Cover Artist Credit: @oblivionsdream

[dotsz]

hi full offense but the ultimate powercouple in Romeo and Juliet is Benvolio/Mercutio

[celestialsky198]

it seems i have rather unexpectedly stumbled on to the Shakespeare side of tumblr, a surprise that, while not what i originally intended for my dashboard, is nonetheless absolutely delightful. a particularly popular play appears to be romeo and juliet. however, i have (regrettably) not read or seen a production of romeo and juliet. thus, my good gentlefolk, i am here today to present, for your viewing pleasure, what i think mercutio, romeo and benvolio are like, as informed by tumblr memes. i hope you enjoy my fever dream of a presentation on the gloriously nicknamed montacrew.

mercutio:

- extremely dramatic, to the point of sacrificing his own safety for the aesthetic

- possesses little to no sense of danger

- gayyyy

- sticking around for the DramaTM

- prankster

- would speak purely in memes if social media existed when the play was set and would have held a funeral complete with an elaborate mourners procession and a gravestone for vine when it eventually lost relevance

- is one of the main sources of comedy - minute he dies the whole show hurtles way way faster to the train wreck of a tragedy it will eventually become

- no braincells. there’s nothing but dust and a few pebbles rattling around in his head

- tipsy half the time, however it’s almost impossible to tell the times when he is and the times when he isn’t apart because he’s just Like That normally

- LOUD

- bad at expressing his emotions but genuinely quite sweet when he can get his words out properly

- theatre kid but cannot sing for the life of him

- this doesn’t stop him tho

- feral

- if he has a problem it is not his for very long as it very quickly becomes EVERYONE’S problem

- the biggest flirt you’ve ever seen in your life

- very excitable, sort of like caffeine if it were a person and made poor life decisions

- poofy sleeves

- petty crime

benvolio:

- level head (kinda)

- he has more than one brain cell which admittedly isn’t a lot but it’s millions better than the other two

- so so tired

- tries to keep the other two in check and out of trouble but is becoming slowly more feral due to exposure

- dumbass in training if you will

- also a silly and a prankster but feigns reluctance bc he (sort of) has a reputation to think of

- mercutio on the other hand has no reputation other than being ridiculous and thus has nothing to lose

- deathly loyal and very supportive of his friends even if it’s kinda their fault that they’re in trouble

- boy has been through some next level suffering, he is not okay, someone get him some therapy and maybe a hug

- lots of deadpan humour

- dating mercutio

- probably deserves better he’s seen some stuff

- gays are never happy :(

- confident, fairly easygoing but has limits you don’t cross

- with him you joke until he gives you The Look and then you shut up quick

- dog person

- possible clairvoyance?? i don’t make the rules

romeo:

- feelings!!!

- will cry. just in general. about anything.

- impulsive as heck

- big romantic, the ‘sighs dreamily’ type

- simply does not Think, at anytime

- this means he can screw up sometimes and be a bit of a jerk but he means well

- he does not jump to conclusions he hurtles towards them at 200mph

- sad often

- anytime he appears on the scene things escalate

- *slight air of tension but generally quiet* *romeo appears* *all hell breaks loose*

- optimist but easily disappointed

- prankster also

- they all joke around to be honest

- unearned confidence

- refuses to listen to any and all authority

- a little gullible but we don’t hold that against him

- just an ongoing, never ending crisis as opposed to a midlife crisis

- a hot mess

- doesn’t really comprehend such fabled things as Consequences or Repercussions and his primary motivation for things is almost always ‘it looked like a fun time’

- he’s a laugh and fun to be around but don’t trust him with anything

- kinda like a golden retriever but somehow more reckless

[butchhamlet]

r&j :)

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): MERCUTIO MY BEST FRIENDDDDD he was the start of all of [gestures] this. my first favorite shakespeare character my first dream role. i owe him everything

scrunkly (my "baby," character that gives me cuteness aggression): ROMEOOOOO i want to scrunch his cheeks up. what has he ever done wrong but feel a lot of things very intensely and be a little dumb

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): JULIET god juliet is so wonderful she is so smart and capable and deserved so much better :(

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and i won't shut up about it for a week): . the never-named valentine because i have Associations with that name. for various reasons

poor little meow meow ("problematic"/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): benvolio my beloved :( oh to ask shakespeare what the fuck happened to him.

horse plinko (character i would torment for fun, for whatever reason): i don't know that i want to torment anyone in this play haven't they been through enough

eeby deeby (character i would send to superhell): NEVERMIND. I WANT LORD CAPULET DEAD. DIE OLD MAN

[itsthegameilike]

Best Books of 2020

Hi all! As always, I read some banger books this year and I like to do my best to get like everyone in the world to read them, because they’re deserving and being an author is hard. So, without further ado, here are the books that made my year! There Will Come a Darkness/As the Shadow Rises--Katy Rose Pool A pretty standard fantasy YA fare, but a step above in character and entertainment. There’s a world-ending prophecy, of course, and a collection of kids trying to save the day, but the world building is excellent and the plot develops from the characters and their relationships, not the other way around. I have characters I would die for and the second book in the series didn’t fall into the typical mid series lag. 8/10. The Lost Future of Pepperharrow--Natasha Pulley This was a follow up to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which is another of my personal favorites, and this did not disappoint. I, in fact, like it better than the first. Set in Japan in the late 1800s, it is part ghost story and mystery, as Thaniel’s--the main character--love interest goes missing, his past having caught up to him. Thaniel is so relatable and his devotion and relationship with Mori could carry me through like forty more books exactly like this. I don’t want to give it away, but it’s one of the most satisfying historical fiction queer relationships I’ve ever read. 10/10.

The Vanished Birds--Simon Jimenez A space odyssey story that hits closer to home for me than most do, as I’m not typically a science fiction fan. There are aspects of time and space travel, leaving the main character outside of normal space and time, meaning most of her friends have aged and died past her. Eventually, she meets a boy, lost and alone, and grudgingly takes him in. They form a bond, but he has a secret and it ends up wrecking her ship, her crew, etc. but she does her best to keep him safe anyway. The plot is incredible, lots of twists and turns--the good kind--and I’m more than a slut for found family stories, so here we are. 9/10.

Upstream--Mary Oliver This is an essay collection by Mary Oliver and like everything by her, it changed my life just a little. Before this year, I wasn’t reading her every day and now I am. She offers much needed perspective and the tools for self healing and this short essay collection is such a simple way to get started. I loved it to pieces, just as I love her. 10/10.

The Autobiography of Red--Anne Carson I read a fuckton of Anne Carson this year. I encountered her on this site and decided to read as much as I could and I have no regrets. This was my favorite by her, but they’re all so so so good. This is a modern retelling of a Greek myth starring Herakles and Geryon, centered on their relationship and Geryon’s journey to discovering his own power. There are times when it is incredibly harrowing, but I stopped like every two pages just to process her way with words. This is the most English major offering of the year, as it works heavily in metaphor and allegory--and is also poetry--but it is worth it. 10/10. P.S. If you’re looking for more Anne Carson, I also highly recommend The Beauty of the Husband.

This is How You Lose the Time War--Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone God, I loved this book. Maybe the surprise of the year for me. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the tropes are some of my favorites. Two women on opposite sides of a war who fall in love with each other through hidden messages and a happy-ish ending. Though it is more vignettes than an actual plot--that being said, the ending comes through--it still affected me intensely. 9/10.

The House in the Cerulean Sea--T.J. Klune Read this book, please. Please, please, please. It is the comfort you need, I promise. It’s about a weary man, stuck in the hell cycle of capitalism, who is sent on a job to an old, rickety house owned by a man who takes care of magical creatures/children than no one else will take care of. They fall in love and the mc finds a family and begins to enjoy his life. The relationship is so healing and cute and I spent half my time screaming and the other half crying. 10/10.

Gideon the Ninth/Harrow the Ninth--Tamsyn Muir I do not even know where to begin talking about these. They’re weird, hilarious, morbid, and absolutely wonderful. I would die for both mc’s, who are definitely halfway through an incredible enemies-friends-lovers plot, and this book surprised me with plot twists more than once. There are necromancers and bones and sacrifices and threesomes with God and queer characters up the wazoo and old, dangerous ruins and space and ugh. I reread these almost the second I finished--both of them--and I know I’ll need to reread before the last book comes out. 10/10.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home--Carol Rifka Brunt I gave this to every member of my family to read, almost directly after I sobbed for like forty-five minutes at the end. It’s from the POV of a young girl whose uncle dies of AIDS and can’t find comfort in her own family, because they didn’t like him nearly as much as she did. She becomes friends with the boyfriend he left behind and they heal each other through their friendship. It wrecked me and put me back together. 10/10.

These Violent Delights--Chloe Gong This book is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet in Shanghai...loosely. But it’s such a good read. Shanghai is so visceral it’s practically it’s own character and the threat of the monster lose in the city is genuinely terrifying. Juliette and Roma were together at one point, then broke up after a betrayal, and when they come back together to save the city, it creates such an interesting character dynamic that never lost my interest. Lots and lots of props too to the relationship between the Benvolio & Mercutio counterparts. I cannot wait for the continuation of that in the next book. Just...so good. 9/10.

Honorable Mentions: A Deadly Education-Naomi Novak, The Only Good Indians-Stephen Graham Jones, The Memory of Babel-Christelle Dabos (only here because it’s the 3rd book in a series, it’s a 10/10), Black Leopard Red Wolf-Marlon James, The Eye of the Heron-Ursula K Le Guin, and Fifty Words for Rain-Asha Lemmie