Reviews

That Way Madness Lies: 15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined by Dahlia Adler

delaney572e4's review against another edition

4.0

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I tend to have a difficulty with anthologies and short story collections because I usually love a couple and either don't like or just feel neutrally about the rest.

There certainly were a few stories in here that I felt neutral about. There were a couple where I was just not impressed by the writing, but overall they were really good.

My favorites retellings included the tempest, as you like it, the merchant of venice (seriously this one!!!), the taming of the shrew, and king lear (also seriously this one!).

caylieratzlaff's review against another edition

3.0

It was good, but I was expecting more. They were not as great as stories as I was hoping. I’ll use the R&J one during my unit though.

notinjersey's review

4.0

This book is a short story collection including 15 Shakespeare retellings. I am not so familiar with most of Shakespeare’s works, so the only one that stood out for me with regards to how it retold the story was the Romeo + Juliet one. However, I appreciated many of the stories and the way gender, race, religion, and more were reimagined and taken back from the original stories. The stories are sometimes in non-traditional formats like text messages, oral histories, and play scripts. Some of my favorites were I Bleed, Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow, and The Tragedy of Cory Lanez.

olidobereading's review against another edition

4.0

loved some, others were meh

lexisunshine's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.75

Loved: the queer, diverse retellings of Shakespeare! I particularly liked the The Merchant of Venice chapter! 

Didn’t love: the dramatic, audacious nature of YA, though it did work really well with the drama of Shakespeare.

zpuacz's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

3.75

maggiechristo's review against another edition

3.0

Severe Weather Warning - 3 stars
Shipwrecked - 3 stars
Taming of the Soulmate - 4 stars
King of the Fairies - 3 stars
We Have Seen Better Days - 3 stars
Some Other Metal - 3 stars
I Bleed - 3.5 stars
His Invention - 4 stars
Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow - 5 stars
Dreaming of the Dark - 3 stars
The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History - 3.5 stars
Out of the Storm - 4 stars
Elsinore - 2.5 stars
We Fail - 3 stars
Lost Girl - 3.5 stars

Average - 3.4 stars

hidingzeus's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this but I wound up only liking two stories in the whole book! Oh, well. There's no shortage of places to get my Shakespeare retelling fix.

bledoux's review against another edition

4.0

[4.5]

this was a good time.

some of my favs:

King of the Fairies by Anna-Marie McLemore
I Bleed by Dhalia Adler
Out of the Storm by Joy McCullough
The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History by Tochi Onyebuchi
Elsinore by Patrice Caldwell
Lost Girl by Melissa Bashardust

notsarahconnor's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

 Hamlet AND vampires?! That's only one of the many great retellings in this anthology!!!

Read the full review on my blog!