When You Were Mine: The Novel That Inspired the Movie Rosaline

By Rebecca Serle

THE NOVEL THAT INSPIRED ROSALINE—NOW A HULU MOVIE

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Italian Summer and In Five Years comes an intensely romantic modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told—narrated by the girl Romeo was supposed to love.

What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: everything.

Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit wild...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet’s instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob’s heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Release date: May 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781442433151

Rebecca Serle

Rebecca Serle is the New York Times bestselling author of Expiration Dates, One Italian Summer, In Five Years, The Dinner List, and the young adult novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. Serle also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name. She is a graduate of USC and The New School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Find out more at RebeccaSerle.com.

Book preview

Act One

Prologue

Shakespeare got it wrong. His most famous work, and he completely missed the mark. You know the one I’m talking about. Star-crossed lovers. Ill-fated romance. Torn apart by family and circumstance. It’s the perfect love story. To have someone who loves you so much they would actually die for you.

But the thing people never remember about Romeo and Juliet is that it’s not a love story; it’s a drama. In fact, Romeo and Juliet isn’t even the original title of the play. It was called The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Tragedy. Everyone dies for this love that, in my opinion, wasn’t all that solid from the get-go. I mean, their families hated each other, so even if they did survive, every holiday and birthday until the end of time would be a royal pain. Not to mention that they had absolutely no friends in common, so forget double dates. No, it would be Romeo and Juliet all alone, forever. And maybe that seems romantic at fourteen, or whatever, but it’s totally not realistic. I mean, I can’t think of a less romantic ending to a story. And the truth is, it wasn’t supposed to end that way.

If you read closely, you’ll realize that there was someone before Juliet ever came into the picture. Someone who Romeo loved very much. Her name was Rosaline. And Romeo went to the party that first night, the night everything began, to see her. Everyone always thinks Romeo and Juliet were so helpless to fate, that they were at the mercy of their love for each other. Not true. Juliet wasn’t some sweet, innocent girl torn apart by destiny. She knew exactly what she was doing. The problem was, Shakespeare didn’t. Romeo didn’t belong with Juliet; he belonged with me. It was supposed to be us together forever, and it would have been if she hadn’t come along and stolen him away. Maybe then all of this could have been avoided. Maybe then they’d still be alive.

What if the greatest love story ever told was the wrong one?

Scene One

"This is so not how it was supposed to go."

I crack one eye open and sneak the covers down over my head. Charlie is standing above my bed, arms crossed, a bag of Swedish Fish in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other.

I blink and glance at the clock on my nightstand: 6:35.

Jesus. It’s the middle of the night.

Charlie lets out a dramatic sigh. Please. I’m ten minutes early.

I rub my eyes and sit up. It’s already light out, but that’s not too surprising, given that it’s August in Southern California. It’s also hot, and the tank top I slept in is drenched. I don’t understand why, after all these years, my parents still have not sprung for air conditioning.

Charlie hands me the Starbucks cup, folding herself down next to me on the bed and stuffing another piece of candy into her mouth as she continues to lecture me. Charlie never drinks coffee—she thinks it stunts your growth—but she still picks me one up every morning. Grande vanilla latte. One sugar.

Are you even listening? she asks, irritated.

"Are you kidding me, Charlotte? I’m sleeping."

Not anymore, Charlie says, pulling the covers off. It’s the first day of school, and I’m not letting you drag me down with you. Time to rise and shine, Ms. Caplet.

I scowl at her, and she smiles. Charlie’s beautiful. Actually spectacular-looking. She’s got strawberry-red, curly hair and bright green eyes. Sometimes she’s so stunning, it’s shocking even to me. And I’m her best friend.

We met on the playground in the first grade. John Sussmann had taken my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and tossed it into the sandbox. Charlie knocked him over, fished it out, and even ate half just to prove he hadn’t won. That’s real friendship, right there.

So anyway, listen, she says as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and head into the bathroom. Ben and Olivia totally just got together. Ben told me.

About time. I stick a toothbrush into my mouth and root around in the medicine cabinet for my deodorant. I can tell from Charlie’s impatient prattle that there’s no time to shower.

"This is, like, a big deal. He’s my brother. Ben is Charlie’s twin, actually, but they’re nothing alike. He’s tall and blond and lanky and he likes English, a subject Charlie thinks is frivolous. She’s a history buff: Why read about stuff that didn’t happen, when you can read about stuff that did? Real life is way more interesting, anyway."

Olivia is our other best friend. She’s been with us since the eighth grade, when she transferred to San Bellaro.

Look, I say, spitting, they’ve been flirting for decades. It was bound to happen.

But now she’s going to, like, what? Come over after school?

"She already comes over after school."

I know why you’re so calm about this, Charlie says.

Because I am still unconscious?

No, because Rob got back last night and you’re going to see him today. She pops another fish into her mouth, triumphant.

My stomach clenches and releases. It’s been doing that all week. The thought of seeing Rob is, well, making me ill.

It’s been eight weeks, which I guess is a long time, although I refuse to see it that way. In the general scheme of things, what’s two months? Like, a millisecond. Okay, so it’s the longest we’ve ever been apart and, yeah, I’ve missed him, but I’ve known Rob my whole life. It’s really not a big deal seeing him again. It’s been a busy summer, and it’s not like Robert Monteg is my boyfriend or anything. God, even his name flashing through my mind like that makes me nauseous. I don’t get it. It shouldn’t. We’re friends. He’s just the next-door neighbor.

You guys are totally going to be the new senior couple, Charlie says. I decided.

Well, as long as you decided. I tug on a blue skirt and slip a white tank top over my head. Charlie looks like she just came from the salon, and I permit myself one glance in the mirror. Just as I suspected, total bed-head.

Charlie tosses me a bra, and it hits me in the face. Thanks.

Oh, come on, she says. "It’s Rob. You guys finally kissed last year, and then he goes away to be a camp counselor the entire torturous summer and writes you all of these love letters saying how much he cares about you, and you think now that he’s back, you guys aren’t going to get together? Please."

Of course this is how Charlie sees it. The problem is, that isn’t exactly what happened. It’s not even close. Let me explain.

The kiss she’s talking about wasn’t really a kiss at all. And the fact that Rob and I went to junior prom together has absolutely no significance. We’re best friends, and neither of us had a date. Rob is handsome and smart, and I could easily list ten girls in our soon-to-be senior class who would have traded in their Gucci book bags to go to prom with Rob, but I think he’s scared of the female species. Well, actually, Charlie thinks that. It’s the only explanation, she says, for why he still doesn’t have a girlfriend. The only explanation besides the fact that he’s waiting for me (her words, not mine).

Anyway, we were on the dance floor and my hair got in my eyes, and Rob brushed it away and kissed my cheek. My hair is always getting in my eyes, and my father kisses my cheek, so I hardly think that counts as a make-out session. It just happened to be in public, to a slow song.

And those emails? Definitely not love notes. Example:

Hey Rosie,

Thanks for your letter. I’m glad to know Charlie is as crazy as ever, and thanks for the gum. I’m chewing it now. smiley face

Camp is good but I miss home. Sometimes I think it was a stupid idea coming back here this summer, especially after the end of school and everything. It’s good, I guess. I’m back with Bunk 13. Remember when we were here together? It seems like so long ago. I guess it was. Anyway, I really miss you. I guess that’s what I meant when I said I missed home. It’s not the same without you here. Last night I went out to the docks, and I thought about that time we swam there after lights-out. Do you remember that? The water was freezing. It was that summer our parents had to send us more sweatshirts. Anyway, I’m thinking about you and hope you’re doing well.

Rob

Charlie combed through that email and constructed a new one, which basically read: I love you and I’m so sorry I went to camp and my heart is breaking being away from you and let’s spend eternity together when I get back. Heart, Rob.

It makes sense that she likes history, since she’s constantly rewriting it.

Her fantasy is nice and all—it’s just not accurate. It’s the kind of thinking that gets girls into trouble all the time. And it’s not just Charlie. For instance, last year when Olivia was dating Taylor Simsburg (and by dating, I mean they made out twice and once was sort of in public at winter formal), he told her she looked nice in yellow, and she made him a playlist called Here Comes the Sun. She also started carrying around sunflowers for no good reason.

It’s not that most girls are delusional, per se. It’s just that they have this subtle ability to warp actual circumstances into something different. This, by the way, is because guys can barely be bothered to say what they actually want, let alone what they are feeling. But that doesn’t change anything. If there’s one thing I’m really against, it is turning a blind eye to reality. What’s the point? Things are the way they are, and the best thing for us to do is to just acknowledge that. No one ever died from having too much information. It’s the misunderstandings that are the problem. And until Rob says or tells me otherwise, I have no reason to think he wants anything more than my friendship.

Except for this one thing that happened the night before he left. I haven’t told Charlie or Olivia, because I’m not sure how I feel about it myself. But I keep going over it in my mind. I’ve been going over it for two months.

We were sitting on the floor in my bedroom streaming an old episode of Friends. This part isn’t particularly unusual. We do that all the time. Rob likes to escape the chaos of his house, where he has three little brothers. But there was something different about him that night. When Ross made a joke, Rob didn’t laugh, which was crazy, because Ross is his favorite character and Rob always laughs. He has this deep baritone laugh. It reminds me of Santa Claus.

We were watching the episode where Rachel moves out of the apartment she shares with Monica, and there’s this scene where Rachel tries to steal Monica’s candlesticks. Anyway, Rachel is grabbing them out of the box, and all of a sudden the television is on pause and Rob is staring at me in this really intense way he sometimes looks before a big basketball game.

What’s up? I asked. He didn’t answer. He just kept looking at me. He has these gigantic brown eyes that look like little teacups of hot chocolate. Not that that’s what I think about when I look at him. I don’t even like hot chocolate. I’m just trying to describe him accurately, here.

He didn’t say anything, he just sat there looking at me, and then he reached over and cupped my chin in his hand. He’d never done that to me before. No boy had ever done that to me before. And then, with my chin still in his hand, he said, God, you’re beautiful. Just like that. God, you’re beautiful. Which is crazy because (a) it’s just that I don’t look particularly different than anybody else. I mean, I have brown eyes and brown hair and what Charlie calls a button nose, so if someone were describing me, you’d probably think you knew me and at the same time never be able to pick me out of a crowd. Except for the fact that I blush like crazy when I’m embarrassed—but that doesn’t exactly make me more desirable. So, (a), and (b) it’s just so cheesy. So I laughed, because it was the only conceivable thing I could think to do, and then he dropped his hand and unpaused Friends, and when we said good night, he hugged me but not any differently than he usually does, and then the next morning he was gone. I’ve been turning that moment over in my mind ever since. For two months now.

What time did he get in, anyway? Charlie asks as we plod our way downstairs.

Dunno. Late.

I want to say Too late for me to see his light go on, but I don’t. Charlie doesn’t know that sometimes I angle myself out my bedroom window just to see if Rob’s bedroom light is on. Our houses are separated by a barrier of trees, so you can’t see much, but his bedroom is directly diagonal to mine, and I can tell if he’s home because of the light. Most nights I wait for it to go on, to know he’s next door, right here. I think that’s one of the things I’ve missed most while he’s been gone. Seeing that light go on.

I’m surprised he didn’t come over last night. She wiggles her hips and laughs.

I shrug. He just texted me.

She spins on the stairs and grabs both my shoulders. What exactly did he say?

‘I’m back’?

I’m back, Charlie repeats, looking thoughtful. Then she gets this snarky grin on her face. I’m back, and ready for action.

Honestly, I say, "it’s Rob. You’re making something out of nothing."

Maybe, maybe not. She links her arm through mine as we step into the kitchen. But you know I always like to err on the side of caution.

Drama, I correct her. You like to err on the side of drama.

My mom and dad are in the kitchen dancing around with the orange juice, still in their bathrobes. She has it over her head, and he’s tickling her.

Sorry, girls, she says, her face flushed. Didn’t see you there. My dad just winks. Gross. Also, neither one of them is sorry. They do this sort of thing all the time. They are constantly making out in our living room and leaving each other love notes on the fridge—Peas for my squeeze, that kind of thing. I guess it should make me happy, the fact that my parents are in love and still into each other after twenty years, but it sort of creeps me out.

They definitely still have sex, Charlie says under her breath, like she’s settling a debate. Trust me, it’s not up for argument. Factual truth: They do.

I guess maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if I had, you know, done it myself. It’s not that I’m opposed to sex or anything. I mean, morally speaking. You want to know my problem, actually? It’s that I don’t feel particularly moral about the whole thing. It’s like this girl I used to know, Sarah, who never ate meat. Literally, in her entire life, she never had a hamburger. Her parents didn’t eat meat, and she was just raised that way. Anyway, one day her dad started eating it again, and all of a sudden it was in their house and on the table, and I remember her telling me how weird that seemed, how unnatural. Like all of a sudden she was supposed to just start eating meat and it was supposed to seem normal. She was a vegetarian, for crying out loud. It seems weird to just start. Like changing something fundamental about who you are.

It also might have something to do with the fact that I’ve never really gotten close. There was Jason Grove, who I dated last year. We made out a few times, mostly in the back of his dad’s Audi and in his basement. It was okay, I guess, but he couldn’t figure out how to unhook my bra, and after a few tries we sorta gave up.

Charlie thinks this is tragic. Olivia’s and my virginity are like an affront to her values, or something. Mind you, she’s done it with two people already. The first was Matt Lester, her boyfriend sophomore year. They did it after homecoming, and she said it was awful and they never did it again. Now there’s Jake, her on-again, off-again boyfriend—and, as Charlie says, I’ve lost count. Which I guess is what’s supposed to happen. It’s not like you keep counting the number of times you have sex. At a certain point it just becomes sex, I think.

This year is definitely your year, Charlie told me last week. You are not losing your virginity in a dorm room. Not an option.

What are my prospects?

Just one, Charlie said. Rob. You two are totally meant to be.

Meant to be. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never thought about that phrase in relation to Rob and me. It has occurred to me that something might happen between us. I haven’t admitted too much of this to Charlie, though, mostly because I recognize the real possibility that these thoughts about Rob could have more to do with all those television shows she makes me watch than my actual feelings. I mean, yeah, I care about him. He’s my best friend. Of course I love him. But do I want to kiss him? Do I want him to kiss me? And am I willing to risk our friendship on the off chance that a romance might really work out? Not to mention the fact that I don’t even know what he’s thinking. He probably regrets ever saying I was beautiful. He has probably already moved on. I mean, he’s been halfway across the country for the entire summer, and just because I haven’t managed to fall on anyone else’s lips in two months doesn’t mean he’s hauling around the same track record.

My mom pries my father off of her and sets the juice down. You girls ready for your first day?

Definitely, Charlie says, winking at me.

Well, that’s good, she says. She scoops some eggs onto a plate and hands it to my dad. Rob back today?

My mom would ask this. On top of everything else, my parents and his parents are also best friends. They’ve been neighbors for fifteen years. My parents moved to San Bellaro a few months before I was born. Rob’s family moved here two years later. My mom actually used to be a movie star in LA. Not huge or anything, but I think she might have been headed that way before she met my dad. He was a community organizer with big plans for becoming a senator and got invited to one of her movie premieres. It was a screening of The Last Stranger, probably the biggest part my mom ever had, and my dad always says that he fell in love with her instantly, just by seeing her on-screen. That she was his last stranger. Six months later they were married, and a year after that they had me. My father never became a senator (he teaches history at our local college), but his brother did. I think it’s still hard for my dad, the fact that his brother got to realize his dream when he didn’t. They haven’t spoken in years, and every time his name is in the paper, my dad takes the pages out to the recycling bin himself.

My mom is still looking at me, waiting for an answer about Rob, but I just shrug and stick a piece of toast into my mouth. Charlie immediately snatches it away.

Bagel Wednesday, she says, dropping it down on the counter like it’s radioactive. Hello?

My father smacks the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically, and my mother sighs.

Well, she says, have a great day.

Oh, we will, Charlie says, slinging my book bag over her shoulder. Don’t wait up. She blows my mom a kiss and marches me outside.

---

Charlie has an old Jeep Cherokee we call Big Red. It’s not as fancy as Olivia’s car, but it doesn’t matter. Charlie would look good on a tricycle. We climb inside, and the familiar smell of Charlie’s perfume hits me. A combination of lilacs and plumeria she mixed for herself at the Body Shop last year. Her car is always stuffed to the brim, like she could take off at any minute and move somewhere else. There is

Reviews for When You Were Mine

[superducky · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I actually really enjoyed this book. Although i really felt no sympathy towards Rob or Juliet at the end, I enjoyed watching Rosaline grow throughout the book, even if she DID get annoying at some parts.

[tsawyer5-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just purchased this book for my high school library where I am the Librarian. I read it immediately, as I do so with every book that I purchase, so that I can make recommendations to my students. I was fascinated by the idea of Romeo and Juliet being told in a more modern setting that teenagers could relate to. I was even more fascinated with hearing Rosaline's side of the story as it has never been told before. For a ya romance novel, I loved this book! Everyone always focuses on the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, but what about those that got tossed aside and hurt by their decisions? Great story!

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rose Caplet is looking forward to senior year. There is a spark growing with Rob Monteg, her best guy friend, and they have their first date. When her cousin Juliet comes back to town, things really fall off the rails. There is some old family division and her cousin is not exactly friendly. A modern imagining of the Romeo & Juliet story told from the point of view of Rosaline, the initial object of Romeo's affection. Rose has two besties, a loving family, and an odd lab partner named Len. An appealing story of heartbreak, family, friendship, and romance.

[jeralissa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It left my jaw hanging. It truly brings out all sorts of emotions.

[joyce.leung · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’ve been meaning to write a review for this book for quite some time now. Things got in the way – exams, competitions – life got in the way, I guess. But now that I’ve finally gotten time to review this book, I find that it wasn’t as good as I originally thought.

At first I was like

Oh my God this is a great book! It’s well-thought out, follows the plot, and develops the oft ignored character of Rosaline!

But now I’m like

What was I thinking? The only part of the story that actually follows the original plot is that there is a pair of star-crossed lovers called Romeo and Juliet – not even that, actually – Romeo’s call Rob in this book, so that technically doesn’t count any more.

Despite the conclusions you may garner after reading my comments in the above paragraph, I do think this is a good book. That is, if you look at it as an independent novel instead of a retelling of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. There have been too many superbly written retellings of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ over the years, and no matter how good an author Rebecca Serle is, she’ll find it hard-pressed to top the hundreds of different Romeos and Juliets falling in love and then dying.



Biology grows on certain people, I imagine, much in the same way this book grew on me. At first, I started off thinking that it was boring and it started to drag on endlessly – and all that in the first two, three chapters! And then things started getting interesting, and it finally stopped becoming a chore to read this book.

The thing with retellings is that you already know the end when you’re at the beginning – especially with ‘Romeo and Juliet’, which is usually listed under tragic romance, or romantic tragedy. Hello? Tragic romance? Doesn’t that alone give the ending away? So, naturally, I was apprehensive when I was reading this book – after all, I already knew from the outset that they were going to die in the end. This, I think, kind of dimmed the happiness I felt at the start, when everything was really kicking off for Rob and Rosaline.

What I'm trying to say is, I guess, that this is a good book to read if you're looking for a book, not a retelling of 'Romeo and Juliet'. In that, you - or at least, I - will be sorely disappointed by the lack of similarities in the original play and this retelling. However, if you’re approaching it as merely a book – nothing more, nothing less – you’ll find that, after the admittedly very slow start, it is well worth your time and patience to see it through to the end.

[Sarah Fe S Dela Cruz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As you start reading you get clues of how it's going to end, and I thought I wouldn't like the ending so I thought of not finishing it. But the story plot itself keeps you so interested and hyped about what's going to happen next that you just HAVE to keep on reading. The epilogue was a great ending. This is one of my fave books :)

[thehidingspot · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the premise of this novel. I've adored Romeo and Juliet since junior high, but I've never thought it was the greatest love story of all time. I mean, it's horrible and sad, there is no happy ending... but I think that's partially why I liked it. For anyone who actually paid attention as they read the story, it can serve as a cautionary tale: love isn't everything. And sometimes wild, crazy love isn't all that great... sometimes it gets you killed. Sure, this is obviously a worse case scenario, but still. Rebecca Serle's retelling of this classic, from Rosaline's point-of-view, the girl left in the dust when Juliet enters Romeo's life, is entirely too reminiscent of some of the logic that I remember happening in my high school years.Rosaline and Rob (the Romeo of the story) have been neighbors and best friends for years, but, in the last few years, things have changed. Rosaline and Rob teeter on the edge of something more than friends and Rosaline feels that he might be the one. Rob finally asks Rosaline on a real date, they kiss, and things are progressing just as Rosaline had hoped... better even. That is, until Juliet, Rosaline's cousin, moves back to town, riding waves of drama. Overnight, Rob and Rosaline, which took years to happen, has been replaced by Rob and Juliet. Rosaline is shocked and heartbroken, but there's nothing she can do except watch tragedy unfold.Take away the drama and Juliet's instability and the basis of When You Were Mine will speak to many readers. High school love is a special kind of love. Many are feeling love, or what they think is love, for the first time. It's overwhelming and exciting and terrifying... That's exactly what Rosaline is experiencing. Now take that and add a old family scandal, a cousin bent on revenge, and a very public diss from the boy you truly feel is the one. Poor Rosaline.It's obvious from the start that Juliet isn't exactly stable, but, as the novel progresses, Juliet shows herself to be more than just your average emotional teen. She's dealing with some sort of deeper issue, perhaps very intense depression or bi-polar disorder, and she's bent on taking others down with her. This is very different from Shakespeare's Juliet, but I think readers will recognize her nonetheless. Even with her destructive ways, it's hard not to feel for Juliet. She needs help - professional help - and nobody is there to notice that.Another aspect of this book I particularly like, is that I felt that Serle called Romeo (Rob) out. One day he's completely in love with Rosaline, a girl who's always been there for him, and the next he's head over heels for Juliet, a girl he barely knows and is Rosaline's cousin? He's obviously not the stand-up guy Rosaline thought he was. Regardless of the other drama and the tragedy that ensues, Rosaline was better off without a fickle guy like Rob. I highly recommend When You Were Mine to both fans of retellings and those who are looking for an intense contemporary read. And don't worry, Rosaline isn't left all alone. Not only does she find some inner strength she didn't know she had, she finds a guy who's much more deserving than her past Romeo.

[lauramoore_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've always been a huge fan of Shakespeare ever since taking honors Shakespeare in high school, so as soon as I heard this was loosely based on Romeo and Juliet I knew I needed to read it. I'm so happy I had the oppurtunity to read and review this book, because it was phenomenal. I absolutely loved it and ended up reading this in pretty much one sitting, because I simply needed to know what was going to happen (although you kinda knew where the story was going to lead).Although you could guess which way the story was going to end, it still ended up being a shock to my system and brought tears to my eyes. I felt so horrible for Rosealine and felt her pain. I wanted to punch Rob simply because of his stupidity for leaving Rose for Juliet. I felt like Juliet was so coniving in this story, and the fact that Rob couldn't see right through that fustrated me to no end. I wanted to love Rob because he seemed like a good guy that got blindsided by a "bad" girl, but I had a love/hate relationship with him; I hated that I wanted to love him. Rebecca Serle hit the nail on the head with this Romeo and Juliet re-telling. I adored this book from start to finish. Although it could have felt extrememly predictable because of the fact that its a re-telling it didn't to me at all, and still left me guessing a bit which was the story was going to go, which is a sign of a great re-telling in my opinion. This so far for me has been my favorite contemporary i've read so far this year! If you haven't picked this one up yet, and you're a fan of YA contemporarys or Shakespeare re-tellings don't pass this one up!

[lynnm_71 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book that begins as something fairly light and fluffy but takes a bit of a dramatic turn.Rosaline has been at least partially in love with Rob her entire life. They've always been best friends, but as they begin their senior year of high school, it seems like Rob is finally ready to take the last step into something more. Rose couldn't be more thrilled. Their first date is a smashing success, and everything is as it should be.Then Rose's estranged cousin, Juliet, moves back to town. Before she knows what's going on, Rose discovers that Rob has fallen hard for Juliet, and she's not only lost her fated boyfriend but her best friend as well. But then Rob begins to change, and family secrets begin to come out. And Rose isn't sure any more what she really wants or what she's just always thought she wanted. Rosaline is a bit of a frustrating character because so much happens to her, and many times I wanted her to grow a backbone. Both Rob and Juliet deserved a hearty smack, so to see Rose suffer a major broken heart without any justified anger was beyond frustrating. Even Rose's best friend Charlie comes off as a bit of a bully until she redeems herself in the last third of the book. Too, the character of Juliet is portrayed as pure villain, however, constantly Juliet implies to Rose that somehow, Juliet has been the wronged party and everything she does is justified as some sort of get-even with Rose. It isn't until near the end of the story that we find our why Juliet feels betrayed, and to be honest, the reveal of the betrayal is a let down. Net net, Juliet is a horrible person, and Rose comes off as a somewhat wimpy victim. Add to this the fact that Rob is a tool who treats Rose terribly and I wanted her to tell them both off.That said, this book kept the pages turning for me. It becomes rather dark at the midway point, and Serle does a good job capturing Rose's feelings and despair. An interesting premise - Serle got her inspiration from Romeo and Juliet (a few nods via the names in the book) and the fact that after he saw Juliet, Romeo for all intents and purposes dumped his current girlfriend, Rosaline. This is Rosaline's side of the story.

[emily_anne-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Note: This is a short ramble. I won't be doing a full review :)

I was very disappointed by When You Were Mine. I enjoyed Rebecca Serle's most recent novel, The Edge of Falling, and expected to enjoy this one even more. However, I was very bored most of the time and, in my opinion, the writing was very bleh. Also, I feel as if the portrayal of Rob and Juliet was poorly done. I hated the way Juliet was blamed for the relationship. I won't be writing a full review as I feel as if the slew of other negative reviews on Goodreads adequately describe my feelings for the book. *sigh* What an interesting premise put to waste. If you want to read a book by Rebecca Serle, try The Edge of Falling or her future release, Famous in Love.

[melanie_mccullough_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm. I think I wanted this to be so much better than it was. My fault. The highest expectations often lead to the biggest disappointments. It wasn't that I thought it would be some moving, life-altering, legendary piece of literature. I just wanted a great love story. This is how it's billed on Goodreads: In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo’s original intended—Juliet’s cousin Rosaline—tells her side of the tale. Is it too much to ask then that this reworking offer me something intensely romantic? I just didn't feel it. I'm sorry. Rose & Rob's love wasn't sweeping and epic. It was two childhood best friends deciding to give the whole, let's-see-if-we-should-be-more-than-friends thing a go. Then the instant another pretty girl walked into his line of sight, he forgot all about Rose. Huh? If they were so meant to be together, IMO, Juliet wouldn't have been able to tear them apart merely by existing. Seriously, Juliet had Rob hooked and tore him away from Rose a mere two days after her introduction. They had spoken maybe twice before then. It wasn't a terrible book though, so I won't take my disappointment out on it. I liked the growth of Rosaline's character, how she came into her own towards the end and started to see that there would be a life after Rob. I also really enjoyed her budding relationship with Len, though why he liked her in the first place, I'll never know. She was awful to him. In the end, When You Were Mine is just a good book that failed to live up to my expectations. Doesn't mean you won't love it, so give it a go. If you do choose to read it, or have already read it, I'd love to hear what you think.

[lmrayvon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4Q, 4P: Everyone knows the story of Shakespeare's Rome and Juliet. However, not many people, including myself, ever remember Romeo's first lover in the book, Rosaline. When You Were Mine retells the Romeo and Juliet's love story through Rosaline's eyes. Note, some of the names in the novel were slightly changed (Rose= Rosaline, Rob= Romeo, and still Juliet= Juliet). I think there is a large appeal to spin-offs and retellings, so I believe this would be a pretty good selection for many of my patrons. I don't think it would take that much to sell it to them either. If they like love stories, heart break stories, the story of Romeo and Juliet, then this is any easy one to recommend. I actually really enjoyed this book! It's probably my favorite that I've read all quarter! The fact that it is narrated by the girl that Romeo was supposed to love was a completely different take on the classic that I never thought of before (mostly because I too am guilty of forgetting poor Rosaline). Still the book does have it's slow moments. The review from SLJ points out that "The story moves towards the climax with sometimes unnecessary detail to the mundane." This definitely worries me for teens, mostly because it may be hard to keep their attention with a slower book like this. They would probably find to be a bit tedious and would put it down, never to try it again. However, I also found out on SLJ that there is a film version in the works, would help to build some reader interest.

[ceilidhann · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes a book calls out to you, be it for all the right or wrong reasons. When it comes to re-imaginings of age-old tales and classics of the literary pantheon, one must tread lightly, particularly when entering the realm of William Shakespeare. It’s important to remember the cultural and historical context of his work when applying it to a modern day setting. It’s possible to remain faithful to the source material while still adapting it to fit today’s moral & societal changes. A good example of this is the movie “10 Things I Hate About You”, a high school retelling of the very archaic “The Taming of the Shrew”. Said play is pretty misogynist, emphasising the important of subduing a woman’s fiery spirit in favour of making her an obedient wife. In “10 Things I Hate About You”, the “shrewish” heroine does not change for a man, nor is she forced into it. Their romantic resolution is witty, equally matched and doesn’t rely on either of them completely changing their personalities. I highly recommend the film if you haven’t seen it. However, today’s review is about a less successful Shakespeare modern day retelling. “When You Were Mine” actually manages to be just as, if not more sexist than the play it’s taken from, the ever popular “Romeo and Juliet”.

I have a big revelation for you all, dear readers. It may shock you, it may not (I hope not), but I’m sick of the world still living by this false assumption in 2013 and think it’s time to set the record straight for the good of us all.

There is no such thing as a slut.

Seriously. They don’t exist.

If someone calls you a slut, then ask them to define it. Usually they can’t, or the definition changes with every person you ask.
That’s because there’s no such thing as a slut.

The term “slut”, and variations on that term, are so casually tossed around towards women, basically exist to shame women for being vaguely sexual, although they’re just as commonly used as insults to women for completely unrelated reasons (wearing a low-cut top is tantamount to being the whore of Babylon according to some). Women are often depicted as being manipulative, stupid, malicious or just plain evil solely based on their sexuality – they’re evil because they’re a slut, and they’re a slut because they’re evil. Poor innocent men are snatched from their true loves by those evil sluts, who don’t have real human emotions like the nice girls, and leave men completely merciless to their slutty wiles. These women all look a certain way – usually blonde, wearing lots of make-up and revealing clothing, often compared to porn stars or blow-up dolls, frequently cheerleaders. Many jokes will be made about sexually transmitted diseases towards these sluts, although male “players” are clean on this front. More often than not, bad things happen to these women, but don’t worry, because they deserve it.

Remember, these women don’t exist.

I stress this because after reading “When You Were Mine”, I seriously began to believe that the author, a woman herself, hates other women, or had a cousin who seriously messed with her at some point during her life. In this modern version of the oft-imitated tale of star-crossed lovers, Rosaline is beginning a relationship with Rob Caplet (see what they did there?) just as her cousin Juliet returns to the scene and immediately snatches him away. Rob goes from being besotted with Rosaline to completely obsessing over Juliet, that slut. Juliet is, of course, a heavy make-up wearing spoiled brat with bleach blonde hair who snatches away innocent men and turns them into little lapdogs. But never fear, good readers, because underneath that harsh and fake exterior is a broken little girl who is just jealous of her plain but intelligent cousin, and will meet a tragic end that will be entirely blamed on her.

Do you see where this book goes wrong?

In “Romeo and Juliet”, Rosaline is never on stage, and serves more as a plot point than anything else. She is a means for Romeo to attend the Capulet family’s party and meet Juliet, his true love. A lot of great literary analysis has been written on her and I implore you to check some out because you won’t find any of that here. In the play, where Rosaline serves as a contrast and plot point, here she is the angel to Juliet’s whore. The naïve teenage girl consumed by first love in the face of petty familiar conflict has been turned into a slut, and later on a dead slut.

This is not okay.

There is literally nothing else to Juliet’s character except her evil sluttiness and the consequences of it. In this book, being a slut is literally described as being a defining quality!

"Charlie says there's a difference between being a slut and being slutty. She thinks Olivia was slutty for hooking up with the Belgian, but she would never call her a slut. Her theory is that the distinction is between how you act and who you are. Olivia's was an action, whereas Darcy's is a defining quality."

Charlie and Olivia are Rosaline’s friends. So there you go – good friends can be slutty but they’re never sluts. That’s for other women.
Juliet is entirely blamed for Rob’s actions, which is both sexist and daft. The last time I checked, men were autonomous creatures completely capable of doing as they pleased. Women can do that sometimes as well. By putting all the blame on Juliet for Rob’s actions (as if his penis just fell into her vagina), his responsibility is completely removed from him. He’s not a victim; he knew exactly what he was doing! Of course, in the end he tries to run back to the good and sweet Rosaline, but it all ends badly (do I even need spoiler alerts for “Romeo & Juliet”?) because that is the normal way of things. In 2013.

I actually have nothing else to say about this book because I can’t remember a single thing about it outside of the weapons grade level of slut-shaming. Taylor Swift looks like bell hooks in comparison to “When You Were Mine”. I honestly can’t get over how much this book hates women. It’s archaic and makes Shakespeare’s Elizabethan era play look progressive in comparison. At least in “Romeo & Juliet” the pair were supposed to be blind with infatuation and Juliet didn’t shove the poison down Romeo’s mouth. It’s not as if the original material is untouchable, and it’s not as if there isn’t great potential in giving some depth to Rosaline, but absolutely no effort is put into that here because the author is so concerned with demonising Juliet to the point of insanity. Take my advice and stick to the source: It’s better written, makes some sense and doesn’t loathe women.

1/5.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This novel takes a long time to get rolling, mainly because the characters stick to their stereotypes and this retelling brings nothing new to the table. Opening Sentence: Shakespeare got it wrong. The Review: I’m going to preface this review by saying that I study Shakespeare. I’ve taken classes devoted entirely to him. So I probably have more background in Shakespeare than the average reader. I have expectations to any retelling I pick up, which is namely that if you’re going to re-work one of the most famous stories of all time, you do it well or not at all. Serle didn’t make the cut. In her version, everything you think you know about our star-crossed lovers is wrong. It all goes back to our characters. Rosaline’s in love with Romeo — I mean, Rob — so when he finally asks her out, she thinks it’s true love and roses for eternity. The reader knows his attention won’t last longer than it takes for Juliet to show up and is forced to wait for the other shoe to drop. There are so many ways Serle could’ve worked this, but because she didn’t take the time to flesh out our characters everything they do seems silly and pretentious. They’re shallow and self-serving. Rosaline over-analysing everything Rob says until you just want to reach into the pages and pull her hair out. The good part is, this doesn’t last. Just like in Shakespeare, everything interesting happens after Act Three. This is mostly because we finally see Rosaline and Len together. Their budding romance makes them far more likable — especially Rosaline — and their scenes are far, far more interesting than anything we saw between Rob and our heroine. Serle works hard to make Rosaline and Len the endearing characters Romeo and Juliet were in the play. As a result, Serle drags Rob and Juliet through the mud. I really, really hate when authors slut-shame their characters as a way of making them “evil.” Juliet’s role is that of the psychologically unstable boyfriend-stealing slut, and she sticks pretty close to what you would expect her to do. Rob also becomes more and more unstable — which is mostly alarming because he ends up yelling at Juliet in a very threatening way, in public, and no one cares. I found the lack of reaction slightly disturbing. Rosaline’s halfhearted attempt to befriend Juliet (again) at the end of the novel seemed like Serle’s way of trying to make Rosaline the better person, but because I was never completely invested in the characters to begin with, I didn’t really care. It’s a light book — I knew that picking it up — but I still found myself disappointed that Serle brushes over the darker aspects of Romeo and Juliet that have made it such a lasting work. The theme of the novel is choice, and the fact we all have choices, which I did like. The writing wasn’t anything special, but it also wasn’t bad. I flew through the book in a little over two hours, so you can be sure that even though it’s 300 pages it’s an easy read. Notable Scene: “Jeez,” I say. “You look like a mess.” “Thanks,” he says. “You’re not so bad yourself.” “Do you want some ice?” “I’ll be fine.” “I know, but that thing looks pretty bad.” “Can I just come in?” “Sure,” I say, stepping to the side. “Sorry. My room’s upstairs.” “You run a tight ship,” he says. “No guided tour.” “Later,” I say. “Right now we have to work.” He’s holding a bag of Twizzlers in his hand, and his backpack is missing. “Where’s your study stuff?” He holds up the bag. “That’s candy.” “Your favorite kind, no less.” I stop. “How do you know that?”FTC Advisory: Simon Pulse provided me with a copy of When You Were Mine. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.