This book sets out to reimagine Shakespeare's plays in ways that are not so white or straight. The book is divided by types of plays (comedies, tragedies, histories...) and different authors write each story using different formats. As a person who has read a lot of Shakespeare, I appreciated the approaches to modernizing parts of the stories. It was a entertaining concept. ( )

3.5 Stars

Well, the Bard has been given a contemporary short story makeover with mixed results!

I love reimaginings so this was always going to be a must read for me. Some of the stories were way more engaging than others. I really enjoyed 'Severe Weather Warning', 'Taming of the Soulmate', 'Partying is such sweet sorrow', 'I bleed', and 'Lost Girl'. I am ordering a copy for the library as I think these short texts are good for the unfamiliar text assessments, and also for comparative studies of contemporary retellings and classics. ( )

While the collection overall is enjoyable, the tragedies are far more creative and satisfying than the comedies. ( )

There are already a thousand other books, plays, and films based off of the Shakespearean canon (and let’s be honest, his stories and themes were never actually new in the first place), so what’s another anthology collection of stories to add to the mix? Adler edits and collects a set of 15 short stories by some popular YA authors inspired by the Bard’s most well-known plays, so inevitably there will be a few stories contained herein to please (or at least entertain) anyone familiar with the plays and give them some reframed ideas about Shakesepare’s themes. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is without a doubt my favourite of Shakespeare’s works (they had me at magical forests and fairy drama), and inevitably one of the memorable stories in this collection was Anna-Marie McLemore’s “King of the Fairies.” The story takes us through some scenes within the fairy court, told through the eyes of the unnamed foundling child who caused the original rift between Titania and Oberon’s court during the events of Midsummer, and explores concepts around “otherness,” gender, and fey politics. They meet another outsider child who returns briefly to the court, who has been banished for shirking their expected gender role (who knew fairies were so traditional and staid), and in this meeting finds their way to self-acceptance and the courage to finally leave the toxic home that they have known within the court. The story itself definitely doesn’t have enough to gain my true liking, since these themes, events, and characters definitely could have been expanded into a full length novel, but this small intrigue into another aspect of the fairy court was a clear standout amongst the stories herein. Other tales of (personal) note were Dahlia Adler’s “I Bleed,” (based on The Merchant of Venice) a modern exploration of racism and hidden agendas through the lens of high school cliques; Patrice Caldwell’s reworked Hamlet “Elsinore,” a trite but intriguing vampiric take on Denmark’s prince; and Kiersten White’s “Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow,” a Romeo and Juliet via melodramatic text messages. Like the Bard himself, it seems there’s something in this collection for everyone, no matter if you’re looking for drama, death, comedy, or romance. ( )

*sees [a:K. Ancrum|16371347|K. Ancrum|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548178808p2/16371347.jpg]*
*adds to list*
*sees Shakespeare*
*dances*

This anthology sounds freaking awesome.