This book held so much potential. After about a third of the way in, it all started going downhill. I think this is because you don't expect characters to have any dimension the first few pages but rather for them to grow and be layered as the story passes on. It made me so angry when the characters don't grow or learn anything. Julie Jacobs has recently learned that her dearly beloved great aunt Rose has just passed away and she is upset. She also learns that Rose left everything to her Julie's twin sister Janice except for a mission to find out some sort of treasure that her dead mother left for her in Italy. There she finds a town where time stands still and family feuds from the fourteenth century still exist. She goes on an adventure to uncover this treasure because she's in enormous debt and learns of the parallels between her story and that of Romeo and Juliet. She also learns that her real name is Giulietta Tolomei and that she apparently has to break a curse that was put on her and another family in the real story of Romeo and Giulietta. I loved the plot. It's a fabulous idea but what made the story so boring was the writing. I honestly don't know of any American girl who doesn't use contractions in her speech and thoughts. It's incredibly frustrating to read. The characterizations were also terrible. At the end of the story, did anyone learn anything? How come Janice turned a full 180 in her behavior to her sister? Does Julie actually care about the fact that she's in debt and was depending on her aunt's will? The story's inconsistent when she says that she loves her aunt but then goes on to describe the awful parenting she does. The ending was way too quick. There was a 350 page climax and a 50 page resolution. The story felt dragged and then rushed. My favorite part had to have to been the historical excerpts. They were so beautiful. The modern day parallels just distracted from it. I tried but I couldn't do it. I read upwards of 80 percent, but the voice and story line is sooooo dull. I quit. There's also something horribly cliche about Romeo and Juliet. I just couldn't get interested. There didn't seem any real passion between R and J either. They barely seemed to know each other at all. And somehow this book still managed to be pretty long. At least longer than I cared to read.I'm also not a fan of the relationship between the two sisters. It was so one-dimensional and the way the spoke to each other got annoying.
It was entertaining but a little over the top and predictable in many spots.
—cat
Una historia bonita; una ambientación magnífica, y muy dinámica.
—Kristie
Loved the combination of present time with the past.
—carmen
seriously??
—Idil96
