BOOK REVIEW: Juliet by Anne Fortier

Juliet by Anne Fortier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

They saiid:
Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy. This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever—a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei. In 1340, still reeling from the slaughter of her parents, Giulietta was smuggled into Siena, where she met a young man named Romeo. Their ill-fated love turned medieval Siena upside-down and went on to inspire generations of poets and artists, the story reaching its pinnacle in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. But six centuries have a way of catching up to the present, and Julie gradually begins to discover that here, in this ancient city, the past and present are hard to tell apart. The deeper she delves into the history of Romeo and Giulietta, and the closer she gets to the treasure they allegedly left behind, the greater the danger surrounding her—superstitions, ancient hostilities, and personal vendettas. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the unforgettable blood feud, she begins to fear that the notorious curse—“A plague on both your houses!”—is still at work, and that she is destined to be its next target. Only someone like Romeo, it seems, could save her from this dreaded fate, but his story ended long ago. Or did it? From Anne Fortier comes a sweeping, beautifully written novel of intrigue and identity, of love and legacy, as a young woman discovers that her own fate is irrevocably tied—for better or worse—to literature’s greatest star-crossed lovers.From the Hardcover edition.

I think:

This a hard book for me to rate. It bounces back on forth between the middle ages and today about two different Juliets. The old story is set in Sienna as is the story in current times.

I started this book with some people from my local library who I still have not met. After checking it twice, and still not finishing, I bought a copy for my Kindle. In my mind, I think of the book in three parts.

Part 1: I loved it and sped right along. There are so many, many great lines I had to stop and share with my husband!

Part 2: It was OK but for whatever reason, I just sort of drug myself through it. It was good with lots of action.  But I found myself listening to lots of audio books instead. I just was not pulled back to the story.

Part 3: This part rocked with twists and turn and suspense enough to pull me gleefully along.

So how do rate it? It has to be above good because of parts 1 and 3. Probably most people would not have the problem I had in the middle - maybe it was because I no longer had bits I wanted to share with my husband and I missed them. The last part was such a delightful roller coaster ride!

I'm going to go eat dinner and when I finish I hope to have my answer.