It’s fair to say that I’m a big ol’ fan of Alexandra Potter. I’ve read most of her novels and on the whole I do enjoy them. However, I do find myself prone to not liking certain aspects of some of her novels. I enjoyed Who’s That Girl? but I didn’t like how it ended, for example but on the other hand her latest book You’re The One That I Don’t Want was fab. So when I received Calling Romeo to review, I was intrigued. It’s a re-release and originally came out in 2002 before she started adding the magical elements to her novels and the cover just kept calling to me – honestly, it is so beautiful – so I eventually caved in and began reading. Unfortunately, for me, the cover is the only good thing about it.I must admit, I dislike writing bad reviews, particularly for an author I usually enjoy but I just couldn’t get into Calling Romeo. I mean, it starts well enough with Juliet being stood up by Will before being drenched by Sykes, but after that the pace slows down a lot and the book just begins to drag as Juliet faffs over whether to stay with Will or be with Sykes. Throw in a wacky American best friend, and that’s the book in a nutshell. It’s just… nothing happens. Throw in the fact that I’m mostly anti-cheating (only for it in the Emily Giffin novel Something Borrowed) and this book just wasn’t going to work for me at all. For me, Will didn’t offer enough reason for Juliet to warrant going off with Sykes. He didn’t do anything terrible (the Valentine’s Day standing up not-with-standing as he forgot) and he wasn’t a horrible partner, it just seemed that they’d both got themselves into a rut and Juliet just wanted out instead of trying to fix things between them.I don’t really know what I made of Juliet. I was sympathetic towards her at the beginning, then when she was contemplating an affair I just tuned out of her and wasn’t interested any more. I’m of the school that if things aren’t working in a relationship you end it before going off with someone else and unfortunately that philosophy also carries on when I’m reading fiction meaning that I just couldn’t care what happened to Juliet and Sykes because they deserved it for doing that to Will. Not to mention how blase Juliet was about the whole thing telling Trudy she didn’t care that she was playing a dangerous game because she loved it. Because, like I said, Will wasn’t a bad guy, far from it, and because the book is told in the third-person we got Will’s life from Will’s perspective and to see somebody happy in his relationship and trusting his girlfriend while she flits off here and there with Sykes made it even worse it has to be said. As you might expect, I didn’t like Sykes, at all. As for Trudy, the wacky American, I did like her. She added a bit of colour to the book. I also liked Will’s friend and business partner Rolf, again, he added colour to the book.Calling Romeo appears to have been re-edited before being re-released as iPhone’s are mentioned along with Mad Men and other pop culture references that weren’t around in 2002. I must admit, I would like to see what was originally in place of things like that, just out of interest! As I’ve mentioned the book is told from the third-person perspective and switches between Juliet, Trudy and Will, but I think I may have been able to be more sympathetic to Juliet if it had been told entirely from her perspective because at least that way we wouldn’t have been aware of Will’s thoughts on his relationship because like I said it’s sad to see someone thinking their relationship is going OK when in reality it’s not and you’ve got no idea. So unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend the book, I’d tell you start with a different one of Alexandra’s, probably You’re The One That I Don’t Want. Calling Romeo is one you should wait to read, unless you’re already a die-hard Alexandra fan. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me, and I am sad to have not enjoyed it.
Okay, so Alexandra Potter's Calling Romeo was a chick-lit that I had a problem putting down. I do like a good chick-lit, no matter how dire. This book was pretty good, I do like Alexandra Potter. I bought it in the WHSmith in the train station that I was waiting in to go to Paris. I didn't expect much from it, just that it'd be a nice holiday read. I really got into it though.My favourite character had to be Will, bless him. I loved him. At the beginning of the book, I thought he was going to be a player but after reading about a page and a half from his perspective, I'd pretty much fallen in love with him. My heart really went out to him throughout and all I really wanted to do was tell him that Juliet sucked and he should be with me instead. Pick meJuliet, well, I started off feeling sorry for her because she was being rejected a bit by Will but as the story moved on, I hated her more and more. Let me tell you something about me, I believe everybody makes mistakes and they should have a second chance but not when they've cheated on someone on purpose. Not a stolen, drunk kiss, but an actual affair. It disgusts me that people would even do that to someone else. My view on it is that if you love a person enough to be in a relationship with them then why would you want to hurt them? You're supposed to care about them. That's just my view though, someone else might feel a different way, I just think it's a horrible thing to do. Juliet, at the beginning, didn't seem like the type of girl to enter into an affair but by half way through, thanks to Sykes influence, she'd really changed. She was a liar and a cheat and I couldn't stand to listen to her reasoning, I just had to keep reading the book for Will. Other than Sykes, who I hated with a passion, I loved all the other characters. I thought Violet was a different type of character to others that I read and she made me smile throughout the book. Trudy was hilarious, strong and independent and I loved her. I really liked how the story was viewed from different perspectives, I love books like that cause you can really get a grasp on the whole story instead of just seeing the one side. The writing was good, the story was good and Will was gorgeous. Three stars I think is just enough to squeeze though, since this wasn't a fantastic book, I did enjoy it however.Yeah, okay
What do You think about Calling Romeo (2004)?
Alright, if I have to sum it up in two words, I would say -- excruciatingly long and the only reason as to why it wasn't half a star or a star is -- I liked Trudy. And no, she is not the main character. Honestly speaking, after having read a decent book by Alexandra Potter, I find myself somewhat disappointed by the book. It was long and no, I have no problem with reading long books, I've read Harry Potter and loved it, remember. Maybe that's it, chick-lit is definitely not my genre. Juliet (I find myself unable to stop cursing the fact of how overused the name happened to be in modern literature) is, in one word -- whiny. Believe me, I can be a hopeless romantic when I want, but Juliet, she makes me feel annoyed and wanted to slap her with a verbal wet fish. It's painful to read her agonizing over everything. I don't get it, really...Luckily however, the book wasn't a total lost and it's saying something because my favourite character is a hypochondriac - Trudy. Funny, a little over the top, somewhat detached from reality from my point of view, Trudy made the book salvageable. True, she can be frantic and her moral value can be extremely flawed, but, I can't help but finding myself relating to her. There's Violet, another character that made me think it wasn't so bad. Still, honestly -- if I have a grandmother like Violet, I might shoot myself, I'm not kidding. She would embarrass me so bad that I would pull an ostrich. You know, burying your head in the sand thing...The guys... Uhh... Decent. Will is your typical everyday guy. The one you'd get married to on normal basis. He'd annoy you half to death but you'd still love him. Sykes (That name definitely brings back some sort of a distant fond memory -- not a romantic one), he's the crush you never get over from High School and now driving a flashy car. Fergus, he's just a douche. Funny how Rolf and Amber are the only two characters that didn't really irk me and I'm not really over the moon over. It was an okay book. But, I really don't think I'd read it again. It's way too depressing to read because of Juliet. Not even Alexandra Potter's occasional witty remarks that pop out every now and then could save it...
—Jack
Chick-lit with a capital c... Slight twist with the ending which just annoyed me but it did keep me from forgetting about the book altogether.Hmmm... So let's imagine that Juliet has met Romeo but how does it go afterwards. What if she cheats on "da one"? Will they get together again? dot dot dotK, so that is the plot. The ending *grit my teeth* did not answer the last question to my satisfaction. (think of that how you would like cuz I don't want to add a spoiler)Favourite Part- Juliet's thoughts when she is looking at the balcony because that is the only part I really remember after two months.Overal I didn't think it was anything special but admittingly I find it is hard for books to stand out in the chick-lit category because they are kinda shallow.xx just my humble two cents xxPs. Personally I don't think it did Shakespeare's work to justice even though it did manage sneak a little "the course of true love never did run smooth" mantra into it... Just a little.
—bookowl
It was an interesting start, but then it draaaaaaged on... Like most reviewers of this book, I found it slow and only mildly interesting. Enough went on to keep you reading, but at the same time a voice in your head would be chanting, "come on, come on, get a move on..."I just wanted to get it over and done with. At the start, I was questioning which guy Potter is rooting for in the book - it was a clever move on her part to give a bit of the starting narrative to Sykes, after all, only the main love interest gets a voice. But once it was clear that (view spoiler)[Will was Juliet's true Romeo (hide spoiler)]
—Serena
