Review Detail

Life is crazy for Ophelia. Shes the on again off again girlfriend of handsome Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her father is the trusted advisor to the King. Shes used to the paparazzi hounding their every move. Though their relationship is rocky, Ophelia tries to hide what she feels as not only her father but the royal family dont think too highly of a commoner having a future in the palace. Then the King dies suddenly. The palace is in an uproar especially when only a month after his death the queen marries Claudius, the kings brother. Dante swears Claudius murdered his father. He tells this to Ophelia but she doesnt believe him. She thinks that this is his grief speaking. Then, just like the classic novel, Dante starts going insane and is paranoid of all those around him, including Ophelia. She knows she should ignore Dantes rantings and get on with her life but she still loves him. How far will her love go after tragedy hits them all?

This is a modern twist on the classic tale. Just like that story, Dante senses his fathers brother has murdered his father in order to gain the throne. Only in this story the media hounds both Ophelia and Dante, tracking all their moves. But this story doesnt have a happy ending like the recent wedding of William and Kate.

I really liked how the author shows us the tragedy unfolding through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Ophelia who doesnt die but lives to regret a choice she makes. And then its too late.

The only thing that kind of bugged me was how self absorbed Dante was at the beginning of this novel. He almost expected Ophelia to always be waiting for him even when hed go off and play the field. I kind of wanted Ophelia to just move on and go after her one hot classmate. Also I wanted to see more of Dante's father as a ghost and not just be alluded to.

Still this novel kept my interest especially with how close it mirrored the classic novel. Also it was an interesting twist to not kill off Ophelia and instead hear from her what happened in the palace.