Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Monday, August 17, 2015

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 13th, 2011
Pages: 306
Song I Read While Reading: Clean by Taylor Swift
Rating: 4.5 stars

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, who made the sacrifice to ensure his own immortality. But Romeo didn't anticipate that Juliet would be granted eternal life as well, and would became an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.
For seven hundred years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart. Until now.
Now Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo, O Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness. 

To be honest, the only reason why I bought this was because it was $1 on Book Depository. Don't get me wrong, the premise sounded super interesting, but I had a $5 coupon and I wasn't letting a single penny go to waste. So this book sat on TBR shelf for quite some time, until two nights ago, when my mom picked it out the TBR jar. And god dammit, am I so happy she did! I started this book with the same feelings as I did with Hunting Lila; I would like the book but it wouldn't be anything special, maybe a 3 stars at the most. But guess who loved this book with every fiber of her being? ME.
This book could have easily been horrible and corny. I think most people actually do think that, cause I read some of the reviews on Goodreads. This is one of those books where you either love it or hate it. I, thankfully, loved it. It was the beautiful combination of Jay's fantastic writing and the way she weaved this intricate story. I tried explaining it to my mom and it was an absolute mess, so I just gave up and instead said they kind of got their happy ending.
Which is where I docked half a star. I don't understand how Juliet ended up where she did. I kind of do, but it's vague enough where it bothers me that I don't know if that's right or not. I care enough about the story to want to know, so I might email the author or something. Does anyone on here know? I'd be forever grateful if someone could tell me!
But besides that little blip, this really was the perfect story. It was sweet and tender, heartbreaking and  truthful. There's an underlying current of sadness, too, and I remember feeling my heart swell with that knowledge. That's what really did it for me. I'm a sucker for a sad, romantic story.
But this wasn't all sad! Romeo, O Romeo, how you took my heart. This is the kind of Romeo I'd want, not the the original one. He's a cocky, sassy, evil bastard and I gobbled him up. He brought a lot of much-needed humor to the story, making me laugh at his one-liners. Juliet was a treat too, a strong-head girl who knew what she wanted and wouldn't let anyone (namely, Romeo) get in her head. She was self-less and aware of the evil in the world, yet still believed in soul mates and true love.
She also had A LOT more patience than I did too, because I probably would have hit Gemma at some point in the story. She's one character I did NOT like. That little shit head. She was rude, bitchy, selfish, pushy, and WOULDT LET ANYONE FINISH THEIR FUCKING SENTENCE. The girl literally cut everyone off and refused to listen to them if they didn't agree with her. I couldn't stand her!
Okay, on to a better topic. The insta-love. Yes, thats present in here, and yes, I usually hate it. But, like I said earlier, Jay managed to somehow pull it off and make it so incredibly realistic that it felt like I was in the story, too, and falling for the love interest. It was pure and beautiful.
Some parts of this story were the complete opposite, however, and I gotta admit, I got a little queasy. Something I didn't realize but later read in a review (and connected with something said in the story) was that Romeo drank, or ate, some part of Juliet as part of the ritual when he first killed her. This book gets pretty raunchy, which is why it worked so well. You've got the lovey-dovey moments that make you swoon, but then you also have the intense, action-packed scenes that really help balance out the book.
Overall, this was an amazing story that I highly recommend picking up, on the off-chance that you end up loving it like I did. The ending was hilarious and I can't wait to pick up the second book, which is all about Romeo and him trying to woo some girl. Knowing Romeo, that is going to be an epic adventure that I'll definitely fall in love with.

Quotes
""I didn't come to fight," Romeo shouts, raising his arms in a defensive position. "I want to talk. That's all I've wanted all day."
"Talk."
"Yes, talk. Chat? Have... verbal intercourse?" He winks, and I fight the urge to show him what I think of him with my middle finger."

""No more school talk," Gemma says, putting an end to our discussion as to whether or not the physics teacher realizes his nose hair touches his upper lip. "Let's play a game."
"I hate games," Ben says.
"I hate people. And yet, here I am, with both you." Gemma counters with a grin."

""I'm sorry," Ben says, still breathing fast. "I wasn't even thinking. We can wait. We can wait as long as you want. We can wait until we're married if you want."
"Married." I sob the word.
"Yeah. Married. Why not? Someday?" He takes me wrists, pulls my hands away from my eyes. The love in his makes the tears roll down my face. "I love you. I want to do everything with you. I want to marry you and have kids with you and get old with you. And then I want to die the day before you do, so I never have to live without you."

"He hesitates only a moment before pulling me close, arms tightening around me, mouth meeting mine the same way it did before. Purely, sweetly, wickedly, perfectly. He sighs against my lips, a sound of such relief it echoes through my skin, making me smile and our teeth bump together. I know exactly how he feels. How it feels to come home, to find sanctuary, to be handed that missing piece that makes life not something it be endured, but something to be celebrated."

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