The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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Always Never Yours - Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Shouldn't a girl get to star in her own love story?
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Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It's inevitable—each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love . . . with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college's acting requirement in the smallest role possible.
So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.
Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare's R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected.
In their fresh and funny debut, Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka break down the high school drama to find there's always room for familial love, romantic love, and—most importantly—self-love.

MY OPINION: ****

I started off not expecting to like this book and ended up finding it quite enjoyable.

I almost DNF-ed this book about 50 pages in, but I'm glad I didn't. It was a cute, pleasant read with a fun romance and a nice theme.

I found the beginning slow and a bit boring, but as soon as I got more into it, I found it was a lot better than I expected.

Megan was fairly likable, which is surprising because I almost never like the protagonist. She was flawed, but also relatable, which I found interesting about her. Every single one of her ~10 boyfriends have ended up choosing someone else over her. She is the placeholder, the "Rosaline", and this has put her in the mindset that she will never be the girl who gets the happily ever after. She's the class flirt and is known for being the boy-crazy best friend of Madeleine, the 4.0 GPA, community-service-doing perfect girl. She's also a director for the school's drama productions.

However, her dream college is requiring an acting credit so she auditions for the winter production, which just so happens to be my favorite (sarcasm), Romeo and Juliet. I feel as if I have made my thoughts on Shakespeare clear but this book was a heavy lover of him and his work and I ended up not hating it like I thought I would.

Anyways, she tries out for the smallest role but the director, Jody, ends up casting her as Juliet, much to her horror. She doesn't want the role but ends up taking it. The boy playing Romeo is her ex-boyfriend, Tyler, who just so happens to be dating Madeleine (yes, her best friend).

Then she meets Owen Okita, an Asian, quiet, introverted playwright who is also playing Friar Lawrence in the production. They make a deal: she will help him write a play about Rosaline (as Megan is basically the real-life version of her) in exchange for Owen's help for her next crush, Will, the just-turned-hot stagehand and Owen's kind-of friend ("friend glue").

Of course, this starts the romance, and wow, did I love it. It was so cute and slow-burn and obvious to everyone other than Megan. She gets with Will, but finds he isn't what she thought. She also learns some quite awful things about her friends and exes, and I truly felt bad for her. But through it all, she finds herself falling for Owen, much to her dismay and surprise.

Owen's Cosima (Italian long-distance girlfriend) was a really random part of the story that I felt was very unneeded. It didn't make a lot of sense and to this day, I still don't think she was real (hahah).

I liked the side stories about her parents and their own stories of love and romance, because it was a great tie-in for her own life.

This book is full of Shakespeare references, a girl lacking self-confidence, and the story of two unlikely teenagers who meet and fall in love.

I would recommend this book to readers looking for a cute, fun, simple love story.

Main Character: Megan
Sidekick(s): Owen, Madeleine, etc
Villain(s): low self-esteem, Alyssa, exes, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.

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