When You Were Mine [Hardcover]

Rebecca Serle (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2012

In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo’s original intended—Juliet’s cousin Rosaline—tells her side of the tale.

What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything.

     Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

     Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet’s instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob’s heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends….

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Serle's modern-day retelling (Simon Pulse, 2012) of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is told from the perspective of the slighted Rosaline. Rosaline and Rob have been best friends since childhood and are finally pursuing a romantic relationship. As things start to fall into place for the couple, Juliet moves back to town and manipulates her way into Rob's heart. Juliet is portrayed as needy and broken, but her motives are underdeveloped and, therefore, not believable. While this is an interesting twist on the classic love story, those drawn to this plot may be dissuaded by the slow narrative arch. The story moves towards the climax with sometimes unnecessary detail to the mundane. Sarah Grace does a solid job of portraying Rosaline, but some characters come across as trite and annoying. Teens may be drawn to this title because a film version is in the works. However, there are better retellings available, such as Juliet Immortal (Delacorte, 2011) by Stacey Jay and Letters to Juliet (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2006) by Lise Ceil Friedman.-Rebecca Flannery, Lyman Memorial High School, Lebanon, CTα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

"By turns heart-stoppingly romantic and heart-poundingly exciting, When You Were Mine is a book you'll want to make yours." --Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus, bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries

“I swooned. I cried. I loved, loved, loved this delicious novel.” –Sarah Mlynowski, author of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) and Gimme a Call

“A powerful story about the thrill of first love and the devastation of first heartbreak.” –Leila Sales, author of Mostly Good Girls and Past Perfect

“I cried, I swooned, I pumped my fist in triumph! When You Were Mine is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring, with enough sizzling romance and compelling drama to make Shakespeare jealous.” –Sarah (aka Poshdeluxe), founder of Forever Young Adult

“A sweet, fun, and utterly irresistible read." –Deb Caletti, National Book Award Finalist

“A whirlwind of drama, intrigue, political scandal, and romance worthy of the Bard himself. Serle infuses plenty of realism and heart into her tale….She has made such an appealing character that the story goes from being another retelling of R&J to Rosaline’s story, told at long last.” --VOYA

“This emotionally authentic debut novel about a fragile first love keeps the pages turning….Serle gets the nuances just right. The optimism of new love, the concerned friends after Rose’s heartbreak and the dynamics of a triangle—not just the love triangle between Rose, Rob and Juliet, but also the triangle of female best friends.” --Shelf Awareness

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781442433137
• ISBN-13: 978-1442433137
• ASIN: 1442433132
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Retellings for me are a hit or miss, and this was a hit. May 2, 2012

By brandileigh2003

Format:Kindle Edition

Retellings for me are a hit or miss, and this was a hit. I enjoyed the plot and the twist of seeing everything from a new view. Rosie had a voice and story that helped me to feel for her and care about what she's going through.
Her relationship with Rob is so new and tender and I just wanted to root for them even though I knew what was coming. They made a cute couple, and seemed to be really into each other.
It was hard for me when Juliet came onto the scene. There was so much talk about 'the fight' between their family but when the details were revealed it felt like it was barely touched on and even though we see the devastation, we don't really get to feel it because its so brief. Juliet also isn't very nice. I could forgive going after Rob at first because Rosie never really clarified and it seemed like love at first glimpse from Rob and we never really get to hear why he was so attracted. I guess that it is supposed to be assumed and established because of the real play, but it was hard for me to buy. And regardless of first impressions and the fight between the families it seems that Juliet wouldn't violate the woman code and go after another's man once she figured it out.
That said, I really enjoyed the build up and mystery of Len. I think it was one of my favorite aspects.
Charlie also raised this story up! She was funny and a great best friend.
As for the ending, I was really wondering how and if she was going to pull it off, but I think it was as well done.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review for When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle January 18, 2013

By Alyssa

Format:Hardcover

This book was one of the last books I read for the year of 2012 - and I absolutely loved it!

Summary (from Goodreads):

In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo's original intended--Juliet's cousin Rosaline--tells her side of the tale. What's in a name, Shakespeare? I'll tell you: Everything.

Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her--and when he finally does, it's perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose's best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn't even stand a chance.

Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet's instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob's heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends...

What I Liked: Oh, contemporary novels, whe have you done to me?! This book was one of the last books I read in 2012, and I absolutely LOVED it! I have to say, while I expected some things in this book to happen, with Rob and Juliet, I did not expect others (like, the end? I did not expect it to go that far - but I loved it). The plot is so engrossing! I feel like I do not describe many contemporary novels as engrossing, but this one was! I read it between two days, within hours. It's one that is quick to read, but also very dense. It's not a light read all the time. Okay, next, the characters. I really like Rosaline. I truly saw character development in her throughout the story, and it was nice, smooth character development (smooth meaning there were many events that tested Rosaline's character, but she handled those situations better each time, learning from her mistakes). Rob is too perfect - so I was not on board with him from the start. I kind of liked Juliet, despite her standoffish attitude. Len, Olivia, and Charlie are all wonderful supporting characters. If there are any more books that deal with this story, then I definitely want to see more of Len. Overall, this book is terrific - a real winner in the contemporary world. And guess what? No love triangle!!! Well. Kind of no triangle. It's the kind of triangle that I can tolerate. Girl like boy #1, and boy #2 likes girl. In the end, everyone is kind of squared away, though girl still harbors feelings for boy #1. and I like that about this book - the feelings don't just disappear. Rosaline still cares for Rob as a friend and more, even though he's not hers. But things definitely end well in my opinion. And hey. When You Were Mine was one of my favorite contemporary novels of 2012!

What I Did Not Like: I really, really wanted more from Len (like, more interactions). Otherwise, I have no complaints :)

Would I Recommend It: YES!!! Contemporary lover? GO GET IT NOW!!!

Rating: 5 stars

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle May 18, 2012

By Amber @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Format:Hardcover

When You Were Mine manages to capture everything that made Romeo & Juliet unforgettable--the unstoppable feeling of love at first sight and tragic end that brings two feuding families together--and update it into an interesting retelling that will leave its reader breathless. Focusing on Rosaline, the girl Romeo said he was in love with before that fateful meeting with Juliet, we get to see an entirely new side to a well-known story that is every bit as encompassing as the one it was inspired by. Imaginative, inventive and wildly romantic, When You Were Mine is a beautiful contemporary.

I'm always interested in story's that retell a well known tale from a different angle so when I read about When You Were Mine being from Rosaline's point of view, I was instantly drawn to the book. The author set the novel in a rich community but Rosaline's family seems to be pretty middle class. That is to say, she doesn't have all the finest things but she isn't really wanting either. I genuinely liked Rosaline from the beginning. I think part of that is because I know how the story was going to go and she already had that sympathy thing going for her but I know that a lot of it was because of the person she is. She was insightful and seemed to see people for who they were better than everyone else except for Rob and Juliet.

What I found really interesting was that the author chose to make Rosaline and her friends the popular kids in their school. This is one of the first novels that I've read where we get to go into the inner workings of the mean girls but instead of them being judged by an outsider, we got to see them from one of their group. I'll definitely say that I enjoyed Rosaline's group of friends. Charlie's fierceness, especially when it comes to protecting her friends, and Olivia's general goodness made them hard to resist. However, they were mean sometimes and I think that helped show that in this story, everyone played a part in how this story ends. I'm not saying that loved the bullying part of this group and these girls were selfish but they did care about each other which sort of balanced it out to me. I must also admit that I enjoyed a bit of the cattiness and it never got overboard for me which is definitely difficult to do.

Rob and Juliet's relationship was incredibly complicated and I love the whole back story that the author created for them. They are best friends and share everything together and it seems like Rob is finally seeing just how awesome Rosaline is...until Juliet shows up. The author really worked to build something real for Rob and Rose which made it that much harder to watch when it falls apart. I also think the author did a good job building something for Juliet and Rob too and though theirs was obviously a destructively love, I understood why they were together. Juliet was a character I loved to hate because she definitely knew what she was doing every step of the way. I was glad, however, that about halfway through the author humanized her so we finally got to see things from her point of view. Like Rose, I both loathed and pitied her and because of that pity, I was willing to forgive. It's a complicated line and I feel like it was handled really well. It also helped that the author give Rose an amazing connection with a new guy that I couldn't get enough of! The chemistry with Rob and Rose was sweet but Rose and her new man absolutely sizzle on the page.

Rosaline's voice is perfect and there are so many fun details about her and her friends that they all seemed real to me. The writing was absolutely beautiful and I thought the author did a really good job with the retelling. Though she did take some liberties with story--the back story in particular, I feel like they were all good liberties. Having Rosaline be related to Juliet and Rose and Rob being best friends really added a lot to the story. My only small complainant was that it felt like the pacing was off just a little bit. It felt like Juliet wasn't in it long enough and I would have liked to see a lot more of Rob and Juliet's relationship before everything ended. I also felt like the tone in the beginning, which read a little bit spiteful to me, didn't match with Rosaline's character who was actually very forgiving.

If you like Romeo & Juliet, I'd highly recommend this retelling. Wildly romatic with characters you aren't soon going to forget, When You Were Mine is addictive. It will break your heart and make it soar in the same page.