Dahlia Adler

In That Way Madness Lies, fifteen acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics! West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings! Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), A. R. Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).

15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined

That Way Madness Lies

Steph L 

Fun retellings

This book was a lot of fun for fans of Shakespeare and those who are looking to get introduced to his work. All of these stories were fantastic even the ones where I wasn’t as familiar with the source material.

absolutely loved this!!! a few of the stories felt like they were rushing the ending but overall they were all great and enjoyable to read + a refreshing take on shakespeare's works

Caitlyn DeRouin

you can read my full review here: https://teatimelit.com/2021/03/17/rev...

As we have established, I love retellings and I will obsessively read anything that involves Shakespeare in any way. That Way Madness Lies had been on my most anticipated reads list for quite some time and it did not disappoint! I don’t read many short story collections, and I think this was the perfect introduction to short story collections for me. I’ve read many Shakespeare retellings over the years, and the works in this anthology are some of the best. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. I thought that all of the authors did a really great job of capturing the feeling of the original stories while keeping them new and relevant. 

There really aren’t any weak links in this collection, and while I enjoyed them all it’s not really surprising that my favorite stories in this collection are the stories based on some of my favorite Shakespeare works. My favorites were: Shipwrecked (Inspired by Twelfth Night) by Mark Oshiro, Taming of the Soul Mate (Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew) by K. Ancurm, Some Other Metal (Inspired by Much Ado About Nothing) by Amy Rose Capette and Cory McCarthy, and Dreaming of the Dark (Inspired by Julius Caesar) by Lindsay Smith. I thought that all of those stories were masterfully done and perfectly took inspiration from the original works. Those stories really left me wanting more and I would love to see them turned into full-length stories.

This collection of short stories is full of complex characters and imaginative storytelling. I would highly recommend That Way Madness Lies to any avid Shakespeare reader, as well as anyone who is interested in Shakespeare’s works but is maybe turned off by the classical language. I know that this is a collection that I will be returning to many many times.

Alexandra P

Representation was great but some stories were just a bit boring to me and I’m a bit over teenage/high school drama. Favourites: severe weather warning, taming of the soul mate, Elsinore

agnese

my average rating for this anthology is 3.2. some of the stories did not do it for me, either because i have yet to read the plays they were inspired by, because of the childish dialogue, or simply because they were boring. however, this collection has some real gems. despite the stories i did not enjoy,  That Way Madness Lies  discusses such interesting and important themes, and it is ultimately worth reading in my opinion.

That Way Madness Lies 15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined

Reviews