Behind The Pages #3 - The Edge of Falling by Rebecca Serle

Welcome to Behind The Pages March post! You can find last month's post of this feature, with Trish Doller and her second novel Where the Stars Still Shine, here.

What is Behind The Pages all about? I asked some of my favourite authors and a bunch of promising 2014 debut authors to annotate a scene, page or more of one of their books. I see the feature as a chance to show readers what's behind a page. Authors can share their favourite writing memories, the music that influenced a certain scene or anything else that comes to their mind. We might get hints to what the characters were thinking and feeling that exact moment or other fun details about their story.Hope you enjoy Behind The Pages as much as I do. I'm intending this feature to be a monthly post here on the blog.

On March 18th one of my most anticipated books of 2014 was released. Of course I'm talking about THE EDGE OF FALLING by Rebecca Serle. And I'm so happy that Rebecca agreed to annotate not one but three pages for us. 

Thanks to all the fabulous authors who took the time to annotate a page or scene for us, your comments are always so insightful and fun to read. When readers can't get enough of a book and its characters it only shows how much the author's work means to them, to us. Thank you!  

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Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie’s life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she’s famous for something she didn’t do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she’s ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie’s as well.

Source

About Rebecca Serle: "As you may know I am a writer-- always have been and barring some kind of Broadway-discovery-- always will be. I have loved writing since I could put words down on a page and that love took me through school at USC and eventually delivered me to NYC, my home and the scene of one of my novels, The Edge of Falling. I feel about New York the way I feel about writing-- pretty in love. That is not to say they both don't have their challenges (they do-- they are both so unruly and noisy!) but there is really no where else in the world I'd rather live, and nothing else in the world I'd rather do. I'm crazy lucky, but by far the best part of my job is interacting with you, the wonderful people, teens, hearts on the other side of this dialogue. So please reach out! Tweet me, visit me on Tumblr, talk to me about your favorite TV show (mine is The Vampire Diaries) and know that it is because of you that I am here." (Author bio found on www.rebeccaserle.com.)

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 The Edge of Falling by Rebecca Serle

Rebecca: "This is one of my favorite passages in the book. It's really about Caggie and how she explores her city. One of the greatest things about New York is that everywhere is home, but it's so easy to get lost...in fact, when you let yourself get lost in familiar territory, you may find something new and fabulous you didn't expect!"

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This is only one of many NY pictures you can find on Rebecca Serle's Instagram page. This one was taken about a week ago and titled: "Caught between the moon and New York City." Find it here.

NY ♥

Book Review: When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

Title: When You Were Mine
Author: Rebecca Serle

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Books UK

Publishing Date: April 26^th 2012

Length: 334 pages

Keywords: YA fiction, contemporary romance, tragedy, star-crossed lovers

Source: Publisher

Rosaline has been best friends with Rob since they were little kids. Recently, something deeper and more electric has entered their friendship, and when Rob returns after the summer break and asks Rosaline on a sort-of date, it seems they are destined to become a couple, just as Rosaline always knew they would be. The next day at school, a mysterious, beautiful girl arrives: Rosaline's long-lost cousin, Juliet. And suddenly it looks as if Rosaline might be about to lose her best friend AND her new boyfriend…

Summary by Goodreads 

A new interpretation of one of the most read tragedies in the world? Yes, please! Romeo & Juliet was one of my favourite reads in high school and is one of my favourite classics in general. The two doomed lovers dying a tragic death. It was always a story I found myself fascinated by. So you can probably imagine how excited I was to read WHEN YOU WERE MINE.

WHEN YOU WERE MINE is an amazing read, a fabulous YA contemporary romance with just the right amount of tragedy, drama and love. Some of you might say that a story like Romeo & Juliet can’t be copied so easily or that another retake only promises to be tiresome. Whereas the story follows the main events of the classic Romeo & Juliet, in the end it is only roughly based on it. This time it’s Rosaline’s story to be told.

Rosaline is the girl no one has really thought about much, until now. Rebecca Serle chose the famous tale of the two Italian cult star-crossed lovers and transformed the story to California with a pretty impressive storyline in mind. I loved to find out what of the original story she decided to keep and in how far she adjusted single details, added characters or wrote riveting new dialogues.

The book is divided into acts and scenes just like the original play and based on various tendencies and main events of Romeo and Juliet. The names of the WHEN YOU WERE MINE characters are very similar to the original names like Rosaline Caplet, Rob Montag, Juliet Caplet. That similarity bothered me a bit in the beginning, because just from the sound of their names, I imagined the characters to be copied, too (they are really not!). In the end I appreciated even that tiny detail, the names, that led to an excellent new telling about that ancient love story. Or better, the story of the girl who got hurt in the process and forgotten over the years.

Without telling too much about the story, I can tell you that much about WHEN YOU WERE MINE. The focus doesn’t solely lie on one love story. There’s more to that book than Rob loving Juliet or Rosaline’s feelings for Rob. It needs some time to discover in which direction the story is headed and that was what made WHEN YOU WERE MINE such a spectacularly enjoyable read.

A major plus is that WHEN YOU WERE MINE is not all about love, but friendship, too. You can imagine Rosaline must go trough many hardships and it’s an invaluable gift to have friends by your side. I’m sure you’ll love her best friend Charlie just as much as I did and highly appreciate the thread of their friendship’s story.

Rebecca Serle wrote her book with the knowledge that her readers’ would be expecting a certain outcome or start into it with predefined pictures of the characters Juliet, Rob and Rosaline. Of course Juliet would be the innocently cute girl who captured Rob’s heart, Rob her knight in shining armour and Rosaline the jealous ex not worthy of an own story.

Now Rebecca managed to shape the characters in a completely new and exciting way and I admit that Shakespeare couldn’t have done a better job. I was infuriated with the irrational, immature and mindless behaviour of some characters, moved by the emotional conflicts other characters had to go through and simply enraptured by the true major love story that hasn’t been told all that time.

 

1) of an essential character addition to the classic Romeo & Juliet cast

2) there’s always room for a new seven

3) it’s not fate that defines who we are and what we do, but our own choices

4) of the things that might not be visible yet, but that have always been there

5) it’s an amazing re-telling of Shakespeare’s drama

5/5 ***** WHEN YOU WERE MINE- The profound and adorable Romeo & Juliet retelling I didn’t know I had always been waiting for to find, devour, and love. Rebecca Serle makes YA and Shakespeare readers’ dreams come true.

YA contemporary readers, there’s no way around Rebecca Serle’s debut WHEN YOU WERE MINE. This Romeo and Juliet retelling is inspired by Shakespeare’s story, yet bears ever new surprises and turns the story way round. Rosaline’s been the star all along! 

* Have alook inside WHEN YOU WERE MINE. 

* Booktrailer. 

* Listen to the WHEN YOU WERE MINE playlist. 

* Visit www.rebeccaserle.com for further information about Rebecca Serle and her books.

* Thanks to Simon & Schuster UK for sending me a copy of WHEN YOU WERE MINE for review!