What are your thoughts on the Romeo and Juliet fics Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed?
I did a whole read/review series of Juliet Immortal on my blog, but I’d be happy to retell my findings! Also gives me a chance to rant on Romeo Redeemed.
So yeah, if this was a proper fanfic in AO3 this would be tagged a hatefic or at least a Romeo bashing fic. Even then it would be too trashy for AO3, and that is saying something. Suffice to say, the premise of this mess is that Romeo betrayed Juliet to supernatural entities (because reasons) and left her to die in the tomb. However, Juliet is saved by the Nurse, I think, who is one of the “good” (sort of) supernatural entities and she turns Juliet into an immortal being. Now she and Romeo are supernatural enemies on opposite sides (again): Juliet is put to the task of matching girls with their soulmates, possessing their body for a time to guide them. Romeo’s mission is to…stop her, I guess. Oh, and tempt one pair of the destined couples unto suicide because he is that bad.
Five hundred years later, Juliet possesses the body of a girl and tries to match her friend off with her soulmate, Ben. Except…well, you know the twist. Ben is actually Juliet’s soulmate, and of course Juliet is attracted to him instantly but it’s ~forbidden, and (do I even need a spoiler?) Ben is the modern reincarnation of Benvolio because of fucking course he is. And of course Romeo possesses the body of an abusive ex boyfriend and generally acts like a creepy demon, half-dead with nothing left to lose. The only canonical trait I think of that this Romeo possesses is his smooth talking eloquence. It’s all portrayed as him being a player and ~evil, though, but still.
I don’t think I need to explain why this is a mess—in short, R&J being and acting outrageously OOC and Ben being set up as Juliet’s ~true love even though she also just barely met him/knows him. It’s the Hans-Kristoff thing all over again.
What I will say, however, is that despite this tiresome authorial bashing, R&J’s relationship is still the most interesting. There is a definite enemies-with-benefits vibe to their interactions that could have been exploited by a much savvier author. And then there is the fact that Juliet spent literally 500+ years alone with no other lover until the Ben ex machina, consumed by Romeo’s betrayal and hating him. Honey, I don’t know what to tell you, but…that may not be hate you’re feeling. Just fuck already. Hatefully.
Romeo Redeemed, on the other hand, was worse. And better. I think (it’s been awhile since I’ve read it). There he gets paired up with the “real” modern girl protagonist (Amy, I think) after Juliet vacates her body for her HEA with Ben. This pairing had at least a bit of spice, if I recall correctly, but ho boy…talk about turning Romeo into such an alpha male from a bodice ripper. I suspect the author must have realized her Romeo bashing went too far and some reviewers actually did enjoy Romeo’s POV (and yes, his parts were the most interesting of the book) so presto, unnecessary sequel.
But credit where credit is due. An R&J that suffers misunderstanding and betrayal, canonically would still be very much obsessed with each other. They are two halves of the same coin, so regardless of any other lovers they would gravitate toward each other. It seems ironic that the author accidentally wrote in that kernel of canonical truth, even as she pushed for this other (frankly inferior) ship. At least Gong’s These Violent Delights was self-aware enough for that, and actually embraced R&J’s supernova ship power.
