Romeo v Juliet by R.A. Spratt

Title: Romeo v Juliet

Author: R.A. Spratt

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Australia/Puffin

Published: 3^rd February 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: The OG enemies-to-lovers story gets the R.A. Spratt treatment!

Selby does not want to be in the school play. She is much happier behind the scenes painting sets – anything to avoid standing on stage in front of an audience, performing for disinterested classmates and overenthusiastic parents.

So Selby did not plan on landing the lead role of Juliet . . . and she certainly never planned to land in Verona and meet Juliet in person.

With chaos, wit and R.A. Spratt wisdom, if those who rush stumble and fall, Romeo and Juliet are about to crash-land into a modern-day town!

~*~

Selby is back to take on Shakespeare with Ms Karim. She’s sixteen, nearing the end of high school, and she can’t wait to move on. But little does she know that this time, the class will not only be studying, but performing one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies! Yep, this term, they’ll be performing Romeo and Juliet.

At first, Selby is relieved that she’ll be working backstage – it means she won’t have to perform at all. She won’t have to learn the Shakespearean English at all, and she won’t have everyone notice her stumbling. Well, that is until the girl playing Juliet, Pauline, can’t continue.

Selby is thrust into the lead at the last minute, and she needs to learn the lines – fast. But when she starts reading the play with her tutor, Dan Ncube, she’s pulled into the Renaissance world of Romeo and Juliet. Oops. Verona, where so many people die over a two or three day romance between two teenagers. And Dan is back with her. Except, there’s a bit too much murder going on this time as the Montagues and the Capulets continue to fight over who knows what, and everyone within grasping distance is pulled into things.

Selby and Dan are determined to get home as they leap from act to act to help Selby learn the play. What Selby didn’t bank on was Romeo having a rather daft and annoying habit of falling in love with every girl he sets eyes on. Within days, he has gone from loving Rosaline, to adoring Juliet and now, pining after Selby.

It’s the last thing she wants! It’s quite the conundrum, and the characters often follow Selby back out the play. Which is the last thing she wants, because she can’t explain it to anyone. This time though, meeting the characters could be diabolical and there’s always the danger of changing the play if she lets them stay in her time. Poor Selby has trauma from entering Hamlet, and what happened there in Denmark. She really doesn’t want to go anywhere near Shakespeare again! Let alone Romeo and Juliet with its body count. This can’t be good, right?

R.A. Spratt’s creative licence with what she allows Selby to do to the plays is amusing and a lot of fun. It makes Shakespeare engaging, makes it relatable and is a great way to show readers and kids who read this how retellings can work. It’s a clever way to make to plays accessible, and can be used as a good introduction to them. Seeing it play out simply like this helps understand the original, and all with R.A. Spratt’s trademark humour that makes her books shine and garners her lots of fans.

It carries on from Hamlet is not OK, yet I think kids can read this without having read that one, even though it is connected through characters. Enough is explained to get an idea of what is going on. Yet, it is lots of fun reading these as they come out too, and I am loving seeing how a modern author takes on Shakespeare.

Another thing I liked about this book was the representation of dyslexia and Sleby’s feelings about it and the support she is getting. Knowing why you’re struggling can give you answers, but as Selby feels, it also means she can’t hide anymore. She longs to be invisible, so her feelings about tutors and supports, and how she feels it makes her seem to people are completely valid. It shows readers who might be in the same position, or a similar position with disability that it’s okay to have these conflicting feelings. Or that it is okay to ask for help and get support if you need it. It doesn’t make you lesser, it just means finding different ways to do things. And showing that this is a reality and that it is okay is great as it shows everyone has to do things differently. Nobody can do the same thing in the same way as everyone else. We all learn differently. We all read differently. R.A. Spratt has done a great job showing that this is a good thing about society. And she has done so in such a fun way.

Like all her other stories, the latest R.A. Spratt celebrates being different and doing things in unique ways. This is what makes her books stand out. Everyone in them is allowed to be themselves. It is what makes R.A. Spratt’s books so enjoyable, so much fun to read, and I am looking forward to seeing what play R.A. Spratt takes on next!