Tempestuous (Twisted Lit)

by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Jacquelyn Mitchard (Editor)

After a mistake with big financial consequences topples her throne, former "it girl" Miranda Prospero is bitter: she finds herself stranded in a crazed new world, holding court among geeks and misfits at a mall Hot Dog Kabob stand. Then, she gets her chance for revenge. When the storm of the decade snows in the mall workers and last-minute shopaholics for a long winter's night, Miranda sets out to get back at the catty clique who was behind her exile. But there's a complication. She somehow gets handcuffed to sullen loner Caleb. With him (literally) bound to her side, Miranda learns more in one night about her own heart, and human nature, than she ever did as prep royalty. With this twisted take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes prove again that, from Juliet's grief to Cordelia's rage, no one knew about teen angst better than the Bard. His wisdom holds up nearly half a millennium later.

• ISBN10: 1440552649
• ISBN13: 9781440552649
• Publish Date: 18 December 2012 (first published 18 November 2012)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Source: Received from authors in exchange for an honest review

Review: Tempestuous is a creative and literate interpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest that refuses to follow Shakespeare’s plotline exactly but instead takes inspiration from its characters and its themes. There are, of course, great nods to Shakespeare scattered throughout the book, including chapter titles and various quotes. At one point Miranda says of her friend Ariel that she wished “I’d been gifted with the power to make her invisible.” Funny!

Tempestuous hooks the reader from the prologue, opening with a line that promises action and romance: “The handcuffs chafed my wrist, but that was nothing compared with the irritation I felt regarding the cretin to whom I was currently shackled.” The rest of the novel delivers.

Though Askew and Helmes have moved the plot from a magical island to a modern mall, the plot still borders on the insane. Miranda, her friends, and her enemies get snowed in overnight, and hilarious antics ensue. Miranda coordinates a number of crazy plots against her enemies that would border on the absurd in the real world but are quite in keeping with the spirit of the book. Similarly, some of the background information explaining the plot does not always make sense (The other students hate Miranda because they cheated in school? Everyone immediately assumes a thief is the same as a murderer?), but the overreactions are part of the fun and also in the spirit of Shakespeare.

Miranda Prospero is a combination of Miranda and her father Prospero from Shakespeare’s play, imbued with both Prospero’s need to control and penchant for lofty speech and Miranda’s kinder personality. She can be a little difficult for readers to relate to in her arrogance—she has a shallow popular girl attitude going on—but the key is remembering she is supposed to be arrogant because she is based on Prospero. (This also helps explain why everyone around her seems to think she has nearly magical solutions for every problem—something that remains unexplained and could easily confuse a reader unfamiliar with The Tempest.) Miranda stops short of being completely unlikeable, however; the bits of Shakespeare’s Miranda in her redeem her, as does her character arc from aloof private school girl to caring food court coworker.

The love interest, though initially annoying to Miranda, will probably be more immediately endearing to readers. He is smart, witty, creative, and kind. There is no instalove; their romance truly grows. (But isn’t Romeo and Juliet instalove, anyway? So it would be acceptable here!) Best of all, their romance is based on the idea that together, they can help each other to become the best versions of themselves, a message that is important but often overlooked in YA. Askew and Helmes certainly got this right.

I am not a huge fan of The Tempest, and that may have translated into some of my issues with Tempestuous. However, despite my personal exasperation with pompous characters and overstated plotlines, I recognize and appreciate that the authors did a fantastic job translating the themes and feel of The Tempest into a modern YA book. It is not simply an exciting, fast-paced read, but also well-written, and it clearly demonstrates the authors’ love of Shakespeare. I am looking forward to reading more in the serious, particularly retellings of Shakespeare plays I love!

Content Note: Mild cursing and slightly vulgar moments. All in the spirit of Shakespeare, of course!

Note: This review was also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

[Raven]

Read this and other reviews at my blog.

Thank you Netgalley for providing my advance copy.

After being roped into the greatest cheating scandal her prep school had ever seen, Miranda is forced to take a job at Hot-Dog Kabob in the mall as a way to repay her "debt to society" for her involvement. Banished and ridiculed, unfairly, by her classmates, Miranda struggles to maintain her dignity in her low-wage, highly embarrassing job. When the biggest snow storm of the season traps the mall workers and last-minute shoppers in the mall overnight, Miranda decides to use her charm and cleverness to get back at her former best friends, the ones who had shoved the blame of the scandal on her shoulders. With the help over her over-zealous coworker, Ariel, and the cute loner, Caleb, from the video game store, she gets her revenge and discovers a lot about herself in the process.

This was super cute. I should let it be known that I haven't read The Tempest since I was about nine and I honestly don't remember it at all. Not being familiar with the original tale, will not hurt this story for you. I wasn't able to see how many nods there might have been to the original story, but it didn't feel lacking to me at all.

Miranda is a great character. She is a great planner, and people seem to rely on her to solve their problems. She does get sick of being everyone's go-to girl for their problems, but at the same time, she relishes the attention. It was great to watch her realize who her real friends were, and get over her anger as the night went on. Caleb is a great male lead. He is sullen and cynical and just makes for a great companion to Miranda. They are so ridiculously perfect for one another that it just makes their interactions that much better to watch. Ariel is the cutest friend. She is not one to be underestimated either. The characters were really good, and they had a lot of fun throughout the night. It made for great entertainment.

The plot was cute and simple. It had underlying things that needed handled, but a lot of the book felt really random. In any other story, that wouldn't work, but it totally worked here. It was a lot of fun to see their adventures through the night play out. The one thing that was a recurring issue in the book that wasn't mentioned in the summary is that there is a shop-lifter locked into the mall with them. They spend the night getting increasingly more worried about it until they realize who it is. The danger element was there, but it was done in a way to not be a killjoy. This book wasn't meant to be a mystery, so it turning into one would've been really unsettling.

This story was short, easy to read, and hard not to love. This is definitely a series that I plan to keep my eye on. I can't wait till this one is released so I can buy it for my book shelf. I recommend it to everyone.