Love Disguised by Lisa Klein
Will Shakespeare is about to meet the girl who will change his life forever. After a mixed-up courtship with the Hathaway sisters ends badly, Will jumps at the chance to go to London, where he can pursue his dream of becoming an actor. There, Will meets the unusually tall (and strong) Meg who has earned the nickname “Long Meg” for her height. She’s also fleeing her own past as an orphan turned thief. Disguised as “Mack,” Meg was once a member of a band of boy thieves who betrayed her. When Will is robbed by those same villains, Meg disguises herself as “Mack” again–telling Will that Mack is her twin brother–in order to help Will recover his money. As Mack, she finds true friendship with Will. But is there more? And who is Meg really fooling with her disguise?
What ensues is a tale involving love triangles, mistaken identities, and the pursuit of hapless villains, as Shakespeare becomes a key player in a lively drama that could have sprung from his own pen.
Two stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for this eARC! This title will be released on July 30th.
I will make an admission here: I am an English major who hates Shakespeare. Well, most Shakespeare, except for Twelfth Night and a few others. So when I found out Lisa Klein had written a ya novel about how Shakespeare came up with the plot for Twelfth Night, I jumped on it. Sadly, what I found was mostly a trite and overwrought story that left me laughing at it’s weirdness in the end–and not in a good way.
My Life is a Notebook 