There are times in which I feel, for a person with an English Lit degree, terribly under-read. Reading a YA Shakespearean retelling and realizing I have only cursory knowledge of the source material is one of those times. 

The Fool’s Girl essentially continues the story of Twelfth Night through the eyes of Violetta, the daughter of the play’s protagonist, after their country has fallen apart. She, along with Feste, the fool, search for an ancient relic, stolen by Malvolio- in a scheme entangling a London playwright by name of William Shakespeare.

Well, there certainly is enough drama to keep the story going. Politics, familial betrayal, ghosts… all of this and more come about in the story Violetta tells Will, taking the reader along for the ride. Rees flips between 3red and 1st person to do so, which I find interesting.

I find myself much preferring the 1st person however- the voice is much more compelling, the language richer, the descriptions more vibrant. The writing in the 3rd person sections are still good, but it feels flat somehow in comparison. There’s an awful lot of ‘telling’ going on here, where some description, some sense of internal life, would have done wonders. It’s in these 3rd person sections that the story drags.

Other than the first person sections, I had difficulty connecting to Violetta. She just doesn’t seem to come off the page as much as I would hope. This goes doubly for most of the minor characters, including the love interest. Feste, however, I greatly enjoyed. He’s tricky and biting. Despite caring for people (well, his specific people), he’s not nice, which in my opinion makes him one of the best sort of fools.

Speaking of Feste and other characters taken from Twelfth Night, however I will say that those readers who have a fondness for them won’t find this the most cheerful read. Rees decides in this story to flip genres on this poor cast of characters, shifting the story of Twelfth Night from comedy to tragedy as time goes on and the story continues past the dropping of the metaphorical curtain. Such is the way with retellings, twisting and turning the original story to make something new, still I must admit that the turn was pretty drastic and in several occasions I would argue a poor decision regarding characterization.