ENTER THE BODY By Joy McCullough

Dani Young 

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ENTER THE BODY By Joy McCulloughEnter the Body by Joy McCullough
Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers on 3/14/23
Genres: Historical, Retellings, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

In the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, Shakespeare’s dead teenage girls compare their experiences and retell the stories of their lives, their loves, and their fates in their own words. Bestselling author Joy McCullough offers a brilliant testament to how young women can support each other and reclaim their stories in the aftermath of trauma.

Short and Sweet Review

In the Trap Room, a room beneath the theater stage, there’s a room full of girls who have met a tragic end in Shakespeare’s plays. Ophelia, Cordelia, and Juliet share their stories and maybe even change things around to make it so they’re living their own lives and not one that was written for them.

Enter the Body is a novel in verse, which was interesting because through this style each girl told her story differently. The girls take turns telling their stories and how they ended up dying in the tragic ways they have. I liked reading their stories, mainly because I’m only familiar with Romeo and Juliet. Ophelia and Cordelia were more mature than Juliet and they did tell their stories as if they were older. The sharing of stories in the trap room formed a bond between not only the three, but with some of the other girls who were listening in the background. At first we see them share what has happened in a way that we’re all familiar with: the way Shakespeare wrote it, but they decide to take matters into their own hands and change the parts of their stories that made them so tragic and change it so that they’re the author of their own fates.

This book was short and easy to get through and I enjoyed how creative it was in how it was written in verse and how each character had their own flair.

Recommended Posts

I DIDN’T DO IT By Elle Gonzalez Rose

Short and Sweet Review Didn’t Do It had a premise that immediately grabbed my attention. The idea of a girl living under the shadow of her father’s crimes and then becoming trapped in a deadly cabin getaway sounded like the perfect setup for a tense YA thriller. I also liked how the story explored the way […]

Dani Young 

TO DROWN A WITCH By Lindsey Olsson

Short and Sweet Review To Drown a Witch had a really intriguing premise that immediately caught my attention. The idea of there being only one true Witch in each generation, hunted by an entire kingdom while everyone else relies on stolen magic, felt fresh and full of potential. The mystery surrounding the Witch’s identity, combined […]

Dani Young 

BEWARE THE ABBOTT BOYS By Chelsea Ichaso

Short and Sweet Review Beware the Abbott Boys had all the ingredients for a mystery I should have loved: a suspicious family, a small town full of secrets, a dead girl, and a second murder that throws everyone into chaos. The premise hooked me immediately, and the opening chapters did a great job creating an […]

Dani Young