Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein

He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again.

In this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting. Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems. When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia's happiness is shattered. Ultimately she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever... with one very dangerous secret.


I really love it when authors create books that mix fact with fiction, creating unknown and untouched material loved by everyone and has everyone thinking, "how could that have NOT been part of the story?". Ophelia is no exception.


I haven't read Hamlet (yet) but I'm sure, as everyone says, that after reading Ophelia, Hamlet will never sound the same again. As Ophelia looks through the eyes of the leading lady in this Shakespearean tragedy, certain elements are there from the original play. The beginning where it shows Ophelia's childhood and her acceptance into the court is pre-Hamlet. *SPOILER ALERT* the Middle bits are the Hamlet story line, with the murder etc., only from Ophelia's point of view. The After math (when she escapes) is post-Hamlet. So, in a sense, Ophelia tells the tale of before, during and after Hamlet. 


*SPOILER ALERT* Like (almost) all books I read, there have to be some amazing guy who I fall in love with. And this time it wasn't Hamlet.
Oh sure, I mean, he's amazing and everything, and yes, he's supposedly hot, but I wasn't so attracted to him as he started becoming, well, mad. My friend (who lent me this book – Thank You!) didn't know why I liked Hamlet. Well, I don't like mentally unstable guys. *rolls eyes*. Yeah, okay, I'll admit. He'd be somewhere on my awesome list of amazing guy book characters. But not somewhere near the top. And the guy who I really liked, was Horatio, Hamlet's best friend and "helper". 
OMG. I loveeeed him. I mean, he sounded much better and nicer and all the other good better stuff than Hamlet! and I lovvveed the ending of Ophelia. It was so cute, and I was hoping it would happen :)


I loved the whole story, and I mean it. Nothing was slow, everything was perfect and writing? flawless. Lisa M. Klein is a composer of words (wow I actually said that!) and I can understand that re-writing Hamlet from a different point of view is difficult, but she makes it seem so pronounced, so clear. Characters were portrayed as they were meant to be, with feelings so realistic, it makes it seem as if Hamlet was a real event in history.


Overall, I would say Ophelia is a read not to be taken lightly. You must read the brevity of the words and feel the emotions flooding through the book, as you get captivated by the setting and characters, to feel the full-effect of the book. Even without doing so, it's a book that's amazingly perfect, so true and pure, with development to the play Hamlet and shedding a new light on what happens to Ophelia and what happens behind the scenes, the leading lady taking the stage finally.