The first Shakespeare play that I ever read was Romeo and Juliet.

Like a lot of other people, I read it in high school. It opened up a whole world for me, full of true love and tragedy, hope and solace. I fell in love with Romeo and Juliet as they fell in love, but it was Mercutio that held the light for me. I read and re-read that tragedy multiple times and it was always Mercutio that leapt off the page. He used wit and humour and spoke of love like it was a  real, breathing thing. I always thought his demise was unfair, but when is anything about fairness in a Shakespeare tragedy?

When Kate Heartfield announced Mercutio, I wondered how she would do it. Knowing and loving her work as I do, I knew that it would be historical magical realism, but how would she do it? How would she make the doomed character live again? And following that, how tragic would this tale be?

Instead of tragedy, however, Hartfield delivers something more. She has brought Mercutio back to life for me and lets him truly live. The novel tale takes place before the story of Romeo and Juliet, so don’t go into this book thinking it’s a tragedy. Go into the book with no expectations of what it could be and let yourself be drawn into the story and the world that Heartfield has created.

When Mercutio meets the poet Dante in the field of battle, he doesn’t know that this friendship will span years and take place across different realms. In their battle, they cause something to crack between the world of humans and Faerie. The two worlds somehow form a link to each other as if someone has opened a door and nothing is ever the same for Mercutio.

First, Mercutio begins to see stars that no one else can see. Then Dante disappears and Mercutio realizes that he’s being followed and that they aren’t from this world. Worse yet, they need his help. But there is a price. With the Farie folk, there is always a price to be paid.

What follows is a wonderous book filled with magic, tarot, Fey folk and a race against time, across plains and all of Italy. The whole country is brought to life in a story where the balance of humanity and magic is thrown off balance and back again. I’ve never read anything like it. I’ve already read it twice and started reading it a third time in order to write this review.

The novel Mercutio is incredible, hands down. If you don’t like Shakespeare, don’t worry! This is still the book for you. Mercutio brings a Shakespeare play to life but doesn’t read like one. If you do like and love Shakespeare, you folks are going to absolutely fall in love as I have and all the lovely Easter eggs that she Hartfield has planted.

Heartfield is so skilled at bringing you into a world that we know, but she manages to tell a complicated story that shadows the events in Romeo and Juliet, and you could read the novel and the play together seamlessly and have an incredible experience.

But wait and fear not! Mercutio stands entirely on its own. If you have never read Romeo and Juliet, you won’t be missing a thing. The whole story is told in such a way that you don’t need to know what comes before or after. This novel is asking you to simply enjoy. It doesn’t shy away from saying something either. There is a lovely queer storyline that made the romantic in me ever so happy.

Love is a magic beyond what humanity can understand, and it makes us do some incredible things. We have only but to take a deep breath, enjoy the incredible journey and see what the cards have to say.

Read Mercutio, please. It will heal something that is cracked in you and help you to believe in the power of love.

You can find more info on Mercutio and where to purchase it here: https://www.kateheartfield.com/mercutio/