As soon as I finished Dugan’s book Some Girls Do last week, I knew I wanted to read more from her. Lucky me, my library had an ebook of Verona Comics readily available, so I checked it out. I don’t even remember if I read the synopsis; I just guessed from the title it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling and went from there. I’m a bit impulsive when it comes to books, haha.

Anyway, here I am, having read two of Dugan’s books out of three. While Verona Comics didn’t have quite the same effect on me that Some Girls Do did, I still really enjoyed it. I immediately loved both Jubilee and Ridley, and related to the latter much more than I thought I would. The self-deprecation, the bad relationship with his father…. just call me out, Ms. Dugan, why don’t you. Startling similarities aside, Ridley must be protected at all costs.

I also really liked Jubilee’s friends, and her moms. All of the relationships were so well-written, and seeing her parents lowkey adopt Ridley made my heart happy. I’d like to be first in line behind Jubilee to punch Ridley’s father in the face. With a chair. I’m glad that the poor boy had his sister, at least. I liked Gray, and their bond.

I really like modern retellings of classics, and Dugan did a great job with this redone R&J. Although I occasionally thought some aspects of the feud were a bit too dramatic, it mostly worked out. The indie store vs corporation theme also felt very prevalent to today’s society.

There were some other prevalent discussions and themes too, like Jubilee wondering if she can be bi/pansexual even though she’s never dated a girl, and co-dependency in a relationship. Just like with SGD, I felt the balance between this heavier content and lighter moments was perfectly done, making for an emotional but not overly devastating read.

Not gonna lie though, the last third of the book really hurt my heart, and had me worrying. I know suicidal thoughts are mentioned in the content warnings, but I want to mention again that they’re there. I don’t know that I’ve read any other books with a character presently having such blatant thoughts like that, so while I do want more people to read this book, bear that in mind if you do.

I was so relieved that this book had a better ending than the story that inspired it. I won’t say much, but it was good, and it was hopeful, and I liked it.

It’s safe to say that Dugan is creeping her way up my favorite contemporary authors list. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what she does in the future.

Representation