Much Ado About Soulmates by Elsie McLean

Book Review Sep 03, 2025

Format: ARC (NetGalley)

Publication Date: 1 September 2025

💭 My thoughts...

3/5 stars

I enjoyed the premise of this book - it took one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and added a charming dose of magical realism in the form of soulmates adding colour to an otherwise black-and-white world. It was also a pretty clever way to modernise the story, with the characters involved in a wedding documentary at the Villa Messina. On paper, this book was perfect for me.

Sadly, it didn't deliver perfection for me. There was something in the writing style that just didn't gel for me. It felt clunky and heavy at times, meaning that I really struggled with the first half of the book in particular. This was exacerbated by the number of character perspectives that I had to keep up with - there were just a couple too many to feel easy.

In short, I enjoyed the premise, but the execution was something I found challenging.

📖 Synopsis...

Beatrice has published a book that is very anti-soulmates, but she's keeping a secret - she found her soulmate several years earlier but can't say anything because the feeling wasn't reciprocated... or so she thought. Now she is attending her sister's wedding, where her soulmate is the best man - she's on track for a very colourful and confusing trip.