Love And Other Words by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on April 2018Genres: Adult Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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The story of the heart can never be unwritten.
Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.
But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.
Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love
Review: Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Review:
This is a hard review to write for me because I’m not sure how I feel about the book. In some ways I love love love it and in other ways, I thought some of it fell really flat.
The book centers around Elliot and Macy, long ago first loves randomly bumping into each other. Their past story really shines. First love, first everything, they get to know each other and suffer through growing pains and firsts and then betrayals and misunderstandings.
Teenagers Macy and Elliot are lovely and awkward and wonderful. I love reading about how their love unfolded, very sweet and natural. It makes everything that happens to them all the more heartbreaking.
Fast forward a decade later and Macy and Elliot are strangers again. But they can’t forget how they impacted each other all those years ago, or how they may feel about each other now.
I guess I really couldn’t get on board with grown up Elliot. Strange right? But in the current timeline, Elliot is less of a lovesick teenager and more of a wet mop. All these years he’s been pining away for Macy (aw, I guess?) but when he first sees her, he immediately thinks they should stop their lives and be together. The romantic in me thinks this is sweet but my modern woman also kinda thinks this is weird. Sure you may have loved each other a decade ago, but you don’t really know me as well as you did now. And don’t you want to try to get to know me first? And couldn’t we take it slow and become friends? I don’t know. Maybe I’m becoming cynical in my old age, but modern day Elliot was more love sick puppy and I didn’t really care for him as much as teenage Elliot.
Macy was great in both timelines. She is strong and awkward and trying to sort out her emotions. I love her relationship with her dad. It was such a beautiful thing in the book. She’s smart and driven and a complete full character for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I like Christina Lauren’s writing. It’s an easy read with characters to root for and a love story that’s engrossing and sweet. I don’t think it’s their best work but it still kept me reading, hoping to find that happy ending.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
