Love and Other Words is a hopeless romantic’s dream. In this novel, Christina Lauren take us back and forth in time, piecing together a story of young love and then skipping ahead 11 years to show the lovers reunited, yet damaged and estranged. Young Macy first stumbled upon Elliot while touring her future home with her father (a fresh start after suffering a loss in the family). Elliot, a knobby, string bean of a kid, was reading in her soon-to-be closet. They became fast friends, sharing smiles over the pages of their favorite books. As time went on, their friendship blossomed into something more. All the while, the reader is left wondering how this budding, beautiful, vulnerable romance ended so catastrophically. The secret is not revealed until the end of the book, but this torture keeps you turning the pages and hoping that Macy and Elliot rekindle their love before you even know what tragically ended it in the first place.
I adored this novel. After finishing it, I immediately thought it was my favorite read since Autoboyography (also written by Christina Lauren). You know you have read a stellar love story when you get the urge to write, jump my partner’s bones, or both. Especially as a bride to be, I found the theme of eternal love in Love and Other Words to be electrifying. By carefully and patiently building Macy and Elliot’s romantic relationship ‘from scratch’, the authors made it possible for the reader to not only watch their love grow, but to feel it. With every alternating flashback chapter, you felt the young friends’ feelings for each other ripen (slowly but surely, over the course of several years).
In the ‘present’ chapters, Macy and Elliot are in their late twenties, dealing with the monotonous issues that adulthood brings (working, dating, and finding the best commute to and from work in city traffic). Macy is engaged in a comfortable, albeit dull, relationship when she lays eyes on Elliot eleven years after they split ways. Why did they split? Does it all work out in the end? Did their love stand the test of time? I would scurry along to Amazon or your favorite local book shop to find out!
Again, reading Love and Other Words was truly a heartwarming treat. I highly recommend the novel to anyone who has ever loved or enjoyed a good book in a closet.
Rating: 5/5
cristal victoria 