Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The Night We Met - My Review of LOVE AND OTHER WORDS by Christina Lauren

Title: Love and Other Words
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: 4/10/2018
Source: ARC from the publisher



Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

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.


Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)






"Why can't everyone be like you?"
"I can be enough of your world that it feels like everyone is."

I have read (and liked) books by these authors in the past, and I have to say that this book completely blows the past books out of the water.

Alternating between the past and the present was the perfect way to tell the story. The reader is able to experience the past relationship and not just read about it. Also, it created cliffhangers and desperation that while you wanted to see what was happening in the present, you were compelled to go back to the past to find out where things went so wrong. I honestly think that one of my favorite parts of this book was the addictive nature of the past and the intensity of the characters and their situation. I reveled in the frustration of having to wait for the answers and the urgent need to get to the end of the book.

The title comes from a game that Elliot and Macy used to play when they were younger. They would ask each other 'What is your favorite word?' It may sound a little strange, but it really does tell a lot about the characters and what they are experiencing as the story moves on and their relationship begins to change. They have such a sweet beginning and their young love is something very special.

There were many surprises in the book, which I won't go into because... spoilers, but I just needed to say 'Well done,' to the authors for keeping me on my toes.

This was an emotional ride that brought me to tears on more than one occasion. I look forward to more like this from the Christina Lauren.


The Night We Met - Lord Huron

I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
Haunted by the ghost of you
Take me back to the night we met


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