Book Review: Love and Other Words
By Christina Lauren
Contemporary | Romance | Fiction
“Favorite word?”
“you”
My Rating — 5/10 🌟
The Premise —
Macy Sorensen is caught in a hectic but emotionally detached routine: working as a new pediatrics resident, planning her wedding to a stable, older man, and keeping her feelings at bay. But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos, her first love, the protective walls she’s built start to crumble. Years ago, Elliot was everything to her — her best friend who helped her heal, only to break her heart when he finally confessed his love.
The story alternates between past and present, showing how teenage Elliot and Macy grew from friends to something more, spending summers together near San Francisco, sharing books and life’s challenges. Now, as adults, they’re strangers, but their reunion forces them to confront the painful memories of that night. Elliot must face the past if he hopes to revive Macy’s belief in a love that once consumed them both.
My Thoughts —
**Spoiler Alert:**
After reading several Christina Lauren books, this one was a bit of a letdown. I’m not sure how I feel about it, and I might be in the minority here, but I don’t get the hype. The story’s pace is okay, and you’ll probably finish it, but many characters felt underdeveloped. Even the ones who got some attention were abruptly written out of the story.
One major issue for me was how Elliot’s past was handled. He was possibly raped, but the book treated it as a “drunken mistake.” Elliot was so drunk he didn’t remember anything the next day and thought he was with his girlfriend. Some characters appeared and disappeared without explanation. What happened to Sean and Phoebe? Where did Rachael go? How serious was Elliot with Rachael? If his “mistake” was so significant that it took the protagonist, Macy, over a decade to process, how was she convinced in a day? Also, why were Elliot and Macy talking like adults at 17? Their conversations were identical to those from 11 years ago. Macy’s constant focus on Elliot’s pants and his dick got uncomfortable after a while. Macy seemed to avoid conversations, while Elliot put in all the effort for their relationship.
I have a lot of questions and mixed feelings about this book. It might not pull you out of a reading slump, but it could motivate you to find a better read.
You can order this book from -
Amazon: https://a.co/d/ckZQON7
