Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
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.
Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).
Review: This was such a cute childhood friends to lovers, second chance story. Told in dual timelines, we get to know Macy and Elliot as children growing up and into love together. And in alternating sections, we see Macy and Elliot running into each for the first time in eleven years. They've fallen out of touch and Macy is engaged to another man. As the novel progresses, we slowly learn what happened between them all those years ago and see if it's something that can be repaired.
The dual timelines worked really well in this as it helped build tension towards uncovering the inciting incident that led to their falling apart. Macy and Elliot have great chemistry. My favorite sections were actually the ones of them when they were younger as their relationship progresses grows and seeing how close they were.
I don't always enjoy love triangles and the one here felt particularly silly because her fiancé was so disengaged and they so clearly were not into each other. This novel also has a cheating subplot (although I won't say who or when so as to avoid spoilers!) and I just don't love that. I found it hard to forgive and it did explain some things about their relationship. While entertaining and great on audio, I also don't know how long this book will stay with me. However, on the whole I was really invested in these characters while I was listening and enjoyed their story.
Stars: 4
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