Antonia Bernardin

The 46th book I read this year was Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.

I recently read their other book Twice in a Blue Moon, which I really enjoyed so I was looking forward to this as this one was Booktok’s darling for a while.

Vague plot summary

The story flashes between present day Macy and Elliot and their teenage selves 11+ years ago. Something happened that meant they didn’t speak for those 11 years and as they get to know each other again in the present day, we slowly get snapshots into their relationship as teenagers, walking us towards the incident that caused them to lose contact.

They met when Macy was 13, only just having lost her mum to cancer. Macy’s mum left behind a list of ‘rules’ or guidelines for milestones as she grew up and one of them was to buy a vacation home by a lake so that they had somewhere to go to get away from it all. On the day she moves in she discovers an awkward, lanky, teenage Elliot reading in her closet, with reading being one of the special things Mace shared with her mum, they quickly become best friends. As time goes on they begin to realise they could be more than friends but Mace is hesitant because she didn’t think she could survive losing another person, if something went wrong between them because they were involved.

In the present day, Macy is engaged and working crazy hours during her residency program. Her engagement was sort of… sudden, so when she bumps into Elliot with her best friend, her friend encourages her to reconnect with him and maybe heal some of those past wounds. Elliot responds to seeing her again by immediately breaking up with his girlfriend and declaring his undying love for Macy but she’s not quite ready to inspect those old wounds just yet. They decide to re-connect just as friends, avoiding the subject of *that* night all those years ago, until it becomes apparent that cannot just be friends, or, ignore the elephant in the room.

What did I think?

This whole book had an ethereal, endless summer holiday vibe, especially in the chapters that flashed back to their friendship in the cabin. It was also, coloured by loss and grief throughout, as well as sort of weary sadness in the present day snapshots. In the present day, Macy has also since lost her father but we don’t really know how long ago until the end.

This book was maybe a little sadder than I generally would gravitate towards for a fluffy romance book, it’s definitely on the end of the spectrum of people that prefer a lot of story with their romance/ spice. That being said it was a beautiful story and honestly, the rose-tinted first love part of the story that was looking back on their teenage selves was so romantic but so was the present when they are re-learning each other, baggage and all. Elliot is genuinely the dream guy, except for the big fuck up which causes them to not talk.

I enjoyed this as much as Twice in a Blue Moon but in a very different way, because they are so different from each other, except for the fact they are both second chance romances in a way.

I think I will continue to read books by this author for sure!