Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Review: Other Words for Love - Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 5 stars (It's very appealing. Her lips are great and I love the colors of the bottom photo.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 354 p.

Ari feels like an invisible girl. Her best friend Summer is a shining star, she is smart, pretty and outgoing and people are always falling in love with her. When a family member dies and leaves his inheritance to Ari's family she is able to go to the Manhattan prep school with summer. Ari is not very excited about this though, because if in public school she was a nobody than in private school she will be even less. She has crushes but it isn't until she meets Leigh that her crushes have a chance to become more. Leigh's cousin Blake is attractive and smart and totally into Ari. She feels like she's won the jackpot. For the first time in her life she feels pretty and loved. When major misfortune falls in Blake's lap. He withdraws from Ari. Since she's never been in love she doesn't know what to do. What was once a magical world becomes too bleak all at once.

I really wanted to love this story. I read so many 5 star reviews of it from many bloggers that I often agree with. Something about this story I just didn't like. I felt like I was reading and waiting the whole 354 pages for something to happen. This was a great novel about first love and loss, but nothing seemed to really happen to keep me interested. The writing itself was very good and I didn't mind reading it. I just felt like the whole story could have been much shorter if all it wanted to accomplish was a tale about this one relationship, though I know there was a lot going on within Ari's life that would have seemed rush had this novel been shorter. I think the length lends to the intensity and validity of the relationship. It makes it seem like she didn't just fall for him to the point of no return in 3 days. After reading this novel I just felt dissatisfied. I guess I expected too much of this novel and for me, it fell flat. I did appreciate the characters though at times Ari was a bit too self-pitying, to the point of whining. Her sister and mother added an interesting dynamic, seeing as how they were both very loud and strong people and Ari was not. Ari and her sister's relationship was an interesting thing to read about, it helped that her sister sometimes flew a bit off her rocker, but they both needed to grow up.  I wouldn't recommend against reading this novel. For what it was it was really great. A true coming of age tale that, even though it takes place in the 80s, has a very undated feel to it. If you are a girl who has been head over heels and then lost that relationship this is a book you could enjoy.

First Line:
"In 1985, just about everyone I  knew was afraid of two things: a nuclear attack by the Russians and a gruesome death from the AIDS virus, which allegedly thrived on the mouthpieces of New York City public telephones."

Favorite Line:
"Then I knew that I was much better than okay, and I couldn't imagine feeling any other way."

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