TL:DR- emotionally stunted people is not my cup of tea. I'm really disliking the "we're so broken but together we're happy, so lets be together" also minus points for having the male character "growl" half his dialogue (is he wolf? is he vampire? is this A/B/O? does he eat glass for breakfast and chain smoke? no? just baseline human? m'kay), bonus points for referencing dragon porn because that was chef's kiss. If you want a soulmates/you're my everything/I fall apart without you and lets trauma bond without putting any effort into our individual growth, this is for you. Its not the worst I've read but I'm not running to get any further books from the authors.

I read the Unhoneymooners and it was cute but I didn't love the writing style that much or how it was resolved so I wasn't particularly interested to pick up another book of from the authors. Then I read Every Summer After and although I enjoyed the journey the ending fell flat for me. However, I was reading and watching reviews on ESA and there was a fair amount of people comparing Love and Other Words to Every Summer After, some going so far to say it was the same story and point to the author's acknowledgment that she read Christina Lauren books. I admit the curiosity got the better of me and that's why I picked this up and because I didn't like how ESA ended I figured "hey maybe L&OW will get the ending right! Maybe that's why people like this book more then ESA!" OH I WAS WRONG.

The stories share a similar setting: character A is from the city and family has a vacation home in a small town where character B lives and is the next door neighbor, they're both introverted and like to read. Friendship turns to young love, there is an EVENT and they stop talking to each other until they're brought back together and figure their shit out and get the HEA. I wouldn't call it the same story, I would call it playing in the same sandbox and overall doing something different, a remix if you will and in romance there are a lot of books that go through similar storylines but overall are different stories. Every Summer After is more light hearted and less angst, Love & Other Words is angst, pining and shit show.

What I liked? All the characters that weren't the main couple. Sabrina, Sean, and Rachel, we don't know them that well as they are not fully developed but I loved the idea what they could be if we spent more time with them. Is that really it? wow. I have a note at 58% of the book saying "should DNF but SCIENCE" I really did this to myself.

I think what I disliked the most, was how isolated these characters felt. I know the book talks about how comfortable they are in their bubble and some people are like that, but it also felt isolation was there solely for the purpose of the plot twist. Elliot has such a big family and to an extent there was some for of relationship between both families I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't know about Duncan. Also, that isolation just contributed to how emotionally stunted Elliot and Macy were, for all of Elliot's honesty he does zero work on himself for all of Macy's self-awareness she also does nothing and just lets things happen to her. I love reading as much as the next person but how is that enough to fuel this so-called great love? As teenagers, I get it those are the first feelings and its all intensity all the time but taking that into adulthood? just feels off.

I don't need to relate to characters or find them likable in order to enjoy a story. I don't need a romance to be realistic in order to enjoy a story. This was just off-putting to me, maybe the flashbacks should have taken a back seat a bit and develop more the characters in the present? not sure. I am done with the authors that's for sure, they are just not in my wheelhouse and that's fine, not every one can like everything. Also, making sure if there is a friends to lover, flashbacks, soulmate situation in a book, that I step away from it, not my thing apparently. I guess that points for the book, letting me figure out what I don't enjoy reading. 

 

Am I really supposed to believe that the reason Elliot was so "broken-hearted" was because he "cheated" on Macy and couldn't deal with they guilt? Sir, you were assaulted when you were drunk, you didn't cheat. Is this why Rachel was so mad? I hope so. I understand that Macy went through a LOT, I'm not taking away from her grief at all. There was people in her life who did the best they could to get her help, her dad taking her to group grief counseling, her aunt and uncle taking her to therapy and sorting out the estate. I understand that in her need to not be defined by her trauma and bottle it up inside, it in fact defined her. I just disliked the constant use of the word broken to define her.