cgm42's reviews
190 reviews

its always the quiet ones...

beautifully bizarre as always 

I get why people reference this book and it is funny in its bananas and arrogance but its not life changing. This is one of those books that inspired a lot so you've seen its influence in others writing, as well as tv & movies. Because of that, it might have lost its shine on me and didn't grip me as it has many others, since I personally feel that people have built on the dark academia in dare I say, better ways. I think if I read this in high school or college it would have been mind blowing but I was knee deep in Anne Rice & whatever political thriller my dad sent my way during the 90s so my attention was elsewhere. 

Also that funeral scene dragged for what felt was soooo long that even the absurdity of it all wasn't compelling, could have done without it but alas small gripe.

The book is written in an interview style, with a couple of excerpts either from other books, magazines, and interviews. If you can read this along with the audiobook, do it. The cast of narrators were so good. It worked for me, but this might not be a thing that works for everyone.

Jenkins Reid has very quickly turned into my favorite authors this is the 4th book I've read from her.

I love this book. I'm a huge music fan and would devour episodes of Behind the Music in high school and still read memoirs, biographies, and essays from musicians and music scenes so this book is right in my wheelhouse. Fictional 70s rock band biography? here. for. it. to quote Barry in High Fidelity: "is it better to burn out or fade away?"

I enjoyed how certain scenes were re-told in vastly different perspectives either because people didn't know what was happening to certain band members or because they were possibly revising their own memories. I liked not knowing the actual truth and coming up with my own conclusions. I like how flawed everyone was while still remaining sympathetic to an extent. Eddie is so frustrating but he was always just about the music, similarly Warren was the same way just with significantly less hangups. Pete is chef's kiss.

I would love to read this book in just Karen and Graham's side, I found them a little bit more interesting then Billy. Billy I wanted to strangle half all the time, that musical genius who thinks he's not being a jerk when he is, who thinks he's this noble family man but uses them as an excuse for his shit behavior or a crutch to be a "better person." Because of that my feelings towards Camila were complicated, a product of her time? yes, but i feel like there was more there that she didn't allow us to see, which makes the way this story is told so great. What is Camila not telling us what is she shielding us

or the author really

from?

Ah Daisy, frustratingly wonderful Daisy. This is what i so enjoy from Jenkins Reid's protagonists they're so flawed and frustrating and yet they sit there in their messy and even through that you can't help but care for them even if you want to scream at them a little bit, Simone gets it, wish there was more of her too.

I think that's what prevented for me loving this books from end to end. I wanted more from everyone else, although i know the story is about Daisy and the why the band broke up and no one talked about until now. I just wanted more. Also didn't love the ending, but that's not stopping me from continuing to pick up her books. I've also had a string of books lately where the endings didn't make sense to me so that could be why I'm a bit peeved by the ending here as well.

I did like that the reason why the band broke up wasn't just because of Daisy and Bill's attraction to one another, but Karen and Graham falling apart, Eddie just being sick of everyone's shit, Pete not caring about being in a band.

I didn't like the email Camila sent to her daughters about how Bill and Daisy "owe" her a song, they owe her shit. was this her way of saying to Daisy "now you can have him?" like she's permitting this great love from beyond the grave? I could have done without this. Billy and Daisy's chemistry ultimately was limerence and not soul mates, I just didn't see the point of it. I would have loved to see them as passing ships and potential and what could have been. Thats just my read on it, I could be wrong that could not be the intention but open ending books are like that. Its interesting because i like open ending stories and unreliable storytelling but this ending irked me anyway.

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.