recently read: love and other words
13: the two romance books i read... and didn't love
Knowing what book someone is reading and what parts they resonate with most can be so intimate. It reveals their interests, where their head is at, and what excerpts are so significant that they will mark up a page because they think it’s worth revisiting at a later time. I’m fascinated by what books others gravitate towards and I find that it helps me get to know them better and gives me a small glimpse into who they are at their core. No one asked for these book reviews, but maybe it’s my way of showing who I am and what I’m interested in – beyond the clothes, the products, and my career. Or at the very least, encourage some to look up from their phones and instead towards the pages of a good book.
Book no. 3 of 2023
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
I used to be big on romance novels — I read more Nicholas Sparks as a teen than I’d like to admit, but in adulthood, I’ve found that my experience in the romance book department was lacking, even in a time when romance books have made a major comeback. I tend to go for books with heavier themes — race and identity, gender studies, generational trauma, for example — and I realized that while I do love exploring those topics, I could also leave room for some of the lighthearted stuff, too. That’s when a friend recommended Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.
Don’t get me wrong — it was super cute and made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The authors really captured all those feelings, emotions, and conversations (even the corny, awkward ones!) of a first love. It reminded me of the ease I felt as a teen going from friends to more than friends with a boy in high school. I read it in a day and couldn’t put it down. I loved the flashbacks and time jumps, which kept me wanting more and to put all the pieces together. It was a nice read that felt like watching a comfort romance film. But while I really liked it at first, there came a part in the story where I really didn’t.
I don’t know, while it was a nice break in between the books I normally go for, I don’t know that I’d recommend it or re-read it again. It was sweet but I think I still craved more depth that I get from other books.
Underlined quote:
“We only gave each other a fraction of ourselves. Losing him would never wreck me… I don’t think I could take losing someone I love again.”
Book no. 4 of 2023
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
I honestly hated it at first, but the the end made it a little less bad. Almost gave it 2 stars but because of that, bumped it up to a 3. I love the concept of the book — it’s about the ghosts of heartbreaks past and the desire for closure in a time when we can see (most) of our past loves’ lives at our fingertips. While good in theory, the writing was riddled with too many references that I didn’t understand and ultimately took away from the story. I also felt like the characters could have used more backstory as I didn’t feel connected to any of them — they were pretty unlikeable and hard to care about.
Also, anyone else find it bothersome how white writers often point out only the Black or Asian characters’ race or features but no one else’s because they see whiteness as the default? Yeah… that was obvious in this book. For the past few years, I’ve really been focusing on reading more authors of color and between this book and Ghost Lover by Lisa Taddeo (that I didn’t finish, by the way), I honestly don’t know how many more white-authored books I can take.
Underlined quotes:
“He’d enumerate the ways… I was not like other women, listing traits such as intelligence and sanity — leaving me with the choice of rejecting the compliment or betraying my entire gender.”
“What I loved most about you was your decisiveness… You decide things and go do them… You don’t hem and haw until it’s too inconvenient to do. You’re not afraid to move.”
“Sometimes I would pull up an old exchange… coming out the other end with emotions that were meant to be memories. It was like sticking a pebble in a wound, then getting frustrated the wound wasn’t healing faster… I reread these men’s words, which weren’t theirs anymore but artifacts of their former selves.”
“Their steady sweetness meant they never said anything outside the range of pleasant. This, impossible as I found them not to like, I found them equally as impossible to love.”
“I think, if closure exists, it’s being ok with the lack of it. It’s to be found in letting doors swing open, in trusting if hinges were meant to be locks, well, they’d be locks.”
Speaking of books…
I hope to see you at the Seen Library Bookstand next weekend :)
Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7
From 11am to 4pm
8850 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA
For just two days, Seen Library will have books on display at Platform’s minimal magazine stand. This will be open to the public — everyone is invited to come say hello and shop a selection of pre-loved and intentionally curated books, each wrapped with handwritten clues, making for a thoughtful gift for yourself, a friend, or the mother figures in your life — just in time for Mother’s Day, which is the following weekend!
There will also be:
Objects from Space of Time
Scents from Binu Binu
Treats from AV Patisserie
Drink ware from Cosa Collective
If you’re thinking about coming, I suggest making a morning, day or evening out of it! Come solo or with a friend, family member or even an acquaintance that you want to get to know better, stop by the Seen Library bookstand then browse the shops at Platform (I’d recommend James Street Co. x ARQ, Closed, Reformation, and Aesop) and afterwards, sit down and unwrap your book and read it under the sun, enjoying a cup of coffee, boba or ice cream.
And if you’re not in LA and can’t make it, but want a piece of Seen Library, click here to find out how to enter for a chance to win one of our wrapped books :)
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