Other Words for Love
By Lorraine Rosenthal
Published 2011 By Delacorte Books
It's the mid-1980s, and Ari Mitchell feels invisible at her Brooklyn high school. Her hair is too flat, her style too preppy, and her personality too quiet. And outside school, Ari feels outshined by her beautiful, confident best friend, Summer. Their friendship is as complex and confusing as Ari’s relationship with her troubled older sister, Evelyn, a former teenage mom whose handsome firefighter husband fills Ari’s head with guilty fantasies.
When an unexpected inheritance enables Ari to transfer to an elite Manhattan prep school, she makes a wealthy new friend, Leigh. Leigh introduces Ari to the glamorous side of New York—and to her gorgeous cousin, Blake. Ari doesn't think she stands a chance, but amazingly, Blake asks her out. As their romance heats up, they find themselves involved in an intense, consuming relationship. Ari's family worries that she is losing touch with the important things in life, like family, hard work, and planning for the future.
When misfortune befalls Blake's family, he pulls away, and Ari's world drains of color. As she struggles to get over the breakup, Ari must finally ask herself: were their feelings true love . . . or something else?
~ MY REVIEW ~
I get this book, I really do. It's a peak behind the curtain of adolescence and first love. Those raw and often irrational emotions associated with being at the precipice of adulthood, this story has them all. There were parts that frustrated me immensely. Left me feeling like I wasn't sure I wanted to remember what it felt like to be a teenager, with an overbearing mom, and a strong vein of naivety. But there were also parts that made me smile and roll my eyes, in a "yup, that's exactly how it was" kind of way. So on a superficial level I would label Other Words for Love a good read. However, if I really get down to it, I was hoping for much more. The point of this story was supposed to be the MC's experience with first love. It took fifty percent or more to even get to the part where she meets him. The majority of the book is about her slightly broken, yet typical blue collar family and her insecurities due to codependency with her self-absorbed best friend. I get that the author wanted to tell a real story, really make readers walk in the MC's shoes. But I found it more frustrating than beneficial. The synopsis had me geared up for a contemporary romance read and its honestly just a coming of age type thing. I'm also not sure this writing style agrees with me. It is a bit "telling," and at some points looses its flow. This could very well be a style choice, and that's okay. I just prefer writing that shows me things and let's me fill in between the lines. The other thing that didn't work for me was the 80's setting. The only indicator was the constant references to AIDS. Take that away and this story could be set anywhere at anytime. I guess I'm a bit on the fence about this one, so it gets a solid three stars from me.
