Review: Love Like Crazy

Title: Love Like Crazy
Author: Megan Squires

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: October 1, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Relationships.

Love.

Life.

All things that can be considered—and oftentimes are—just a bit crazy.

With an alcoholic father and an absentee mother, seventeen-year old Eppie Aberdeen has learned firsthand that life’s circumstances aren’t always sunshine and roses.

So Eppie doesn’t expect the fairytale, because reality certainly isn’t one. She’s not waiting on the handsome prince with his white horse to come to her rescue. But even though she’s not waiting on it, that doesn’t stop nineteen-year-old Lincoln Ross from driving straight into her heart with his teal and white campervan and his too tall stature and perpetually goofy grin.

It’s difficult to believe in a happily ever after when a happy now is quite hard to find. But Lincoln gives Eppie hope that despite the odds, a true and unconditional love might actually be out there. A revised fairytale. A new kind of love story.

But then again, that might just be plain crazy.

(Love Like Crazy is an upper YA novel.)

My Thoughts

This book made me speechless. No, it wasn't because it was so amazing and beautiful. It was because it has the capability of messing up my brain. Yes, definitely that, because I found a lot of things that I didn't like, but still had the power to make me think. I know that I'd pretty much end up contradicting myself, also, in a way.

What I didn't like:

1. The pacing. Right from the start, after reading about the first 10% of the book, I found myself skimming through the pages. It was a bad start for me, admittedly. It continued on for the next chapters, and I almost finished the book in just a few hours. My reading speed shocked me, since I hadn't noticed that I was already more than halfway of the book. I felt that nothing much happened, at all. The pacing created a good opportunity to develop the characters and the romance between Eppie and Lincoln, but it wasn't enough to develop the plot and their relationships with the people around them.

2. Instalove. After a chance encounter at the veterinarian, the two of them started to hang out together. It was from there that they fell in love with each other. What? I don't think that you can just fall in love with someone after spending a couple of days with them, can you?

3. Relationship development. Being introduced to the background of Eppie and Lincoln, I thought that there would be more to the relationships they have with the people they encountered. I was disappointed to find that there were really not much interactions between Eppie and her dad, and also with her best friend. I guess I thought that since there were only a few people that the both of them know, there would also be some time at zoomed in at those relationships. It applied only to a few, though.

4. The varying speed. The first half of the book was slow-paced, but then, the last 20% of the book sped up. It seemed that a lot of things were crammed to the last part, which became a little bit overwhelming because I got used to the slow pace. There were also a few, small instances at the earlier part of the book that had this problem also.

What I like:

1. The romance. Even though I earlier said that I didn't like the instalove that happened, I love how I was able to see for myself the growth of their love for each other. Coming from brokenness, and having the ability to stand up once again because of each other was truly beautiful. It was amazing to see how the two of them just complete each other, and I think their love is really something that should set an example, that indeed, we too, can love like crazy.

2. The writing. The story tackled a lot of stuff that we usually force ourselves not to see. At first, I thought that this one would be a light, fluffy read. Right now? All I can say is that, yes, it is true that it is a light read, but it most definitely isn't a fluffy one. The way Love Like Crazy is written makes it easy for the readers to understand these various social, familial, or whatever sort of issues and problems found in the book, while not making them feel overwhelmed. It was an eye-opener that the world is definitely not full of unicorns

3. The quotes. There are just a lot of quotable quotes, and I just got crazy over them! Yes, they're definitely going into my quote notebook now, and I learned a lot from them. Some even made me reflect on what I have done, and what I'm doing. Hopefully, at least for now, I'll be able to start doing something about my realizations, just like Eppie and Lincoln.

4. Relatability. It was easy to connect with the characters, not because I had a similar past with them, or similar hardships. I guess I was the same in a way with Eppie, on how she'd think that fairy tales weren't possible but she'd still unconsciously want a happy ending. The way that she closed herself off the world was similar to the person I was years before. She had it a lot worse than me, but that small similarity definitely struck me, and it was easier for me to connect with her.'

5. The cover. It's just so pretty! <3

I guess I had a hard time with this book, and I'd say that I'm in the middle of liking and not really enjoying this one. A sweet romance between Eppie and Lincoln, it's definitely a different kind of read from the romance stories that I've been reading recently, and gives off the motivation that everyone can love like crazy. :)