Reviews with content warning for Grief - Love and Other Words

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

196 reviews

an_a_list_alias's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love this book! The characters, the character development, the writing, everything! Even though it's downright heartbreaking at times, in the end I would still consider it a comforting and cozy read. Would recommend for my fellow lonely fellows 😭

Content Warnings

nyquillll's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I've read a lot of books recently, particularly in the past few days, and what I appreciate about the magic of this book is just how easily it invites you to fall into its pages and come along the journey of these two people finding their way back to each other, amidst a sea of pain, longing, and love.

What I adored about this book:

Elliott's love of words and even the way (specifically Macy) words are pronounced and how the sounds come to fruition in the mouth. His affinity for literature and the escape of reading was quite appreciated by me.
The exploration of an abundance of themes: the sweet innocence and headiness of being a teenager and starting to enter into the adult world, how vibrant and electric life can be alongside a kindred soul, the ache of loving someone longer than they are physically alive in your life, the despair and pain of losing a parent at a young age, the relentlessness and sympathy of time passing, how people enter into relationships for a myriad of reasons
(wanting to find love, wanting to forget love, wanting a safe/predictable love, wanting a fiery love)
, the beauty and ugliness that sometimes comes as a result of following our truest desires, the decision to not waste seconds more on flowery language - but rather saying things with our chest directly, a love that develops between friends and is born from an intimate familiarity and comfort, the importance of friends who call you on your bullshit and only want to see you happy, the companionship through life's transitions (friends having babies, getting married, buying a house, etc.), leaving the door to your heart open a crack, facing patterns of behavior that once protected you but now aren't needed, and something as simple as knowing with your whole soul that you're meant to exist at the same time and place as this one person.
The space and respect that authors infused into the previous relationships Macy and Elliott were in. I like the care that was put in to developing real, real-life reasons for why the relationship began and ultimately why it would end - quietly or like a bang.
I also liked the exploration of Macy and Elliott's feelings in processing the relationships they had with people other than each other.
The safe space within that closet library for these two friends to discuss everything under the sun - things that I normally don't see in books about kids growing up. The pacing of it felt natural, too.
How the end of the book felt like a big sigh of relief, the reminder to release the tension in your shoulders after a long day and fall into the arms of a loved one. Not just with the ending of the actual book, but also with the snippets we get of Elliott's pov - which was unexpected but greatly appreciated.
The juxtaposition of a family recently impacted by the loss of one parent and a family bursting at the seams with kids, parental love and joy, and a house full of laughter.
All the warm fuzzies I got from the book - as well as the well-deserved tears that were shed. :')

Other things:

I wasn't quite sure how I felt at the ultimate reveal of why there was a rift between Macy and Elliott and why all those years had passed. It wasn't until Elliott's pov was also shared (and one sentence in particular from him) where I was at once acutely reminded of how reality is ever experienced in an infinitely-dimensional space. How Macy experienced that night is fractured from how Elliott experienced it - it is futile to try and assert which one is more "real" when both are needed for a full picture. In that sense, though I was almost underwhelmed with how the (major spoiler)
alleged cheating/sexual assault
was resolved, I got the impression that it was two people who had experienced an immense amount of confusion, loss, grief, and pain that the semantics no longer mattered more so than being together and healing together.
- I think it would've helped the plot to explore or at least give more attention to the
  sexual assault
  that Elliot experienced and the impact of that. It was very glossed over and I got the impression it was a blip overshadowed by
  the death of Macy's dad
  , even though both are tragic and devastating, to different degrees.
Some of the flashbacks felt like they slowed down the plot a little too much. I know it was meant to be a back and forth of revealing information being past and present, but at parts, it felt like it dragged on a little.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual assault

Quotes I highlighted:

"When I lost her, it felt like I was downing in all the love I still had that could never be given."

"...even his anger was quiet. It was his love that was booming. His love was a roaring, vociferous bellow."

"It was always my plan to live wherever you were."

"You knew that. You had to have know I'd be here, waiting."

"You're the love of my life. I assumed I would get over you eventually, but seeing you yesterday? I couldn't go home to someone else and pretend to love her with everything I have."

"'I know I messed up, but was it that bad? So bad you just vanished?' No, it wasn't. Not at first."

"Bridge to Terabithia."

"I hate being sad in front of him because it's like he has this giant vault of sadness already and then he has to lock that all up just to take care of me."

"...when I think about it, I still have him, but he lost his whole world. Mom was the person he chose out of everyone and she's gone."

"Punctuation is your friend."

"But up at the cabin, I realized I was my dad's kid, too."

"Good work, min lille blomst."

"But my dad learned how to put my hair in ponytails, what kind of shampoo to buy, he even had someone teach him how to braid and use the curling iron for special occasions. He could have done what was easiest for him and just cut it all off. But he didn't."

"...according to that criteria, technically wouldn't that person be me?"

"I know it's awkward, men amor, but she needs to know that she is amazing, and perfect, and if I were there I would tell her the story in the envelope marked 23."

"You will be tempted to hate this thing that your body does, but it's your body's way of telling you everything is working, and that is a miracle."

"Every inch of your skin I made diligently; months I slaved over you. You are my masterpiece. I miss you. I love you. Mãe."

"I don't mind if you love him, Mace. Even if you think you might always love him. but if it makes you wonder what you're doing here, with me, then we need to talk about it."

"Anger, and hurt, and yeah - the love that I still have for her. I never got to fall out of love. I just had to move on when she walked out."

"We're not eighteen, babe. We're not coming into this without a few chinks in our armor. I don't expect you to have room in your heart for me only."

"'I'm sorry I was so quiet tonight,' he said, haltingly. I met his eyes in the mirror. 'I like your kind of quiet. Your heart isn't quiet.'"

"I don't want that." "Do you like my teeth?"

"'Not everyone does that.' Elliot didn't answer, just picked up his book and continued reading. 'Do they?' I asked weakly. He turned his head to look at me. 'Yes. They do.'"

"'Sean, this is Elliott,' I say, adding inexplicably, 'my oldest friend.'"

"I had a preemptive pang for our lives in the future, wondering whether we'd be close like this forever. The possibility that we wouldn't was revolting to me."

"'When have I ever talked you out of a relationship?' she says, eyes wide. 'Doesn't that carry some weight?'"

"She's my best friend, remember?"

"Countries were established, went to war, and split into smaller countries in the time it took for Elliott to answer."

"Who else am I supposed to kiss?"

"'Then come over here,' he said in that same quiet voice. 'You kiss me.'"

"'Well, eventually they might become your friends, too,' I tell him. 'Isn't that what couples do? Share things? Blend their lives?'"

"And I get that what he's saying is the ideal reaction to the situation we're in - it's the well-adjusted, textbook version of this difficult conversation - but is that really how the human heart works? You tell it to chill, and it chills?"

"Well, you're more, too. You're my best everything."

"You're, like, the only person other than Dad who really matters to me, and I'm honestly not sure I could handle it if I didn't have you in my life."

"I'm not interested in other guys." "Other guys?"

"You know I compare every boy to you. We aren't in revelation territory."

"So maybe your best everything should be your boyfriend."

"Sabrina, I have been happy with Sean. Just because I feel more overall when Elliott is around doesn't meant that those feelings are more valid, or happier."

"When Elliott walked up to us...I swear that was the first time I'd seen you smile like that - with your entire body - and it made me question everything about your personality before then."

"Just don't be a testicle about this..."

"You should take me to your spring formal."

"Is it so hard to accept that I want to be the only person you'd consider taking to a stupid formal?"

"I can be enough of your world that it feels like everyone is."

"...do you have anyone? Other than Sabrina?" "I have you."

"Losing him would never wreck me."

"'It hurt that much,' he says quietly, not really a question. 'What I did. When are we going to talk?' 'I didn't just lose you,' I remind him."

"'Your voice is mellifluous,' he murmurs"

"Sean doesn't have as much to give, but you understand why. After all, you wouldn't want to try to replace anyone."

"'Why are you so good to me? After everything?' Elliott tilts his head as he looks back at me. Of course he doesn't see it skewed this way. He only knows his betrayal, not mine. 'Because I love you?'"

"Something for our library?"

"It was a level of thinking I didn't really have the capacity or experience to articulate, but something about it felt familiar, in an ancient kind of way."

"I want you in my whole life"

"Number forty-seven on Mom's list is to tell me not to have sex until I can talk about sex."

"'Really?' I ask. He nods. 'I miss her.'"

"It's hard for me sometimes that we aren't together. I never know where the lines are. I want to cross them all the time."

"In that case, I like living alone, but would rather live with you. I like sleeping alone, but would rather have you in my bed."

"I like having friends over for Thanksgiving, but would rather it just be the two of us, doing our first Thanksgiving as a couple, eating turkey off the bone, cuddling on the floor together."

"I think we should stop pretending we aren't together."

"Macy, you know that I would make time any day for you. Any sliver of time I have is yours."

"We've always felt this way. I'm here. You're there. Just like before, we still belong to each other."

"After I lost Elliott, and - of course - after I lost Dad, I'd also lost every tether to tradition."

"It seemed a foregone conclusion that we'd be together forever."

"I don't know what else to do, so I simply mouth the word Yes."

"When we love, we love for good."

"I can't promise that it will ever be quiet, but I can promise that you will never be so loved as when you come home to us."

"I love you as the person I want to be with forever. I just...Macy? Will you marry me?"

"Dad pursed his lips, thinking. 'So he's your Laís.'"

"'I'd take any amount of time with her,' he whispered, turning to look at me. 'I would have taken anything I could get. I don't regret one moment of loving her, even though it still hurts that she's gone.'"

"You'll call me as soon as you get there?"

"I want to cry. I want to positively sob. I give it full access, letting it tear through me into these awful howls that echo off the high ceilings and shake my torso, curling me forward."

"All these instincts seem to live so close to the surface that they warp and weave through the fabric of possibility."

"'I miss you,' I tell him. 'I wasn't ready. I still needed you.'"

"'Are you hurt? Are you lonely?' I swipe an arm across my nose. 'Are you with Mom?'"

"Does she remember me?" "Do either of you remember you had a daughter?"

"Let's get back in the car, go back to the house. I just need a second to think." "I won't forget to call in the first place. I want to go back to that other heartbreak, not this one."

"If we drive today, I won't be a daughter anymore."

"...that the last day I saw my dad was eleven years ago today...and for many years, I've blamed Elliott for it."

"The closet isn't why we fell in love. We made this room special, not the other way around."

"I've been waiting for you to come home for eleven years. I'll go anywhere with you go."

"My mother. Laís, to everyone else. Mãe, to me."

"This one should go in our apartment."

"'Favorite word?' he whispers. I don't even hesitate: 'You.'"

"The sound of Macy's voice is hardwired into my reflexes. It has a unique scratch, a groove carved into its smooth surface."

"I absorbed nothing but the way her throat scraped across the letter Y."

"I knew the tenor of Macy's voice the way you know the creaks and groans of your childhood home."

"I've devoured the written word every day since I learned how to string letters together into words and words into language, and still, the thing I've always read best in the world is Macy Lea Sorenson."

"There's no bad guy here, Rachel, only hurt and confusion."

"'She looked...like Macy.' I peeled the corner of the label of my beer bottle, remembering every detail of her features. 'Fucking beautiful.'"

"Without Macy, everything felt alternatively too bright and too dim. She puts the world on mute."

"Scary was letting her heart be carried around in someone else's fist."

"...never known I'd been too drunk to consent."

"Simply put, it's tragic, what we each had endured. It's tragic how Duncan died. And it's tragic that we lost an entire decade."

"I could set up my forever in the dip in her waist, the soft flare of her hips."

"...this was breathing dust all my life and then getting a bracing, sharp blast of pure air to my lungs."

"Her satisfied grin tells me she's successfully wrangled our two-year old, Laís, to sleep."

"There are a million permutations of pleasure with her..."

"'I adore you,' I tell her. 'Say more,' Macy says..."

michaela_53's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

chloeve's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A beautiful love story! I am obsessed with Elliot! I love how mature he was at a young age. He was so well spoken throughout the book, especially about his feelings. We need more men like Elliot! I was so happy Macy and Elliot resolved everything and started a life together. I wish we got more of their life after they moved in with each other, or even a second book!

Content Warnings

readers_sea's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved Macy and Elliot's story so much.

Macy and Elliot meet when Macy and her father buy a "vacation home" in the small town where Elliot lives. They're still young, but immediately hit it off and become inseparable. Since Elliot lives there full time and Macy doesn't, their time together is sporadic and unpredictable sometimes, but they always make the most of it when they are together. Growing up together, they saw each other grow a lot, and of course that led to first loves and other firsts.

This book is told in dual timelines. One timeline is the past when Macy and Elliot were younger and still getting to know each other. Throughout the book, we get to see them slowly grow up throughout this timeline. In the other timeline, we are in the present. The present starts a decade after Macy and Elliot last talked/saw each other. Their departure was abrupt and left a lot of questions for some characters. As the story unfolds we are leading up to the night ten years ago when they stop talking. We get to see what happened and what led them to where they are today.

This story was so well done and layered. I loved how it was told in dual timelines because I felt like both stories were unfolding perfectly. I was rooting for them in both timelines, but also so curious as to what led them to not talk for a decade after seeing how they were growing up together. This story had a lot going on, and I loved watching it all unfold. There were a lot of themes and subjects that were brought up that I wasn't expecting, but overall I really enjoyed it and these characters.

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nuttus's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The amount I hoped the book would end where Elliot walked away and was mean to Macy is ridiculous.

Macy has no personality other than jealous and sorry for herself, a wet gray rag. She is so self centered and focused only on herself that I don’t understand what Elliot saw in her. Macy was always so sure that Elliot would chace after her that she was dumbfounded when for once he didn’t do it. She never ever stopped to think and take responsibility for the fact that she hurt Elliot. For fucks sake, Elliot was raped and clearly traumatized and she threw a fit that he cheated. Then she didn’t even bat an eye about it but just went on to tell that her dad died and once again, Elliot had to be there for her. She hasn’t done anything nice to Elliot, only strung him along for years making excuses and then wanted to be coddled. Was Elliot some sort of replacement of her mom or what, I don’t know but it didn’t feel like romantic love. Both were acting like robots, with weird and frankly child-like (not teen-like, child-like) honest communication without being honest about everything after all. It was not realistic in any way.

And what it comes to Elliot, he is a dumbass for clinging on to Macy for apparently clingingness-sake. There was no chemistry between them, other than sexual. And even the sexual chemistry wouldn’t translated without Macy constantly telling that. It felt more like Macy is just horny and it doesn’t really matter who or what Elliot was. She had just decided that yea, it needs to be Elliot.

Many have said that Every summer after was a better book and a copy of this one and commented on the reviews of that one that this is better and without the cheating. I strongly disagree. This one was unnecessarily dragged out. Not much happened and half of the pages could’ve been ripped out without the loss of nothing of value to the overall plot. The flashbacks didn’t connect to the present bits in any way, unlike in Every summer after. And that one didn’t have rape that was just brushed over with another trauma dump and angst Olympics by Macy.

In my mind the book ended where Elliot for once had a spine, told Macy off and Macy was shocked that for once someone did that to her. Not every romance book couple deserves or needs a happy ever after

Content Warnings

livvmarks's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The spicy scenes with them as teenagers was just a bit odd and felt uncomfortable, especially when Macy was 3/4 months away from turning 18. Like how hard would it be to just wait a little bit in the storyline? Ruined the book for me personally, also just not a fan of main characters being separated for a long time- especially 11 years :(

Content Warnings