Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Love & Gelato

[NO SPOILERS]
a light and easy read. this is perfect for 14 year olds and above, especially for those that are new to reading. Lina, the protagonist, is very relatable and there isn't a particular character in the book that i despise(as in they shouldn't even be added as a character). they were all necessary to make a good storyline. this is one of those books that is good for when you're just bored, want to relax, and don't want to read something that is too overwhelming.

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ashleysills's review

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emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I think this was my first contemporary romance — crazy, right? I usually read fantasy or historical fiction, so it was definitely a bit of an adjustment.

This book follows 16-year-old Lina to Italy to live with a dad she never knew after her mom passes away. While there, she’ll meet cute boys and start to uncover a mystery that changes everything she thought she knew about her family and herself.

This story made me feel so many things! Happy, lonely, angry, heartbroken, hopeful — Love and Gelato took me for a ride, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I loved experiencing Lina’s journey to navigate life after loss and get to know her mom (and herself!) better. I loved the sweet romance. Also, reading about Lina’s adventures in Italy reminded me of living in Spain, where I got gelato multiple time per week 😆

What I loved:
💜 The plot moved along quickly (sometimes I felt like it was too quick, but then remembered this was not a fantasy novel 😂)
💜 Lina’s “more-than-a-friend” love for food (me too, girl!🍦)
💜 REN. He’s funny, respectful and an amazing friend
💜 Lina’s found family
💜 The mystery! It was believable and engaging
💜 I loved that Lina got to experience Italy “with” her mom

Disclaimers:
🤷🏻‍♀️ There were times where I was a little confused why a character acted or reacted the way they did
🤷🏻‍♀️ There was definitely some cheese, but that isn’t to say it wasn’t cute!
🤷🏻‍♀️ I wish I could have gotten to know the characters a little better, but considering this book takes place over a short amount of time, it makes sense we wouldn’t get to delve too far into their lives

I had so much fun with this light (yet meaningful!) read and I definitely recommend it. I’m excited to read the rest of the series, but it will probably be a while until I get to them.

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bookswstella's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I had pretty high expectations and I really thought that I would love this book, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. I expected to feel butterflies in my stomach and to smile all the way through, but I didn’t. Like, it was good but not great.

I didn’t really like Lina and even tho I liked Howard and Lorenzo more than the other characters, everyone felt a bit flat to me.

It’s pretty unrealistic since the whole book takes place during only six days, it feels like it would be at least a month. And the plot was pretty predictable too

What I did like was the Beatles references (thanks dad for making me a Beatles pro) and that I understood most of the little Italian there was, something my four painful years at studying Italian was good for:)

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bookshelvesandbookcorners07's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Enjoyable summer read that has a great sense of romance and family.

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mariethem1lf's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.5

At first I found Lina almost annoyingly American (yes she's an American in Italy, annoyingly so) but I grew to love her very quickly.

it was frustrating to see her jump to conclusions so fast sometimes, JUST READ AHEAD A BIT. it might be difficult emotionally but don't go charging around saying 'hey! you're my dad!' without knowing the full story. loved the parallels between Lina and Hadley, but also how different they were at times

loved the book :) will be reading the rest soon

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matchabookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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amongthestars's review

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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