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kameko's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book was such a fun and adventurous read! It truly felt like I was traveling to Italy while I read this. The description of her adventures made it feel like I too was on an adventure! This book had romance, grief, and adventure. It was well rounded and such a good summer read!
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Abandonment
durrareadsstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Sonia met my eyes in the mirror. "You know, people come to Italy for all sorts of reasons, but when they stay, it's for the same two things."
"What?"
"Love and gelato."
Woww, I have no complaints about this book. It's been a long time since I picked up a ya contemporary and I don't regret it at all. I'm telling you, you should read this. It's got Italy, gelato, pastries, pizza, a main character who loves food. The writing is easy and humorous I was laughing constantly. The love interest was cute and so was the romance.
So many themes were covered in the book : grief, breakups, toxic relationships, finding your passion, to name a few. As someone who's struggled with grief before, I find the way it's described to be quite accurate. I loved every character, even Mimi. And Howard was just-- I'll just leave it at that.
Point is, if you haven't read this, please do. I promise you won't regret it.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Cancer
madsmcw_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.5
I really fell in love with Lina and her story. I started this two days before Father's Day and I went in a little blind not knowing about the loss of a parent storyline, but Lina and her story captivated me and I didn't know how much I needed her. I felt seen in her feelings or grief and thought it was handled so well. I loved Lina and Ren, that part of the story just warmed my heart. This also seriously made me feel like I was in Italy with it's descriptions. So good, highly recommend!
Graphic: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
This book was just not for me. There were so many things that happened that I just could not stand. Lina getting assaulted by that guy in the nightclub but no one bats an eye. Her traumatic meeting with X and yet she moves on like everything is fine. There were just so many traumatic things that happen to her that the other characters don’t care to see if she is actually okay and that she herself processes for like 2 seconds and then moves on with immediately like a very scarring/damaging thing just did not happen to her.
Also, the ending? You’re kidding me. I know its a young adult romance and so I wasn’t expecting too much but so many things happened (in the span of a week, this book takes place over a week) that I just couldn’t believe. Lorenzo breaks up with a girl he’s been in love with for 2 years because he met Lina (literally yesterday) and now she’s the love of his life even though he barely knows her.
Also if you’ve just met someone, why would you let them read your mom’s journal? Lina literally meets Lorenzo and just dumps all this personal life stuff on him and he asks to read her mom’s journal which details all the painful, personal things her mom went through. Lorenzo is a complete stranger and yet you’re trusting him with such personal information regarding your deceased mother that you yourself just discovered?
I don’t know, I can suspend my belief for a little bit but all of this happening in the span of a week? Ridiculous. I’m sorry, I’m not usually so negative about books but there were so many things in this book, traumatic things, that were just handled so awfully. And on top of it all she falls in love with a boy in literally a week and he drops his girlfriend so he can be with a girl he’s literally known for a couple of days.
And then at the very end she decides to move to Italy to stay with Howard and be with Lorenzo (let me reiterate *grabs megaphone* ALL WHILE ONLY KNOWING ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS STORY FOR LITERALLY A WEEK) The whole thing was just too unbelievable for me.
Also, the ending? You’re kidding me. I know its a young adult romance and so I wasn’t expecting too much but so many things happened (in the span of a week, this book takes place over a week) that I just couldn’t believe. Lorenzo breaks up with a girl he’s been in love with for 2 years because he met Lina (literally yesterday) and now she’s the love of his life even though he barely knows her.
Also if you’ve just met someone, why would you let them read your mom’s journal? Lina literally meets Lorenzo and just dumps all this personal life stuff on him and he asks to read her mom’s journal which details all the painful, personal things her mom went through. Lorenzo is a complete stranger and yet you’re trusting him with such personal information regarding your deceased mother that you yourself just discovered?
I don’t know, I can suspend my belief for a little bit but all of this happening in the span of a week? Ridiculous. I’m sorry, I’m not usually so negative about books but there were so many things in this book, traumatic things, that were just handled so awfully. And on top of it all she falls in love with a boy in literally a week and he drops his girlfriend so he can be with a girl he’s literally known for a couple of days.
And then at the very end she decides to move to Italy to stay with Howard and be with Lorenzo (let me reiterate *grabs megaphone* ALL WHILE ONLY KNOWING ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS STORY FOR LITERALLY A WEEK) The whole thing was just too unbelievable for me.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
readbeales's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I can’t say this book was good but it did get me out of a reading slump!
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
brookey8888's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
5.0
Reread: is this still a 5 star? I don’t know to be honest. I’m not going to change my rating, but it’s probably like a 4.5(so basically a five star). I just really enjoyed this. It’s just so cute and fun, but there’s a heavier undertone going as well which I enjoyed. Seeing Lina learn about her mother and the people is her life was sweet and her exploring Italy. The romance is super cute as well.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
katemreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Grief
ifersinklings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was such a cute story. It felt very authentic with the character roles. I can't wait to read the rest of this series.
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Toxic relationship
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