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kellbraun 's review for:
Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story
by Terri-Lynne DeFino
Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I’ve willingly read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.
I’m always searching for great books set in my home state of New Jersey (especially when the state isn’t treated as the butt of a joke!). So when I saw Terri-Lynne DeFino’s VARINA PALLADINO’S JERSEY ITALIAN LOVE STORY available for reviewing, I immediately requested a copy without reading the synopsis.
I was surprised to find that the romance I was expecting the title character to experience wasn’t at all what I had imagined and didn’t focus on just Varina, but her entire family. In the book, we do get portions from Varina’s point of view as an overworked, 70-year-old mother and businesswoman who takes it upon herself to do everything for the family she loves, but also from her 90-something year old mother, and her “adopted” son, Paulie, whose biological parents disowned him when he came out as gay (TW for instances of homophobia).
These three narratives are intertwined throughout the book, allowing the reader to see the characters evolve as they deal with new experiences, love, and the bitter-sweetness that comes with every family, found and made.
And while the story definitely kept me entertained (I was incredibly invested in Paulie, in particular), and I loved getting some more background into the phrases I’ve grown up using as a Jersey non-Italian, there were parts I felt could have been handled differently. First, as many reviews have already stated, it took me a bit of time to keep the many characters straight. And though I loved being dropped into this huge, loud family, there we so many names thrown out in the first chapter that I had to keep flipping back to remember who was doing what. I also wish certain story lines had been fleshed out more—namely Paulie, Donatella, and Dante’s!—and others had made room for them. Though love comes in many shapes, in the end, I was left wanting more romantic love in this Jersey Italian love story.
I’m always searching for great books set in my home state of New Jersey (especially when the state isn’t treated as the butt of a joke!). So when I saw Terri-Lynne DeFino’s VARINA PALLADINO’S JERSEY ITALIAN LOVE STORY available for reviewing, I immediately requested a copy without reading the synopsis.
I was surprised to find that the romance I was expecting the title character to experience wasn’t at all what I had imagined and didn’t focus on just Varina, but her entire family. In the book, we do get portions from Varina’s point of view as an overworked, 70-year-old mother and businesswoman who takes it upon herself to do everything for the family she loves, but also from her 90-something year old mother, and her “adopted” son, Paulie, whose biological parents disowned him when he came out as gay (TW for instances of homophobia).
These three narratives are intertwined throughout the book, allowing the reader to see the characters evolve as they deal with new experiences, love, and the bitter-sweetness that comes with every family, found and made.
And while the story definitely kept me entertained (I was incredibly invested in Paulie, in particular), and I loved getting some more background into the phrases I’ve grown up using as a Jersey non-Italian, there were parts I felt could have been handled differently. First, as many reviews have already stated, it took me a bit of time to keep the many characters straight. And though I loved being dropped into this huge, loud family, there we so many names thrown out in the first chapter that I had to keep flipping back to remember who was doing what. I also wish certain story lines had been fleshed out more—namely Paulie, Donatella, and Dante’s!—and others had made room for them. Though love comes in many shapes, in the end, I was left wanting more romantic love in this Jersey Italian love story.