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A review by clairebartholomew549
The Love We Found by Jill Santopolo
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Sadly, this book was a disappointment for me. I was so looking forward to it because I adored The Light We Lost, but this book did not have what made The Light We Lost special.
Ten years after the love of her life Gabe dies, Lucy has closed her heart off completely and is focused on her kids. But then she finds a paper in Gabe’s things with an address in Rome, and she’s determined to figure out what it means.
Ugh. I really, really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t. I don’t know if the issue is that I read The Light We Lost a few years ago and don’t remember it being this cheesy and overwrought, or that The Light We Lost was deeply magical and this just doesn’t work. There are many things that were off to me. The “twist” / secret barely warrants being labeled a twist, and the plot meanders and builds several times without really going anywhere. Lucy is insufferable in this book - so whiny! The fact that this book was written in her voice but directed to Gabe was so strange and I did not like it. The insta love is also stronggg in this book, and I couldn’t see the chemistry between Lucy and Dax at all. I did appreciate the depiction of blended families and thought all the plots about the family dynamics were the most interesting part. I rolled my eyes through much of this book which is a huge disappointment :/
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!
Ten years after the love of her life Gabe dies, Lucy has closed her heart off completely and is focused on her kids. But then she finds a paper in Gabe’s things with an address in Rome, and she’s determined to figure out what it means.
Ugh. I really, really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t. I don’t know if the issue is that I read The Light We Lost a few years ago and don’t remember it being this cheesy and overwrought, or that The Light We Lost was deeply magical and this just doesn’t work. There are many things that were off to me. The “twist” / secret barely warrants being labeled a twist, and the plot meanders and builds several times without really going anywhere. Lucy is insufferable in this book - so whiny! The fact that this book was written in her voice but directed to Gabe was so strange and I did not like it. The insta love is also stronggg in this book, and I couldn’t see the chemistry between Lucy and Dax at all. I did appreciate the depiction of blended families and thought all the plots about the family dynamics were the most interesting part. I rolled my eyes through much of this book which is a huge disappointment :/
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity
Minor: Xenophobia, War