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A review by readingwithsammi
The Joys of Love by Madeleine L'Engle
3.0
“But my memories are like a fire in winter—whenever I'm cold I can warm my hands at them."
I really don't have too much to say on this story - it was sweet but certainly didn't feel fresh. I knew from reading L'Engle when I was younger that this would probably be a Young Adult / juvenile read but I was surprised as I was reading it that it felt a little bit more mature. That's not to say it didn't have YA elements but the plot and setting at least wasn't as much. I almost didn't buy it but the premise of it being set at Summer Stock (theater) in 1940's New York was too much my style to resist.
The main character was especially naive for being like 23 and out of college and a lot of the characters felt too cliche (i.e. the girl next door that doesn't know how pretty she is, the blonde rich b*tch, the scummy older love interest etc.). The plot felt kind of one dimensional as well. Some of this of course goes back to this being written for younger reads and the fact that this was one of L'Engle's earlier works that she never published (published post-mortum).
All in all - it was okay, and I'm not upset I've read it but it's not too memorable.
I really don't have too much to say on this story - it was sweet but certainly didn't feel fresh. I knew from reading L'Engle when I was younger that this would probably be a Young Adult / juvenile read but I was surprised as I was reading it that it felt a little bit more mature. That's not to say it didn't have YA elements but the plot and setting at least wasn't as much. I almost didn't buy it but the premise of it being set at Summer Stock (theater) in 1940's New York was too much my style to resist.
The main character was especially naive for being like 23 and out of college and a lot of the characters felt too cliche (i.e. the girl next door that doesn't know how pretty she is, the blonde rich b*tch, the scummy older love interest etc.). The plot felt kind of one dimensional as well. Some of this of course goes back to this being written for younger reads and the fact that this was one of L'Engle's earlier works that she never published (published post-mortum).
All in all - it was okay, and I'm not upset I've read it but it's not too memorable.