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A review by diamondxsq
Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
3.0
review coming soon
i'm so sorry for this but writing all these reviews in a day is taking a toll on me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
°• 3.5⭐ •°
I read Love & Gelato back in March, i think. It was a really cute book that followed Lina as she navigated her new life in Italy. Love & Luck is the second book in this interconnected standalone series and follows Addie, Lina's best friend, during her trip in Ireland.
What i find really cool is that all three books (the interconnected standalone series is a trilogy) take place in different European countries. First Italy, now Ireland, and i believe the next one is in Greece.
Basically, Addie right here is in Ireland for her aunt's wedding (she's originally American btw). But, throughout the summer, she's had a falling out with her closest bud and brother Ian over a situation in school. So, obviously, we get to see lots of sibling arguments and bickerings. Which, by the way, i love to see in books, since i relate to that more than anything. I mean, yeah, Addie's the younger one in the book while i'm the older one in the fam, but sibling fights are sibling fights nonetheless.
So Addie's supposed to go to Florence, Italy with Ian for a few days to meet Lina, but boom, the morning when they're supposed to leave, Addie catches Ian going on a road trip across Ireland with an online friend of his for some mysterious reason. She ends up going with them, and voila, things unravel.
You don't know how grateful and appreciative i feel for there being no romance here. On first glance, i thought it would be one, since Love & Gelato was, but this one didn't have any romance! Goodness, i feel at peace.
Honestly, i prefer Addie over Lina, from every aspect. Everyone has opinions, so i won't go into detail as to why. I love it when contemporary books involve subplots of realistic themes, describing and visualizing things people go through in real life. Jenna Evans Welch does just that. I don't exactly remember what the first one talked about, but in Love & Luck, the author describes how it feels to always be in the shadow of your elder siblings. She embodies the insecurities of being the 'moderate' child with no exceptional talents while your siblings are shown to be extraordinary. The author doesn't miss out on showing how Ian, despite being in the school's football team and having everything one would want, actually doesn't even like the path he pursues, but instead wants to embrace his truer hobbies and passion. There are also elements of being fitted into a stereotype and being expected to function within those stereotypical grid lines, alongside how people can perceive you to be flat and plain, not caring enough to know about what lies beneath the society-imposed facade.
There's a lot on deep sibling relationships, but all of it is so pure it makes me cry. Addie is the youngest of four children, having three brothers. Three brothers who are very protective of her, and while they do tease her (as brothers always do), they care for her a lot. You don't know many times throughout this book i was reminded of how i wanted an elder brother ... but nope, fate had other plans for little old me, and now i'm an older sister not only to my brother, but to my cousins as well. Whatever, there's no use dwelling over that. I can't change life.
Ooh, i forgot to mention! There's a guidebook for Ireland that Addie reads throughout the book, and she does the "homework" given in there, depending on whatever destination they arrive. The name of the guidebook is "Ireland for the Heartbroken: An Unconventional Guide to the Emerald Isle" and it's really cool because you see the snippets from it between the destinations Addie arrives to. I'm pretty sure the guidebook actually does exist in real life, but i'll have to check first.
All in all, Jenna Evans Welch's writing is very fun, humorous, witty and adorable in every form. And i definitely look forward to reading the third installment of the interconnected series.
"Addie, you're sixteen years old and you have all the self-control of a ten-year-old."
(sorry, i was too lazy to find a good quote and this was funny)
°• byeeeee •°
i'm so sorry for this but writing all these reviews in a day is taking a toll on me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
°• 3.5⭐ •°
I read Love & Gelato back in March, i think. It was a really cute book that followed Lina as she navigated her new life in Italy. Love & Luck is the second book in this interconnected standalone series and follows Addie, Lina's best friend, during her trip in Ireland.
What i find really cool is that all three books (the interconnected standalone series is a trilogy) take place in different European countries. First Italy, now Ireland, and i believe the next one is in Greece.
Basically, Addie right here is in Ireland for her aunt's wedding (she's originally American btw). But, throughout the summer, she's had a falling out with her closest bud and brother Ian over a situation in school. So, obviously, we get to see lots of sibling arguments and bickerings. Which, by the way, i love to see in books, since i relate to that more than anything. I mean, yeah, Addie's the younger one in the book while i'm the older one in the fam, but sibling fights are sibling fights nonetheless.
So Addie's supposed to go to Florence, Italy with Ian for a few days to meet Lina, but boom, the morning when they're supposed to leave, Addie catches Ian going on a road trip across Ireland with an online friend of his for some mysterious reason. She ends up going with them, and voila, things unravel.
You don't know how grateful and appreciative i feel for there being no romance here. On first glance, i thought it would be one, since Love & Gelato was, but this one didn't have any romance! Goodness, i feel at peace.
Honestly, i prefer Addie over Lina, from every aspect. Everyone has opinions, so i won't go into detail as to why. I love it when contemporary books involve subplots of realistic themes, describing and visualizing things people go through in real life. Jenna Evans Welch does just that. I don't exactly remember what the first one talked about, but in Love & Luck, the author describes how it feels to always be in the shadow of your elder siblings. She embodies the insecurities of being the 'moderate' child with no exceptional talents while your siblings are shown to be extraordinary. The author doesn't miss out on showing how Ian, despite being in the school's football team and having everything one would want, actually doesn't even like the path he pursues, but instead wants to embrace his truer hobbies and passion. There are also elements of being fitted into a stereotype and being expected to function within those stereotypical grid lines, alongside how people can perceive you to be flat and plain, not caring enough to know about what lies beneath the society-imposed facade.
There's a lot on deep sibling relationships, but all of it is so pure it makes me cry. Addie is the youngest of four children, having three brothers. Three brothers who are very protective of her, and while they do tease her (as brothers always do), they care for her a lot. You don't know many times throughout this book i was reminded of how i wanted an elder brother ... but nope, fate had other plans for little old me, and now i'm an older sister not only to my brother, but to my cousins as well. Whatever, there's no use dwelling over that. I can't change life.
Ooh, i forgot to mention! There's a guidebook for Ireland that Addie reads throughout the book, and she does the "homework" given in there, depending on whatever destination they arrive. The name of the guidebook is "Ireland for the Heartbroken: An Unconventional Guide to the Emerald Isle" and it's really cool because you see the snippets from it between the destinations Addie arrives to. I'm pretty sure the guidebook actually does exist in real life, but i'll have to check first.
All in all, Jenna Evans Welch's writing is very fun, humorous, witty and adorable in every form. And i definitely look forward to reading the third installment of the interconnected series.
"Addie, you're sixteen years old and you have all the self-control of a ten-year-old."
(sorry, i was too lazy to find a good quote and this was funny)
°• byeeeee •°