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A review by kingrosereads
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book is something I would have loved as a 16/17 year old. It’s written exactly with a teenager’s thought process in mind. Honestly, when I’m reading YA books, I want reckless behavior and not-well-thought-out actions when the protagonist is under the age of 23. But even more so when they’re still in high school. It’s why I read YA books. To fault the book because the teen protagonist is a brat, judgmental, and makes reckless decisions is like getting mad at a waiter for giving you exactly what you ordered.
Carolina “Lina” Emerson is 16 and just lost her mom (Hadley Emerson) to pancreatic cancer after a very short battle. Lina’s from Seattle and stayed with her best friend’s (Addie) family for the last semester of her sophomore year. Unfortunately, Lina doesn’t have a dad (her mom never revealed his identity) and her grandparents aren’t able to care for her. This is all fine, because Hadley already set up for Lina to spend the summer with her old beau, Howard, in Florence, Italy.
Howard confirms with Lina’s grandparents that he’s Lina’s father which means they push her to stay with him to try to build a relationship. Of course, as a typical 16 year old, she digs in her heels and only goes because she promised her mom she would. Hadley apparently spent a year in Italy back in the late 90s where she met Howard, a fellow American student at their Italian art school (and conceived Lina).
With the aid of her mom’s journal from her time in Italy, Lina tries to walk in her mother’s footsteps over Florence and tries to understand how Lina was conceived, how Howard and Hadley fell in love, and why her mother ran away from Italy when she found out she was pregnant and never told Howard why she left.
Along the way, she meets Lorenzo “Ren” Ferrara. A cute charming Italian teen that joins her on her crazy adventure. And (of course) they begin to fall for one another.
It’s super cheesy, some of it doesn’t make sense, and it made me cry actual real tears. It had a charm to it that I can’t explain. Lina and Ren both irritated me, but made me laugh and my heart ached for them. I wish Howard were my dad. I don’t get why Lina hated the idea of living in a cemetery because I definitely would’ve loved that at 16 (hell I’d love it now). But Lina’s mom just died and I guess to some, cemeteries are creepy. Being forced to bond with a stranger because you made a death bed promise also sucks. Sometimes you have to just sit back and shit talk about strangers with your bestie to feel better. It’s all the angst of being a teenager without the one person who was supposed to guide you through it. But forreal, if I had the CHANCE to go live in Italy, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
This book made me laugh, cry, and cringe. It was cheesy and awkward and I loved it. Was it clunky, rushed, and not as developed as it could’ve been? Yes. But I still enjoyed it. I liked that Lina was always on the go from one scene to the other. I always wanted to know what it was like to be a reckless teenager who just fell so madly in love in a way only 16 year old could, and that’s why I read these kinds of books.
Carolina “Lina” Emerson is 16 and just lost her mom (Hadley Emerson) to pancreatic cancer after a very short battle. Lina’s from Seattle and stayed with her best friend’s (Addie) family for the last semester of her sophomore year. Unfortunately, Lina doesn’t have a dad (her mom never revealed his identity) and her grandparents aren’t able to care for her. This is all fine, because Hadley already set up for Lina to spend the summer with her old beau, Howard, in Florence, Italy.
Howard confirms with Lina’s grandparents that he’s Lina’s father which means they push her to stay with him to try to build a relationship. Of course, as a typical 16 year old, she digs in her heels and only goes because she promised her mom she would. Hadley apparently spent a year in Italy back in the late 90s where she met Howard, a fellow American student at their Italian art school (and conceived Lina).
With the aid of her mom’s journal from her time in Italy, Lina tries to walk in her mother’s footsteps over Florence and tries to understand how Lina was conceived, how Howard and Hadley fell in love, and why her mother ran away from Italy when she found out she was pregnant and never told Howard why she left.
Along the way, she meets Lorenzo “Ren” Ferrara. A cute charming Italian teen that joins her on her crazy adventure. And (of course) they begin to fall for one another.
It’s super cheesy, some of it doesn’t make sense, and it made me cry actual real tears. It had a charm to it that I can’t explain. Lina and Ren both irritated me, but made me laugh and my heart ached for them. I wish Howard were my dad. I don’t get why Lina hated the idea of living in a cemetery because I definitely would’ve loved that at 16 (hell I’d love it now). But Lina’s mom just died and I guess to some, cemeteries are creepy. Being forced to bond with a stranger because you made a death bed promise also sucks. Sometimes you have to just sit back and shit talk about strangers with your bestie to feel better. It’s all the angst of being a teenager without the one person who was supposed to guide you through it. But forreal, if I had the CHANCE to go live in Italy, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
This book made me laugh, cry, and cringe. It was cheesy and awkward and I loved it. Was it clunky, rushed, and not as developed as it could’ve been? Yes. But I still enjoyed it. I liked that Lina was always on the go from one scene to the other. I always wanted to know what it was like to be a reckless teenager who just fell so madly in love in a way only 16 year old could, and that’s why I read these kinds of books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse