Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welsh Genre: YA Contemporary Romance Publication Date: May 3, 2016 Format: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase the book from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Gelato-Jenna-Evans-Welch/dp/1481432540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471302701&sr=8-1&keywords=love+and+gelato Summary: A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure. Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself. People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more. My Thoughts: You guys, you do not know how excited when I saw this package when it arrived. I may or may not have ran around the house and screamed for a couple minutes. But that’s besides the point.
The book is set in Italy, after Lina’s, the main character, mother left her with her dying wish, for Lina to visit her father in Italy. After landing, Lina is in for a huge culture shock, and to add on to that, her father, Howard lives in a Cemetery because he is the caretaker of the memorial. Sonia, the only co-worker of Howard’s, gives Lina a present, a notebook Lina’s mother sent to the cemetery that Sonia interpretes was for her. This notebook then leads Lina on a series of adventures, trying to decipher what her mother meant by sending her the notebook. Then she meets Lorenzo, or Ren and they instantly click. I love the sweet way that they fall in love, as I quote (someone, I can’t remember which book), slowly and then all at once. Ren is like the best person ever. Following along with Lina and instantly helping her try and fit in with his friends (and possibly her future classmates) and helping her solve the mysteries Lina’s mother’s notebook provides. I really liked the amount of sarcasm in the book, especially in the beginning. As someone who utilizes sarcasm way too often as a defense mechanism, I totally understood and could feel like I really connected with Lina and how she coped with certain situations. I really do wish we got to see more of Sonia. I would really have liked to know more about her, her background, and what part she played in Lina’s mother’s life. I experienced so many emotions while reading. When I first got the book, I really thought that it would be more of a light and fluffy book (which are books that I absolutely love) but it really hit deep. There were really funny moments but there were a lot more moments where you felt like it was the moment of truth. Ahhhh I absolutely loved the ending of the book. It’s so sweet and the perfect way to end the book. Even though the reader can predict how the ending is, when it actually happens, it’s totally worth it. Now if only there will be a book about Lina and Ren’s adventures during the school year… Or of her mother while she was in Italy. Also can we talk about the cover. It’s so minimalistic yet speaks so much. The colors are so soft and there’s the illusion of texture on the background. I give the book an 8/10 (4/5 stars). Fans of reading about summer in a foreign land and then falling in love, along with some adventure will devour this book right up. The romance was really fun and added like a cherry on top. If you like Anna and the French Kiss, this is the perfect book for you. What did you think about the review? Have you read the book yet? Let me know what you thought and all your thoughts in the comments section or find me on Social Media: @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. As always, I will be back tomorrow with a Classic Fridays post and y’all should join in on the fun! Find out all the information you need on the Classic Fridays page here: Classic Fridays Info. ~Brooke
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
June 2020
|