Tuesday, May 18

Things I Know About Love by Kate Le Vann

Things I Know about Love


Summary:
 So this is really my first proper blog, but I don't want to do just a straight diary. I need to have a purpose, and this one's about love. Love, my loves, and why, no matter what the world spits at me, I will always chase after that one supreme emotion...because when you feel it, it makes all other things seem a little 'yeah, yeah - and?'
Livia is starting a new chapter in her life. She has been ill with leukaemia for most of her teen years and, as she heads out to America to visit her brother Jeff, she plans on making up for lost time. She's had a lot of time to think about love - but her observations, theories, previous crushes and boyfriends all pale in comparison to what she finds in New York...
My Review:
Following the trend of summer beach reads comes Things I Know About Love. Unfortunately, as I delved into the novel I began to realize that this was not my favorite type of beach read. The novel is told through blog posts, which I loved- a small step outside the box. However, I feel like this may not have been the best approach for this novel. In a regular blog, when you sit down to post, you don't usually write every detail; you focus on the important parts and give details/ background info as needed. I can't get over feel ing like this is what happened with the posts in this novel. Don't get me wrong, there was sufficient detail, but -for me- there wasn't enough. I couldn't connect with this novel. Things were just going so fast and everything felt abbreviated. I was missing the emotion. I didn't catch the emotions from the smaller things, like the stolen glances or the small everyday moments of embarrassment. Even with something as significant as Livia's leukemia, I just couldn't... connect. I wish I could say more, but given the brevity of the novel (only 160 pages!), I feel like saying more would say too much. 
My ratings:
Plot: B
Somewhat original, however its length captivated me more than the story line. Getting so far into the story after 30 short pages, it would have been a waste to take a break.
Characters: C
Livia seemed like a great character, as did the rest of the characters, for that matter. Unfortunately since it's written through blog posts and it is quite short, the characters didn't get as deep as they really could have given their circumstances
Cover Art: B
Very nice cover. I loved that you can't see Livia's face; it left more to the imagination. It's pretty simplistic as well, which matches the length of the novel.
Length: D
If you haven't caught on to it yet, I can't get over this novel's length! I don't mind short summer novels- I think they help to emphasize the quickness of summer, and how the days all blend together (can you tell I'm on summer vacation already? :) ), but this was just too short. I feel like the length stifled this novel in so many ways; from the characters to the plot to even the ending. I would even go so far as to say that the blog posting style would have worked better if it had been longer. The shortness really didn't do anything for me for this novel *sigh*.

I felt the potential in this novel, but the shortness killed it for me :(. Unfortunately, I have to give it: 
Three stars

For a quick, bitersweet novel, pick up Things I Know About Love on June 22






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