review: books... "Things I Know About Love" by Kate le Vann

Rating: 2 out of 5

Bottom Line: Skip It

Synop: This British gal, Livia Stowe, is on the way to America to visit her big bro who is studying @ Princeton after finally being free from leukemia's grips for a year. Her goal is to have a fling over the summer--leukemia has kept her from socializing, being a normal gal, and developing relationship experience. She falls for Adam, her brother's mate, but will it last once he knows about her condition?

Rave: It's a book w. a good plot--so many of them have good plots, but such terrible writing.


I mean, i LOVED "If I Stay" (Gayle Forman), which was something similar--a sad, good weapy book about falling in love when death looms by.

But this character is... lacking. She's well-developed, but... i don't know. here. let's try to figure this out together.

her personality is okay. situation: realistic.

thing is this: her brother, Jeff, falls in love with this gal Krystina, whom he's had a crush on forever, and a couple pages later, they're history. mistake #1.

and le Vann (author) let Krystina and Livia become SUCH good friends--they were like sisters, practically--(mistake #2) and then, later, when Livia bumps into Krystina, Krystina just runs the other way (mistake #3).

i mean, if they weren't going to work out anyway, why bother? why make them BFFs, and then turn their relationship into such a pickle??

the reader LIKES Krystina. she's cute, she's nice, she's the big sis figure. but then she suddenly turns all slutty and dumps Jeff (Livia's big bro). And all they had was ONE make-out session.

i mean, COME ON! Jeff has PINED for Krystina, Krystina became SUCH good friends with Livia, and then it all goes wrong.

le Vann (author) manages to give Adam his own blog to share his point of view and feelings, which i liked--it was quirky, funny, real.

but when Livia suddenly has a cancer relapse (realistic), and DIES from pneumonia (UNrealistic b/c the reader still hasn't let the feeling of sorrow sink in and she's already dead.)

i mean, it was not weepy at all. the sadness was not sinking in at all. and then, bam! she's dead. wow. and then Adam is sad, yea, but... there's no real sadness the reader can feel from the book, there's no moving on, growth, ... nothing.