Pub. Date: October 1st, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Hardcover
389 pages
How to Love took
me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I was angered, inspired, annoyed, and
overjoyed throughout the reading process because of how relatable Reena’s
character is, and because of how realistically her situation is
represented.
With a 4.0, the chance to graduate high school after only
three years, a close family with supremely strong religious beliefs, and
general anti-social tendencies, Reena is not a teen you would expect to end up
pregnant at 16. But she does. How To Love
tells Reena’s story ‘Before’ the birth of her daughter Hannah, and ‘After’. Everything
that ‘Before’ Reena experiences – from the destruction of a significant
friendship, to her budding relationship with long-time crush Sawyer, until the
moment she finds out she is pregnant – makes you feel like you're waiting to be
propelled into the middle of an intersection, knowing the car speeding up
behind you has no chance of stopping before impact. You know something serious
and potentially horrible is about to happen, but you're powerless to stop it.
‘Before’ Reena’s decisions frustrated me, but not as much
as ‘After’ Reena’s situation truly broke my heart. Reena is an overwhelmingly
smart girl, who seems to actually know, and stay true to herself – yet she
makes overwhelming poor choices. I felt really sorry for ‘Before’ Reena. She’s
lonely and because of that she puts up with a lot that she shouldn’t. I wanted
to scream at her and tell her how bad of a boyfriend Sawyer is. He never treats
her fairly. Not from the first time they kiss, or the first time they have sex,
or the second he leaves town without notice. Switching between the ‘Before’ and
‘After’ stories was an extremely effective tool to build tension, and it really
allowed the character growth of Reena, Sawyer, and their parents, to shine
through. You have an idea how ‘Before’ Reena’s story is going to end, but the
need to learn every detail of the events leading up to her pregnancy,
especially what goes on between her and Sawyer, is just as compelling as the
need to keep reading how everything has changed ‘After’.
I really appreciated how much all of the characters had to
learn - from the parents, to Sawyer and Reena, to their friends - and how they
all needed to acknowledge their own faults. How
to Love shows how everyone makes bad decisions and mistakes. But, truly
loving someone means loving them in spite of those things and forgiving them,
or deciding you can’t truly love them anymore, and walking away.
How
to Love is a tearjerker. The good and bad times of Reena’s life
will make you feel emotions from across the spectrum. I highly recommend this
novel.
Rating 10/10
** I received a copy of this novel from the publisher to
read and honestly review. I was in no way compensated.
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