Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo Review

Name: Love and Other Perishable Items
Author: Laura Buzo
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: December 11, 2012
Format: E-Book ARC
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256 pages
Thank you netgalley and knopf books for young readers for sending me this book for review!

Summary:
Love is awkward, Amelia should know. From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.
Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.

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My Review:
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book when I started it...but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Overall, I enjoyed Love and Other Perishable Items, but their were a few aspects of this book that made it a little bit hard to get through.

First, one of the main aspects of this book that I didn't like was the multiple narratives. Usually I enjoy books with different perspectives because it gives the reader a different viewpoint which I like. However, in this book I thought the narratives were a little bit confusing because most of the book was told from Amelia's point of view, but then at sort of random times in the book we would hear from Chris-and I just thought this was a little bit confusing. Another thing that wasn't really working for me was the ending...it was just way too opened ended for me! If the author had written a flash forward to a couple years from now then I would have been much happier with this book. The ending was just too ambiguous and I really wasn't a big fan of it.

What I did like about this book was the overall message of the story! I thought it was really sweet to see Amelia go through all of these different firsts-falling in love, getting a job, etc, and the book just felt really realistic. I didn't seem like one of those fake high school stories, where there is so much bullying and there is a popular group versus everyone else. Instead, I felt that Amelia's experiences were a much more accurate portal of girls in high school; ones that are having friend issues, falling in love for the first time, arguing with their parents, and just trying to figure out who they are. Amelia just seems so real...and I loved the way that the author portrayed her.

In the end, I enjoyed Love and Other Perishable Items. A few aspects of this book I didn't love, but overall it was a cute story. If you are looking for a quick contemporary romance read, check this one out!
 
My Rating: