Thursday, July 16, 2015

Book Review: Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner






Members of the Vise Library were selected to review Who Do You Love.  We received a copy of Jennifer Weiner's book for an honest review.






About the book:

An unforgettable story about true love, real life, and second chances…

Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are just eight years old when they meet one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she’s intrigued by the boy who shows up alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy’s taken back to a doctor and Rachel’s sent back to her bed, they think they’ll never see each other again.

Rachel grows up in an affluent Florida suburb, the popular and protected daughter of two doting parents. Andy grows up poor in Philadelphia with a single mom and a rare talent for running.

Yet, over the next three decades, Andy and Rachel will meet again and again—linked by chance, history, and the memory of the first time they met, a night that changed the course of both of their lives.

A sweeping, warmhearted, and intimate tale, Who Do You Love is an extraordinary novel about the passage of time, the way people change and change each other, and how the measure of a life is who you love.
Wow.  Where do I even begin with the love I have for this book?  The story of Rachel and Andy will definitely be something to come back to again.  Their story starts out when they are young and both in the hospital for different reasons.  That chance meeting leaves a lasting impression on both of them. They are so different for so many reasons (race, religion, location and financial backgrounds) and at the same time couldn't have been more perfect for each other.  They both understand what it is like to be different and throughout their lives they try to turn to different things to change that.  Even though their relationship matures as they meet over and over, it is not always perfect (or always work out).  

This book could not be more perfect at feeling so much like real life.  As you read Who Do You Love you will be hating all the near misses and misunderstandings that happen.  There were times that as I was reading this book that I wanted to say "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!" I wanted (of course) for them to always be together, but you can see the struggles of life and long-term relationships that impact what happens to these two.  This story shows that even though people are perfect for each other, that does not always mean they are perfect together (and that we need to learn a few lessons along the way).  People change and the things that they think are important eventually change too.  While Rachel in the beginning really concentrated on looks, she eventually decided other things were more important.  Andy comes from a more humble background and at one point gives into hype and the grass being greener.   It was so interesting to see how they evolved from the young kids you start off meeting to the adults that they become.  Your heart strings will be tugged on from time to time (a lot).  This book is funny (Rachel's J Date experiences) and thought provoking (Andy's way of thinking one night in New York).  I feel like every one of Jennifer Weiner's books become my favorite, but this one will be hard to beat (seriously, how?  I don't know if it's possible).  I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book and wish I were still in Andy and Rachel's world...

This song made me think of these two characters:



This book releases in August, so keep your eye out for our copy that will be added to our collection!  (Also, can I make a last ditch effort to convince Jen to come to an event in Nashville?????)
Buy the book:
     Amazon
       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books







About the author:

Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, which was made into a major motion picture, and The Next Best Thing. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives with her family in Philadelphia. Visit her online at JenniferWeiner.com.


Connect with the author:
   Twitter
   Website

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