Spoiler-Free Review

If you enjoy romance, dual timelines, and contemporary fiction exploring the personal journeys that bring two people together, you’ll probably like Love and Other Words.

What’s Love and Other Words about?

Macy and Elliot were each other’s first everything, until a falling out split them apart. Eleven years later, a chance encounter catapults Elliot back into Macy’s life, forcing her to confront her feelings about both the past and the present.

This was mostly nostalgic for me.

Something you may not know about me is that my husband and I have been together since the 8th grade, when we were 13- and 14-years-old, respectively. So the budding early romance in the flashback chapters took me straight back to yesteryear, to the age of braces, first kisses, and one nerdy boy. I had such an affection for this part of the book.

Of course, I grew up to marry that nerdy boy, so watching these two characters rediscover each other as adults in the present day chapters felt so natural.

While I would say this is a romance, this book is technically classified under “women’s fiction.” I find that genre name somewhat annoying, but the gist is that it’s a book that follows a woman, focuses on her specific life journeys, and is marketed to women. Not dissimilar to romance, but it does allow more room to explore life’s pain and the character’s inherent flaws. And in this case, the main journey explored is that of a romance.

My main critique is that I think it was too long. If it were a bit shorter, it would’ve made for a tighter narrative that dawdled less through the middle. Around halfway, I felt my stamina flagging until we got back into the meat of it. I also felt the end was a bit soapy, and wrapped up with a nice bow a bit too quickly, but that wasn’t unexpected for the genre.

But overall, it was an engaging read with many enjoyable moments.

Should you read Love and Other Words?

If you like heartwarming romances, second chances, and childhood loves, you’ll love this one. I also recommend it if you like stories that alternate between two timelines, with some chapters taking place in the past and some taking place in the present.

Being “women’s fiction,” there are also themes of loss and growth, with a smattering of heartbreak and trauma to overcome. That said, I would say the majority of the story is lighthearted.