Love & Gelato Book Review

i picked up this book on a whim from my library because i saw that netflix was releasing a movie adaptation soon. i don’t really read contemporary books anymore, i lean more towards thrillers and horror these days. with that being said, i am so grateful i gave this book a shot!

love & gelato follows our main character, lina, whose mother passes away in the beginning of the book due to pancreatic cancer. however, before lina’s mother passed, she made lina promise to go stay with a man named howard in italy. as far as lina knew, this man was her mothers best friend. after her mother’s passing, lina finds out from her grandmother that howard is actually her father and not just some random friend of her mothers. this story takes off from there, with lina traveling to italy and staying with howard for the summer.

i loved this book for so many reasons but specifically, the setting and atmosphere were perfection. i actually felt like i was in italy seeing all the sites that lina saw, smelling all the food described, feeling the wind blow through my hair while i ride on the back of a scooter, and touching all the different statues and bridges and towers described. i fell in love with a place that i’ve never even been to, but the author describes italy so beautifully that i feel like it’s supposed to be my home.

i also loved the friendship dynamic between lina and ren. these two meet on linas first day in italy and together, with the help of lina’s mothers old journal, they go on an adventure to find out all of her mothers secrets. lina and ren together were immediately adorable even though there was nothing romantic between them for the LONGEST time. they didn’t put on an act for each other. they were both authentic and genuine. i really loved this because that’s how my fiancé and i began our love story. we became best friends, holding nothing back and letting our true lights shine. no facades, just being ourselves. lina and ren were just the same!

i also loved linas relationship with her new found father, howard. howard is immediately loving and protective of lina, but in a good way. he gives her space to grieve, he shows up for her anytime she needs him without question, and he lets her go out and explore with ren without any issue. he really acted like the dad i’ve always wanted and prayed for. he was a natural at it and i found myself envious of such a healthy parental bond.

lastly, i felt the journey of grief that lina went on felt very real. i have felt the exact same feelings that she did and had the same questions and reactions. i know young adult books usually use the loss of a parent to kickstart their main characters journey but this loss wasn’t just a plot device in the book. linas grief was talked about and exposed throughout the story, and she was coping in a healthy way. i think this could be a monumental story for kids out there who do lose a parent.

with all that being said, i surprised myself by giving this book five stars! it’s been so long since i’ve read a young adult contemporary, so stumbling upon a five star on my first try was the icing on the cake! i loved it!

have you read this book? i’m about to go watch the movie and hope that it’s as perfect as the novel! let’s chat about it! my DMs are always open and i’m always up for a good conversation! i love you all!

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Weekly TBR

so, i believe i’m in a bit of a reading slump. last week i read one book a day for three days in a row, and then suddenly i couldn’t even finish my 150 page book! i’m hoping to start this week out strong and get some library books finished and returned. i currently have an absolutely shameful amount of books checked out from the library, on top of some other owned books that are taunting me from their shelf. so here we go – this is what i plan to read the week of june 20th.

first up we have red, white and royal blue. i’ve been hearing about how adorable this book is since the ARCs came out years ago! i think it’s finally time to pick it up and give it a go. from what i’ve heard, this is about the son of an american president and the son of british royalty falling in love. i’ll obviously know more when i begin reading it!

next we have the inheritance games. i’ve seen this being spread ALL over tiktok lately. one thing about me is, i can’t say no to an overhyped book. i HAVE to know the tea! from what i understand, this is about a girl named Avery who is left a fortune of money from a dead billionaire. sounds great right? i could never be that lucky but i’m guessing avery isn’t that lucky either because to get the fortune she must move into a mansion that is already occupied by the family of the former billionaire. the family who got no money from him, and yet a stranger, Avery, gets everything. it sounds a little spooky and very mysterious.

now i need a good cry and again i was scrolling tiktok, as one does, when i came across recommendations of the saddest books ever. a heart in a body in the world was at the top of the list so naturally, i order it from my library. the librarians HAVE to be sick of me! from what i gather, this book is about our main character Annabelle. Annabelle is running across country and we don’t know why, all we know is that she suffered from some sort of traumatic incident and that’s probably what sent her running in the first place. i hope this is deep and beautiful and something that will stick with me throughout my life. i love a sad book, anything that can get me to FEEL is an automatic five star from me. if a book makes me cry, even better!

last up i’ve got tokyo ever after by emiko jean. can you guess where i heard about this book? of course it was tiktok but i have NO idea what was said about this book that initially drew me in. from what i can gather, this book follows our main character Izumi who is japanese american living in a town in california. she’s had a rough time because her town is mostly white and she feels shes an outside. however, Izumi finds out her father is the crown prince of japan and she is a PRINCESS! doesn’t this song like big Princess Diaries vibes or what?!

so, we’ve got a romance to read, a mystery, throw in a sad book and top it off with a light princess book. i’m hoping this is a great book cocktail to keep me satisfied this week! have you read any of these? please let me know your thoughts and what you rated them! also i am always up for a buddy read if you want to! my contact info will be listed below. it’s almost my birthday so i’m gearing up to have an awesome 29th birthday. come on june 30th! i already know what my fiancé got me. *wink wink* i basically just threw some books in his amazon cart and gave him puppy dog pouting eyes and he ordered them for me. i’m honestly the most spoiled princess in town. he never tells me no to a good book or a midnight back rub, or anything really. yes i know im lucky, i couldn’t ever deserve him. anyways, he totally got me three jodi picoult books (a FAV author!) and a book from an author i’ve never read from before. it’s hyped on tiktok (i know you’re surprised!) but i don’t know ANYTHING about it. i just requested it for my birthday because the cover had big summer vibes. it’s called People We Meet on Vacation! i’m so excited for my birthday. as i get nearer to 30 years old, i really am starting to believe that my 30’s are going to be the best years of my life. but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, i’m only turning 29 after all.

with all that being said, i love you all and i will talk to you soon! (i’m going to be working on reviews and tags for you all week, shh!) again, let’s chat about books or buddy read! i need some book buddies!

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Matched Review!

In the Society, officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

I picked this book up at a thrift store MANY years ago and haven’t touched it since. It just never really called to me until the other day. After reading the synopsis on the back of the book I basically knew what to expect and I don’t think I reached for it for so long because I get so bored with angst-y teenage love triangles. Finally I was staring at my bookshelves looking for something to read since I ran out of library books and just decided I needed to read Matched or I needed to start getting rid of the books I’ve had longest on my shelves.

This book was a delight. From start to finish it was quick paced and (shocker!) I never found myself bored. From the first couple chapters I became hooked right away because it was giving me major The Giver vibes. Just like most human beings, The Giver is one of my favorite books of all time so if I’m seeing a setting that is familiar I’m going to have a good time. Dystopian is my cup of tea and regardless of the obvious love triangle involved, so was Matched.

The characters were kind of cut and paste YA but for some reason it just flowed for me. I was okay with the two love interests, I was okay with our main character being so predictable. None of the characters were blow your mind amazing but they weren’t awful either.

The plot, the setting, the society, and the rules are really what had me interested. I found myself making a lot of guesses as to what was going to happen, but being thoroughly surprised throughout the book. This is an A+ for me because I love a good twist. The more twists the better, and with Matched it was certainly MORE than LESS twists.

I gave this book a 4 stars even though it’s probably closer to a 3.5. I was being generous because after I finished I needed MORE. After just a week of finishing Matched I’m now a proud owner of the entire series (thank you so much to my incredible boyfriend for buying them for me!) and I cannot wait to finish the series. Do I think it’s going to be one of my favorites of all time? No. This is more of a guilty pleasure read, much like The Selection series was for me. I’m absolute trash for it and I don’t even care.