Amour Amour » Review

After writing such a serious post yesterday, I wanted to read something happy.  So I read a romance novel.  It was awesome — both the book and the act of reading brain candy.  The book is Amour Amour, written by Krista and Becca Ritchie — identical twins and romance novel writing partners.

This really amused me.  One of my roommates in college was an identical twin and I know that, instead of writing sex scenes with her sister, she'd rather:

• Become a contestant on Naked and Afraid. (Hates the wilderness and scrutiny.)


• Eat a big block of soft cheese washed down with a glass of milk. (Is lactose intolerant.)


• Watch Alice In Wonderland (Had a bad experience with post-surgery drugs.)

So I guess I give my kudos to Krista and Becca Ritchie for being able to write explicit scenes without grossing each other out.  Like, what are the logistics of the days where they write the 18+ content?  I know what I'd do.  I'd type while snacking on bowl of super size cheese puffs and listening to Ginuwine's My Pony on repeat.  Naturally.

Anyway.  Amour Amour is about a girl, Thora James, who got into gymnastics when she was a young teenager and dreams of joining a Las Vegas circus.  At 21, she flies there for a call-back audition after sending in a tape.  After that, I don't want to give anything away. But there's a guy — of course — a very temperamental yet supportive guy.

Amour Amour was compulsively read-able.  Like, I started the book and then didn't get up for anything until I was 3/4 of the way through.  Ritchie and Ritchie really knew how to keep the ball rolling and make me question whether or not Thora would ever achieve her dreams.  That aspect of the book was so well done.  Unlike many romance novels, Thora and Nik are so upfront with each other about how they want to put their passion for their careers — for gymnastics and acrobatics — before their relationships.  It made for some intriguing plot sidesteps and drama (the good kind) galore.

As for the romance novel-y stuff, I only laughed unkindly a few times, which is really GOOD for me when reading this genre of books.  I usually snort or snigger whenever there's a particularly cheesy line or the like.  I can't help myself. For real, sometimes when reading a romance novel, I'll sound full-on like a prize truffle hog.

But I found Amour Amour to be pretty self-aware.  Whenever it got corny in the slightest, there was usually a self-aware little line or comment that made the situation funny instead of silly.  For instance, Thora will say a sappy line, and think I can't believe I just said that. I liked that. And I was invested in the characters so much that I was rooting for them even when they made poor decisions.

Another good thing about Amour Amour was its diverse peripheral romance featuring a gay character, Timofei.  I found his arc to be super intriguing.  I would NOT MIND A SPIN-OFF, RITCHIE AND RITCHIE!

So to wind up this review, Amour Amour isn't a book of great substance, but it does throw some curveballs that I didn't see coming and it was well-written. I loved the cast of characters and the substance of the backdrop of circus life. I give it four stars and I recommend for fans of NA.

Also, shout out to My Guilty Obsession for posting a recommendation of this book! I don't know that I would have found it otherwise!

Everything, Everything Review

First line of this review I wrote, preserved for posterity:

"Wow! This book was really good."

Let's try that again, with coffee:  

Everything, Everything was an utter pleasure to read.  I closed the proverbial cover — I read the ebook — a few hours ago, and I'm already planning to dive in again.

An author called Nicola Yoon technically wrote this novel, but her character, Madeline Whittier, is so sparkling with life, I'm convinced that she, and not Yoon, penned a memoir.  I was that full of belief.

Madeline is very sick.  She has that rare condition known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID).  Exposure to the world would kill her, so she lives inside her carefully sealed, air-filtered home.  Every person Madeline comes in direct contact with has to be medically vetted and decontaminated, so aside from special occasions, she only ever sees her nurse, Carla, and her mother.  Her mom and Carla try to give Madeline the best life possible, filling it with fierce love, rigorous education, and adorable traditions.  As a result, Madeline is an intelligent, funny, radiant young woman.

That's not to say her life of confinement hasn't done a number on her.  Madeline has to fight off low moods, and when a family moves into the house next door, it causes her caretakers some concern.  After all, Madeline has a history of getting attached to the neighbors, and once spun into a depression when a family moved away.  Despite their worries, Madeline is immediately captivated by the new neighbors, especially by the intriguing son, Olly, who wears all black, does street gymnastics, and has definitely figured out that Madeline is watching.

This story was very evocative of Romeo and Juliet.  I mean, Madeline even has a hilarious nurse!  I would not go so far as to call it a re-telling — it's not — but it captures the obsession between and insane plotting of young lovers so well.

However, the book isn't just a romance.  It's a coming-of-age tale as well.  It has a great cast of supporting characters.  It veers in bold, unexpected directions.  It's funny.  It's moving. It's a character-driven book that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It's Everything, Everything.

I'm racking my brain to think up some criticism, but I can't come up with much of anything.  It could be that I was so taken by this novel that I've become critically blind.  I will say that there was part of the book that I couldn't read.  I was so worried for the characters that I skipped ahead to a less heart-stopping part.  But even that isn't a bad thing!  If anything, it just reiterates my point of how believable and engaging the book was.

If you're a fan of young love, I can't see how this book would disappoint you.  The only scenario I can see where a reader wouldn't like Everything, Everything is if that reader likes edgier fare.  True, Olly brings some badassery to the table, but the novel invariably causes toothache (it's sweet).

For my part, I recommend!  Have a great time reading this one, you all.