October 2, 2013

How To Love by Katie Cotugno

How To Love by Katie Cotugno
Release Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Pages: 389
Series: n/a
Review Source: Edelweiss; also received ARC from HarperCollins Canada

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists…until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After: Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.
My Thoughts:
How To Love was such a different book than I expected it to be, especially after seeing so many people raving about it. The book was less actual romance and more about two people being in the same orbit, but on totally different trajectories. It’s a portrait of Reena, a girl who has generally always been the good, smart girl, but who lets herself do some pretty dumb things in the name of a boy who she's been obsessed with for forever.

I like reading “Before & After” stories, but it doesn’t always work to have those perspectives interspersed. I feel like the story was mapped out pretty well here, but because of the characters I had a hard time connecting with it. I feel like Sawyer was supposed to be this bad boy who you couldn't help but love because of how charming he was, but I didn’t feel that way at all. I found Sawyer to be very troubled. He was smarmy and he didn't treat Reena right at all. There's not a lot (or anything?) redeemable about 'Before' Sawyer, which makes it harder to truly root for these two in the 'After' section. This is especially true because being around Sawyer makes 'After' Reena seem very childish. I did feel like Sawyer had changed, and I applauded that he wanted to stand up and be there, but it felt like “too little, too late”, most especially because he was so blasé about the past. This guy treated Reena terribly, just left her without any notice, and then he comes waltzing back in years later and doesn’t even take the time to apologize or explain or anything. Reena, on the other hand, always let 'Before' Sawyer walk all over her, and while she tries to change this in the 'After', I didn't see any real evidence of her making better choices. She's let everything fester under the surface, and she takes advantage of the good people in her life.

This is a slower moving story, one you need to unravel, and it's definitely more of a character study and an examination of a relationship than it is a plot-driven novel. I didn’t wholly dislike it (the writing style itself was great), but I think I just wanted a happier ending where both characters stepped up. I wanted Sawyer to actually admit his faults, and I wanted Reena to choose to grow up. I felt like we deserved something more than just the promise of hope after reading about such misery throughout the book.

The Cover:
It's gorgeous!!

Rating:
[2/5]

Find How To Love by Katie Cotugno on Goodreads and HarperCollins Canada. Purchase through Book Depository, Chapters Indigo, Amazon.ca, & Amazon.com.

12 comments:

  1. Hm. We agree that Before Sawyer was not a great (or charming) guy, but we actually liked After Sawyer quite a bit. To your point, being "messed up" isn't a good excuse, but he did apologize (several times) and do his best to be a different kind of guy (i.e., a stand-up one).

    Regardless, we agree that the book is being touted as a romance but is really more about Reena. We liked that. We found the back-and-forth well done for the most part, and we enjoyed the quiet character studies. (Shelby!)

    Wasn't a perfect book by any means, but we did enjoy it more than you seemed to. Ah well. Such is the reading life. :)

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    1. I agree there was a definite change in Sawyer, I just would've liked to see him more understanding why Reena was upset, and to have a real sit-down and explain more how things went down. I dunno, just not my cup of tea how things were handled. =)

      Yes, I definitely love books that are more about the character as a person, so I would like to see that mentioned more in promoting this book, rather than seeing it as a romance.

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  2. I'm really disappointed about this one because I thought it might be something different but from what I'm reading it seems like it features some dislikeable characters. I tend to stay away from female MC's who let guys treat them like dirt. Oh well. Great review though :)

    -Mari @ The Sirenic Codex

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    1. Reena was definitely frustrating at times... she likes to just sit back and let things happen, rather than asserting her own wants and needs.

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  3. I'm super curious about this book. When I first heard about it, I thought it wasn't my type because I don't care much for straight up romance, but the book seems to be about a lot more than that. Interesting comments about the characters. They sound frustrating, but I'm still a little curious about them. Maybe I'll read How to Love, maybe not. Either way, thanks for the review.

    -P.E.

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    1. It's definitely way more than a romance, which can be a good thing (although I personally am a HUGE romance addict). So many people loved it, and I definitely didn't outright hate it, so I think it's worth checking out.

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  4. Hum. Sounds like I might get really frustrated with the characters & Sawyer in particular. I'll have to check it out but my expectations are lower now...

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  5. Sawyer was really hard for me to connect with at well. I almost feel like the After sections we were supposed to like him, but I would have respected him more if he didn't try to seduce Reena again. Breaking up her relationship with another boy was not the way to make me like him.

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    1. I know, right? I mean, that's all on Reena too, because clearly she was just with the guy for the sake of it, if she let herself change her mind so quickly... but yeah, Sawyer should have come and apologized and shown the man he was, winning her over by being a good person and a good father, someone dependable. That probably would have won me over, too.

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  6. This description and story does not match was I was expecting based on this cover. I love before and after stories but I'm sad to see it didn't work here.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the cover is lovely, but maybe a darker colour would have matched the tone more. I did like how the story was told, but the characters drove me crazy. :/

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment; I appreciate each one!

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