Review: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

Love and Other Foreign Words
Erin McCahan
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Dial
Published: May 1, 2014
Source: Publisher

Perfect for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell, Love and Other Foreign Words is equal parts comedy and coming of age--a whip-smart, big-hearted, laugh-out-loud love story about sisters, friends, and what it means to love at all.

Can anyone be truly herself--or truly in love--in a language that's not her own?

Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue--the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate. So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiancé up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word--at least not in a language Josie understands.

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Review

I am still fairly new to the contemporary genre, and always tend to go into a contemporary read with a bit of caution. I also think it is unfair for a book to be compared to other books by authors of awesome reads right in the description… Luckily for me Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan lived up to its hype.

What I loved

I ended up reading this in less than a day because the character dialog is so quick and fun to get through. The dialog between different characters almost had that Gilmore Girls feel! (Yes, that is a major compliment coming from me.) I also enjoyed all the humor that kept the pace and overall feel of LaOFW fast and fun.

   

As someone with 4 sisters, I really appreciated the way Erin McCahan wrote Josie and her sisters relationships. I felt like the tie and banter between them was spot on. In the same light I LOVED that Josie had real friends she could depend on.

 What drove me nuts

Yes, it was said that Josie is extremely smart many times but the way she would over think things had me fussing at her on more than one occasion. (What? Don’t you talk to characters as your reading them???)

I did figure out the outcome way before the ending…. This did not actually bother me at all, this is YA after all. What did grate at me a bit was that I wanted to see more of what happens after. I wanted more book or for the results to have happened closer to the middle.

Should you go get you a copy?

Yes! Go grab you a copy of this NOW!!! Love and Other Foreign Words got me out of a MAJOR reading slump and I am back to reading at my normal pace. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves YA, or anyone who just wants to read a fun book about trying to figure life out… Isn't that all of us anyway?

Happy Reading,

4 Moons: This was awesome! I will be re-reading:)