Friday 29 May 2015

This Is Not A Love Story by Keren David


Love is not necessarily a good thing.  You generally end up getting hurt, or hurting someone else. Or both. 
Like last night. 

Published in May 2015 by Atom Books
Pages - 352
Summary

Kitty dreams of a beautiful life, but that's impossible in suburban London where her family is haunted by her father's unexpected death. So when her mum suggests moving to Amsterdam to try a new life, Kitty doesn't take much persuading. Will this be her opportunity to make her life picture perfect? 

In Amsterdam she meets moody, unpredictable Ethan, and clever, troubled Theo. Two enigmatic boys, who each harbour their own secrets. In a beautiful city and far from home, Kitty finds herself falling in love for the first time. 

But will love be everything she expected? And will anyone's heart survive? 
*****
Where do I start with this book???
OH MY GOD! It's brilliant. I mean seriously brilliant. One of my favourite reads so far this year. I loved everything about it and I want to shout about to everyone who will listen.
Firstly the book is set in Amsterdam. When I think of Amsterdam, I don't ever think of it as a capital of romance, because we all know it isn't. Amsterdam is better known for the seedier side of sex and romance. For this story, I think it was the perfect setting, because as the title states - this is not a love story - this is a realistic view of relationships between teens. They are fraught with insecurity, hang ups and the unknown. Unless you can actually see inside someone else' head, you really have no idea how they feel about you. While reading this book, it gave me those butterfly feelings in my stomach, as Kitty tried to work out whether Theo felt the same way about her. 
However, I don't want to label Amsterdam in this book, because the author has also shown a beautiful and cultural side to the country, that makes me want to visit it. I loved learning about Zwart Piet and how the teenagers of today react to an age old tradition. 
I loved that half the characters in this book were Jewish - such a rarity in YA fiction, showing diversity at another level. 
The best thing about this book is definitely the love triangle between Theo, Kitty and Ethan. I thought it was so well written and showed how natural love can be. Love is blind to skin colour, religion and gender. Love finds it own route to the heart it desires and has no intention of following any laws or guidelines.
An absolutely stunning read and without doubt one I would highly recommend to others. 

1 comment:

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