Love, Lucy
by April Lindner
Genre: YA Romance
Pages: 304
Publisher: Poppy (imprint of Hachette)
Source: local library
Source: local library
After reading about this book on several blogs, I chose to read it based on the blurb which stated that Lucy falls in love with everything about Florence, Italy. I visited Italy a few years ago, and it was my favorite city also, so I thought I'd take a little walk down memory lane, and I'll share a few of my photos, too. The beauty of Tuscany, Florence specifically, is everywhere in the first half of the book, as Jesse shows Lucy the hidden wonders of the city.
Lucy's story is more than just a romantic journey. At the high school-college crossroads of life, she has big decisions to make about the path to her future. Her overbearing father is demanding a "safe" major in business, something Lucy doesn't like or have the innate skills to help her succeed. He's also demanded that she completely give up her joyful creative outlet, acting, telling her she may be moderately talented but that it was an unsure business.
Lucy loves her college experience: having roommates, going to parties, and walking around the beautiful campus, but is wracked with uncertainty about acting, classes, and love. Should she date the cute boy she has met, or stay loyal to Jesse, although they are having difficulty communicating long distance? Like any good romance there is a happy ending, but it is the journey there that is important.
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| View from top of the Duomo. |
I did not care for Lucy's father who called her acting a "moderate talent" but that wasn't the only reason. He came across as a totally cold bully, with Lucy's mother sneaking things so as not to upset him and Lucy talking about respecting and loving him, but she never mentions anything pleasant from her childhood. The spineless mother bothered me even more as a woman. Many of the other characters came across as one-dimensional to me as well, including Lucy's roommates, who each seemed to be a stereotype, and Jesse's friend Nello. However, I find that is often the case with YA.
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| Lucy met a cute boy. These are the guys I met. |
Another thing that bothered me was how sex was handled by the author. The writing was excellent, no steamy, drawn out love scenes, but it was Lucy's attitude toward sex that seemed strange and not in character. The sex was kind of just there, like holding hands or kissing, and the story would have been fine without it at all, or Lucy putting more thought into it. She is off on an exciting adventure and meets a fun, cute boy who shares her artistic interests. She has never had a boyfriend and little experience with kissing, yet after a couple of days of holding hands and no kissing, she has sex with him. No mental pros/cons, no thinking about probably never seeing him again and the only indication she thinks about disease or pregnancy is checking to see if Jesse has a condom, but is too shy to say the word. I question how realistic that might be for her as a person, or what message it gives to younger readers of the YA genre. That sound kind of prudish, and I don't mean it to be.
I'm not a big YA reader, unless a book appeals to me on another level, as this one did with the trip to Italy. However, I did recommend Love, Lucy to my niece who is getting ready for her own crossroads to college.
Just reviewed this book today. I didn't really like it which is weird because I like everything! Anyway, it was fun to visit Florence and Rome, especially since I get to go there for real in a few months!
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