Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Title: How to Love
Author: Katie Cotugno
Series: n/a
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 1st, 2013
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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?

I’ve wanted to read How to Love for a while now, so I talked Jess into doing a buddy read with me. I’m attracted to books that involve babies or pregnancy. I knew right off the bat that this wasn’t your average teen pregnancy book, based on reviews I had read.

I have to say I’m a little tossed on this one. Having finished it, I immediately slapped a 4 star on it, and now thinking back, it might be more of a 3 or 3 ½. For the sake of rounding up, I’m going to keep my original rating. How to Love was definitely hard to put down. In that sense, it more than deserves it’s 4. Reena and Sawyer’s relationship though… Well I never liked it. Not in the beginning and I’m not even sure I did in the end.

Sawyer is a freaking dick. Simple as that, I don’t think there was even one quality I liked about him. When he’s young he’s a jerk and 3 years later he acts like the past is in the past. Um, not really, there was a child born. .

How to Love is told from past and present. The chapters alternate and I really liked that. It flowed pretty seamlessly, bouncing from one to the other. I was never confused, and I felt like each chapter emphasized the previous when written out that way.

Reena, I didn’t  like her all that much. I mean I did, but she’s just one of those girls I can’t feel sorry for. She did something stupid, with someone she clearly shouldn't have been doing “things” with. I don’t care if she did have a crush on him forever, real life interactions have real life consequences. So she doesn’t get to go travel the world… shoulda had him wrap that shit up!

3 years later, Sawyer is back and all of a sudden this life she’s put together for herself is a mess again. But it didn’t have to be! Ya know? I would have handled things differently, but then again.. I’m older. I wouldn’t be so quick to let him back in my life and stir things up. Baby Daddy or not.

In the end, more things come up that shed a slightly different light on Sawyer, but by then I had pretty much written him off.

The reason I did like this story though, is because it does come off as pretty realistic. I have many friends who have been in similar situations, so though I didn’t always agree with Reena’s actions, I understood them. This stuff happens in real life all the time.

The ending, well I thought it was a little cheesy to be honest, and probably the most unrealistic part of the story. Aside from that, it was a pretty good read and I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

About the author:

Katie Cotugno went to Catholic school for thirteen years which makes her, as an adult, both extremely superstitious and prone to crushes on boys wearing blazers. She routinely finds herself talking about the romantic endeavors of characters on TV shows as if they actually exist in the world.

Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Apalachee Review, and Argestes, as well as on Nerve.com. Her first novel, HOW TO LOVE, is due out from Balzer + Bray on October 1st, 2013.

The great loves of Katie's life include child's pose, her little sister, and mozzarella and honey sandwiches. She lives in Boston (and in sin) with her boyfriend, Tom.

Find Katie:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: baby daddy jerks, condoms are awesome, harper-collins, how to love, katie cotugno, reviews, teen pregnancy

Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Title: How to Love
Author: Katie Cotugno
Series: n/a
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

Love is complicated.  And I don't think I've ever read a young adult novel that conveyed that so poignantly as How to Love. This book isn't the sweet contemporary romance that I was expecting.  I suspect that the realistic and genuine feeling of this novel has a lot to do with the author's age and own experiences, and it's all the better for it.

This novel is told using the "before and after" method, flashing back to when Reena and Sawyer first became involved and bringing the story round to where they are in life now.  I listened to another set of novels recently that employed this technique as well, and in each case, the story became mesmerizing to me as details were sparingly revealed in the now and then.  I love the fact that using this technique means that it's nearly the end of the book before everything unfolds and the reader truly knows what happened.  I'm actually overjoyed when I don't have everything figured out halfway through the novel.  That's not to say that there was all that much to discover between Reena and Sawyer, but I think it was entirely necessary to include their past in order to really understand the people they are now.  This is a very character-driven story, but it never impresses an opinion of the characters on you...you're free to decide on your own.  I still don't know if I really liked them or not, but I loved the story.

Despite being in love with her best friend's boyfriend, Reena had her life figured out.  She was going to graduate early and start college while the rest of her classmates were just beginning their senior year of high school.  She was going to be a travel writer, exploring the world and seeing everything life had to offer.  But then Sawyer showed an interest in her. Reena didn't plan for him to come between her and her dreams...she fully intended on still following through with her plans to leave Florida and start her life.  But that was before she found out she was pregnant...before Sawyer left town and didn't return for nearly three years.

So, Reena adjusted her plans.  She adapted and although she loves her baby girl and has a great boyfriend and is managing while still living at home, she's restless.  I felt like Reena's character was one of the most honest and genuine protagonists I've encountered in YA.  Her love, her frustration and her confusion all made me reminiscent of that time in my life:  when you're on the cusp of ending your time at home and being someone else's responsibility to taking charge of your own life and making your own decisions.  Reena doesn't always have the best judgment, but neither did I at that age.

Obviously, when Sawyer hits town again, his presence throws her emotions into a whirlwind.  He's always had that affect on her.  I wanted to hate this guy so much, and I did for awhile.  Even after he came back into the picture, it seemed that he was his former cocky self and that his only intention was to cause trouble.  But then I saw him with Hannah, saw how much he was trying this time around.  And I felt my heart melt a little. But then I saw how Reena was letting her feelings sway her again, how she was ending a good, sure thing for this tumultuous thing she has with Sawyer, and I wanted to shake her.  But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Love is a fickle beast.  It makes you do crazy things.  Things that you otherwise know better than to do.  If you let it, it can destroy you.  I'm ecstatic that the author portrayed it as such, not just the easy breezy romantic bliss that it can be.  How to Love isn't just the story of two people falling in love twice.  It's a gritty tale of two people trying to overcome obstacles in order to reclaim what they once had and to follow through on the "what might have been".  It's about first love and all the mistakes that come with it.  It's about forgiveness.  And it was just what I wanted to read.

About the author:

Katie Cotugno went to Catholic school for thirteen years which makes her, as an adult, both extremely superstitious and prone to crushes on boys wearing blazers. She routinely finds herself talking about the romantic endeavors of characters on TV shows as if they actually exist in the world.

Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Apalachee Review, and Argestes, as well as on Nerve.com. Her first novel, HOW TO LOVE, is due out from Balzer + Bray on October 1st, 2013.

The great loves of Katie's life include child's pose, her little sister, and mozzarella and honey sandwiches. She lives in Boston (and in sin) with her boyfriend, Tom.

Find Katie:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr

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Labels: all the feels, book trailers, contemporary, harper-collins, how to love, katie cotugno, new adult, post hs ya, reviews

Waiting on Wednesday: Unhinged by A.G. Howard & How To Love by Katie Cotugno

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection's are...

Title: Unhinged
Author: A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered, book #2
Publisher: Amulet
Publication Date: January 2014

Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

I was slow to discover the awesome that was Splintered earlier this year, partly because I judged the book by its cover.  It's not that I hated it...it just didn't sit right with me as the cover for an Alice retelling.  But I gave the audio a try after seeing many, many great reviews for the book, and I fell in love with the characters, the story, and eventually, even the cover.  I know now that the covers for these books are very indicative of the magic and beauty contained in the pages, and I find that I kind of love them now.  And I'm so glad there wasn't a cover redesign for them!

Title: How To Love
Author: Katie Cotugno
Series: n/a
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 1, 2013

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.

I love that simple cover.  And I kind of adore complicated love stories with a heaping dose of reality.  And I want to know where Sawyer ran off to and why he's decided to come back into Reena's life.







What are you waiting on this week?  Feel free to share it in the comments or leave a link so we can stop by!

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Labels: a.g. howard, amulet, contemporary, fantasy, harper-collins, how to love, katie cotugno, retellings, splintered, waiting on wednesday (wow)