Love & Gelato

I've heard both good reviews and bad reviews but I wanted to read it and see what I thought about it. And I actually loved it. In the beginning I rated it a 3 cause I liked it but not really loved it. But then the more I read, the more I loved it. I loved the characters of this book, some more than others and I actually enjoyed the plot. I loved the writing and the pace and it was just so interesting every step of the way. Really great book! Starting the 2nd book now!

It was okay. It feels a lot that the book was written by someone who uses a lot of stereotypical italian ideias.
It is totally an “americanised” version of Italy not actual Italy. There where too many clichés and bad representations. As European the book wasn't for me.
The only good part was main character's mom story. The rest... I didn't care about it.

Due to circumstances, Lina is sent to Italy to live with her father, whom she never knew existed for the last 16 years. And thus, begins her emotional journey of self discovery, of her mother and of course, of love.

This book makes me want to go to Italy and stuff myself silly with gelato and pizza. It makes me want to go and discover all the piazzas and statues and a certain secret bakery. The description is that vivid, down to the smell of the city of Florence. The author definitely delivers in terms of taking her reader down to the street of Florence, venturing into Ponte Vecchio and devouring gelato, four scoops and all.

And to be young and in love? Ahhh...

Awwweee 😍 So cute!!

I liked the first half of the book. It was lovely to read, but then I got hit with the second half of the story which I did not care about.

I am giving this a 4/5 stars because I lot this book was hilarious and adventurous. I only took away a star because most contemporaries that are light and fun like this one just don't become a favorite. They are intricately weaved this other books are or share a really important message. It was one of the best fun contemporaries I've read and definitely a favorite for the category.

We follow Lina in this book just after her mom died of cancer and I thought this delt with grieve in a really amazing and accurate way. Even though it's been months since her mother's death she is still grieving and I think it really represents how teenagers feel while losing a parent. I've never lost a parent but I have friends that have so I can see how it is. Also, Lina's inner monologue is so funny. I can't even tell you how many times I laughed out loud while reading this. Lina moves in with her father she never knew she had all the way in Italy. Her dad is amazing and I loved every second of his character. It is amazing to see a great father, daughter relationship even though they just met. There is also a lot of Italian culture in this book. I love seeing Lina go to all of these landmarks, experience the food, and learn to speak the language. Italy is one of the top places I want to visit and this book showed me rightfully so.

She also acquires a journal her mother wrote while she was staying and Italy and got pregnant with Lina. She reads it over the span of a couple days and goes on a hunt to figure out why her mom never told her about her dad until she was dying. She does this with the help of a half Italian, Half American boy she runs across. He isn't a conventional boy, he's a little weird but in a good way. This book has a romance that isn't the stereotypical one. I feel like a lot of cliche moments that would have happened in other books, backfired here.

The writing is okay. I think it matched the inner monologue of the teen character. The only issue I had is that when describing places and clothes I felt like it was a bit like fanfiction on wattpad. It like described it in too much detail and like she was telling you rather then her experiencing it with you.

Overall this is a fun Italian romance (her mom's romance is explored too), with a bit of mystery and lots of gelato!

4.5/5 ⭐

4.5

a very short cute but also sad story. The main character was adorable and the humor in this book wasnt overdone and neither ridiculous but the perfect right amount. However, there was a review about how reading this will make me crave gelato which was not the case because there wasn't enough mention of it sadly.

I'm a sucker for novels about travels and this one was no exception! I will FOR SURE read the sequels!❤

I'm excited to see the Netflix adaptation of it this summer!

This was a very light read and it was nice to get introduced to Italy alongside the mc (as I myself only have visited Milan for a day). I did enjoy the book but I hoped for more romance, where instead we got more of the ‘mystery' genre (which in itself is not bad, but not what I was looking for). The mystery itself was not bad, but could have been much better, especially in the 2nd half where the ending felt a bit rushed. I wish we read more about ‘X', cause he felt like a vague plot device for Howard's and mc's relationship.

Also the love triangle between the 3 characters felt extremely under-developed and that is primarily why my rating is lower.

It's a gentle little romance, a gentle little mystery, a gentle little YA, all pushed up a notch because it is set in Italy. So here's what you get: (1) two love stories, (2) two mysteries, (3) Florence, (4) a bit of Rome, and a bunch of great characters.

This was actually really cute. I mean, I knew how it was going to end, but sometimes you need that kind of story. My one major complaint was all the red herrings, obtuse-ness and confusion the author threw at the reader. Lina was sometimes the dumbest person in the room - like I figured out really early on that X and Howard were not the same person just from the journal entries. Since Both the reader and Lina were supposedly reading the same thing, Lina should have been able to see that too. But the author wanted to draw out the suspense, so Lina had to be dumb. Dumb is never a good look on a main character.

~full review on The Bent Bookworm~

I went into this book wanting a fluffy, feel-good, summertime read. I was not disappointed! It was as feel-good as a big pile of puppies.

I wanted to hug it at the end. I really wish I had read books like this when I was the same age as the characters (in this case, 16). Because while it has a few flaws, Love & Gelato is a beautiful story of love had, love lost, love remembered, and love hoped for. Even though I like to pretend I'm too tough for such sentimentality, I still have a real soft spot in my heart for a good happy ending. What really makes me happy though, is a happy ending that isn't just happily ever after. There's pain and sadness, enough drama to suit most high-school students but not enough to entirely put the adults off, but above all there is HOPE. Rainbow in the clouds kind of hope.

Anyway. The story starts out on a rather sad note, as 16-year-old Lina's mom passes from cancer, leaving behind quite the bombshell – surprise! Lina's never-before-heard-from father, who lives in Italy, wants her to come live with him, and it was her mother's dying wish (basically) that she go spend the summer with him.

^Basically Lina's reaction. With a lot more tears, because obviously her mom just died.

So off she hops to Italy, with much encouragement from her grandmother. She arrives, nearly has a meltdown over the fact that her father is the caretaker of a war memorial (i.e., he lives in a cemetery) – which I was first really annoyed about. I've never understood people's aversion to cemeteries, even when I was younger. I was always more fascinated than scared...not sure what that makes me, haha. But, given that Lina's mom has just died, I guess she can be forgiven her little freak out.

She almost immediately meets a cute neighbor boy, Ren, who is “as Italian as a plate of meatballs,” yet not quite, and there's a slight, almost-insta-crush. I say almost, because there are a lot of mixed signals, and a couple of chapters later there is insta-LOVE that made me throw up in my mouth a little. There are several moments that made me laugh out loud – and I think most readers will join me no matter where they fall on the age scale! The people in the little community she finds are memorable, lovable, and sometimes just hysterical.

While all that is going down, she's also finding out more about her mom – mostly through a journal her mom mysteriously mailed to Italy ahead of her, but also through the memories of the people there who remember her from her youth – her dad, and exploring Italy. Italy. How many 16-year-olds get to go to Italy?? I was really glad that Lina didn't just wallow in her sadness or her boy-crush and actually went out and explored. You can really tell the author has been to Florence herself – I felt like I was walking the streets right beside Lina.

We also see Florence 16 years prior, through the eyes of Lina's mom via her journal. They both fall in love with gelato. I have yet to get to experience real Italian gelato for myself, but even the exported stuff makes me weak-kneed.

I can't say a whole lot here without giving spoilers, but suffice to say some things just don't add up, a lot of things don't have the happy ending we might expect and there are a couple of big surprises. Love hurts. People make the wrong choices. But sometimes, we all get a second chance.

Turns out there's a reason they call it falling in love, because when it happens – really happens – that's exactly how it feels...you just let go and hope that someone's going to be there to catch you. Otherwise, you're going to end up with some pretty hefty bruises.

This was a fun audio to listen to as well as a quick one. I will definitely be continuing with this series.