Review: Love and Leftovers

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

Published by Katherine Tegan Books

Genre: YA Cont. Verse

$16.99  (US hardback)

451 pages

What it's about:

My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love.

(If only it were that easy.)

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer--from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She's left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "summer vacation" has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it?

"Love & Leftovers" is a beautifully written story of one girl's journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole



My thoughts:
I extremely disliked this book. I was a little nervous going into this book when I found out it was in verse. The only books I've read in verse are Lisa Schroeders and I adore those, but not because they are in verse.

I didn't have a real problem with the book being in verse (though sometimes the layout was confusing in which order you needed to read it), actually I'm glad it was because the book was so damn whiny that if I would have had to read it with more detail, I would have given up after about the first 50 pages. It being in verse allowed me to read all 400+ pages in about 3 hours, so I don't feel too put off by how much time I spent reading this.
What I disliked about the book is Marcie. She is absolutely everything I hate about girls. I couldn't stand her. I really dislike girls who think they need a guy in their life to be happy and who rationalize cheating on their boyfriends with someone else. Then continues to bitch about it. Yeah, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
You know in the movie Bedazzled with Brandan Fraser (haha you probably don't, because I thinkk I'm the only one in the world that actually loves that movie) when he is the most emotionally sensitive man, and his girlfriend leaves him and says something along the lines of "you're sweet and I love you, but I just want a guy who doesn't pay attention to me and tries to get into my pants"? Well, that kept popping into my head while reading this book. That was pretty much the whole point of this book. Blegh.

So over all, I'm a little miffed about this book. I was hoping for a sweet, fun chick lit book and instead I got this whiny woe-is-me story. Just...no. No.

My rating: 6/10