Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson.
This book is: almost like a chick flick but too smart and well written to feel trite.
Other elements: Aspergers, Southern manners, virgin birth, robberies, death, chemicals, poetry, flowers.
Read it: if you like good stories about vivid, interesting characters.
Overall rating: 8.25/10
Someone Else’s Love Story begins with a gas station robbery and almost immediately asks the reader to believe in an incredible piece of information. I remember putting my Kindle down on the coffee table, turning to my boyfriend, and saying “This author just did something crazy. This book is going to be great if she can pull it off.”
And guess what? It was great.
Jackson manages to weave a love story around a plucky Southern single mom, a brilliant Autistic scientist, a badass lady lawyer, a precocious toddler, a lovesick poet, and a gas station robbery without being cheesy or excessively saccharine. This book also contains one of the most marvelous “you go, girl” moments I’ve ever witnessed. If I ever meet this heroine, the first thing I’m going to do is fist-bump her. I’m not 100% sure all of the science involved is legit, but I didn’t mind. Someone Else’s Love Story is on the fluffy side, but it’s excellent fluff.
This book is what I wish most chick lit would be like: a smart, funny, well-written novel that is primarily about love and relationships that features a strong female protagonist but is actually enjoyable to read.*
My thanks to Edelweiss and William Morrow for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
* Note: I have genre prejudice about chick lit. If you can think of a book that will change my mind, I’d love to hear about it.
 |
[…] Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson. This book is: almost like a chick flick but too smart and well written to feel trite. Other elements: Aspergers, Southern manners, virgin birth, robberies, death, chemicals, poetry, flowers. Read it: if you like good stories about vivid, interesting characters. Overall rating: 8.25/10 […]