Love and Other Words is a sweet romance following Macy after running into the former
and sort-of current love of her life, Elliott, on her commute from her pediatrics job. It’s the first
time they’ve seen each other in the past eleven years. Something devastating broke them apart,
but it seems like fate has brought them back together. Except that Macy’s happily engaged to
someone else - and she still blames Elliott for what happened so long ago. They met when they
were only middle schoolers. Macy’s mom had just died, and her father fulfilled his wife’s last
wishes by buying a weekend home for them - a place to escape. For Macy, her ultimate escape
was inside a closet-turned-library at the home. It was only improved by the word-loving boy that
lived next door and liked to join her. But after many confessions, conversations, kisses, and
mistakes, they break apart for years. But when Macy sees him on the bus, the careful barricade
she has built in her mind around him begins to break down as they finally reconnect.
A book lover's perfect romance, this book is engaging, suspenseful, sweet, and sad. The
build-up of friends-to-lovers felt pretty natural and their interactions were always cute. However,
I was pretty disappointed by the grand reveal of what exactly broke them apart, and I didn’t feel
completely satisfied with the ending. I would recommend this book to any older teen wanting a
romantic story involving books, friends-to-lovers, and lots of new vocabulary. I give it three out of
five stars.