The Romantics by Leah Konen (review)

Yes, yes, love is patient, love is kind, blah, blah, but Love also happens to be delightfully saucy, and it narrates this rom-com with a tongue-in-cheek wit that still holds all the warmth and affection you’d expect from, well, Love. Love is also on a mission: to restore seventeen-year-old Gael’s belief in love after the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. Gael is not making it easy: he (a Romantic, easily succumbing to love and quick to be devastated by it) is dating Anika (an Adventurer, who sees love as a counterpart to life’s adventures), who then cheats on him with his best friend Mason (a Drifter, who plays the field) which then leads Gael to Cara (a Serial Monogamist, who can’t stand to be alone) when he really should be with Sammy, his sister’s wisecracking, smart, pretty French tutor. Of course Love takes its job seriously, but any note of solemnity here is tossed out the window and replaced with a healthy dose of sarcasm and Love’s amused fondness towards its charges. Though Love’s quick to sort out each character into various categories, the book avoids many clichés: Anika the Adventurer, for example, is portrayed a girl who wants some spark to her life and who has the potential to have deeply fulfilling, exciting relationships with the right guy. Love even concedes that romantic love is not the only or the most important love in one’s life. Still, at its heart, this is definitely a rom-com, so it’s got the kiss in the rain, the missed phone call, and the final dash in the airport, and it will leave its readers with the appropriate swoon and sigh.