"How To Love" by Katie Cotugno

Hi there!

Today I want to talk about "How to Love" by Katie Cotugno. I found it in the book shop and had a quick read of the first few pages. The story sucked me right in which made me buy the book immediately. 

Let's get into a quick summary:

Serena gets pregnant - from Sawyer. She finds out right before he disappears. That's what happened in the past. In the present she has a little daughter that Sawyer knows nothing about and suddenly, he comes back.

I can't tell you anymore without spoiling it, but if you're interested in a story of progress and coming to terms with the past, this one might be for you. If you like drama, romance and contemporary love stories, this one is also for you.

Facts

Published in: 2013

Pages: 389

Take a look on Goodreads ♥

Cover

The cover is very simple and the version I have (a paperback) has a cool neon color which stands out a lot. Another thing that caught my eye was the calligraphy-like writing all over it. It looks very pretty to me, without telling anything about the story itself.

My Opinion:

I don't have a lot of negative things to say, except maybe that the plot in it's basics is predictable and made of the same principles like most contemporary novels. I don't mind that though, I always enjoy a good novel with these basics if it manifests in a unique way. "How to Love" did that for me and I will tell you why:
It switches between flashbacks from Serena's teenage-years (falling in love with Sawyer and experiencing teenage troubles) to the present in which Serena has a little daughter and is a young adult with different problems. With these two perspectives the reader has a better chance at learning to love the characters, because one simultaneously reads the reasons for their behavior while reading about their actual self in the present, which for me, leads to a better understanding of their choices.

The flashbacks present a very classic love story of a naive young girl falling in love with the classic "bad boy" she is warned about. The present Serena is different and when her love from the past comes back, she show that she is strong woman who stands up for herself. She doesn't let the boy who disappeared on her treat her like that again. With that perspective, I started out with not liking Sawyer and throughout the story, he did change my mind.

Another thing I liked is that it's not just about the romance but also about family and friendship. Serena's family and the family of Sawyer have not fully processed what happened back then. In process of the story these issues unfold and leave a very interesting read about the development of a family and with that, a young mother.

Katie Cotugno's writing has not left any special impression on me. It was very enjoyable to read and she doesn't have a slow or rather boring style of writing, which adds to the fun. Since the story is very character-driven I can only really say that she did a good job of portraying the characters and their differences.

All I can say is that it was a really joyful and quick read, the story is fast-paced and doesn't lack suspense, which makes it easy to get trough quite quickly. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good contemporary novel. With that said, I give it a solid rating: 7 out of 10 hearts.

Thanks for reading, I hope to may having inspired you to pick this one up! If I did, please let me know in the comments ^^

- xoxo Lisa