Love and Other Perishable Items - Laura Buzo

Love and Other Perishable Items - Laura Buzo

Truly this was a cute story that at times I felt like I could relate to. Our main characters were realistic and honest as well as the story that they told. The setting was also cute, I mean, love at the grocery store, how quaint. However, despite all of the cuteness and realism in this story, I found it to be a bit lacking. While I enjoyed the characters, there were still definite moments and things that seriously agitated me about them. Another thing was the alternating viewpoint. I'll delve further into that later. Lastly, the ending was kind of bleh. Unsatisfying.

Fifteen year old Amelia didn't know how her part time job was going to turn out. If anything, she was in it for the extra cash flow to take some weight off of her parent's shoulders. What she absolutely didn't expect was to meet and fall completely head over heels for a guy named Chris. Chris, twenty-one and still a university student. As if the age gap weren't enough of a warning sign, their hobbies and social groups couldn't be any more different. Still, you can't help who you fall in love with. Amelia and Chris just seem to connect, what with their endless discussions on feminism and classic novels, but is this really enough?

The writing itself in this book was done well. It was incredibly realistic and did a fine job in portraying a vulnerable and lovestricken fifteen year old girl as well as a struggling and trying to thrive twenty-one year old. It was believable and I have no beef with it at all. The only thing that I struggled with was the alternating viewpoint.

At first, it really threw me off. Quickly I recovered and realized the change, and am still unsure of how it makes me feel. In the beginning I didn't mind it because it was interesting seeing how their memories of a similar event contrasted. But then later whenever it switched viewpoints we didn't hardly get to read about any of these shared moments. Instead we got more of their singular struggles, which while completely necessary, seemed to overshadow their relationship in my eyes. I mean, I liked that we got to delve farther into their personal lives, but I kind of wanted to see more of Chris' viewpoints of these small talks that he and Amelia shared.

Unless this was the point of the author? To show that his older self had more on his plate to think about then his small conversations with Amelia? I don't know, but personally I wasn't digging it.

The pacing wasn't too bad with this book. It flowed well enough even with my own personal issues with the viewpoint switch. 

The characters were cute and ohso intelligent and outspoken in this book. I really did enjoy reading about them. Our female lead: Amelia was likable and realistic. She had her own thoughts about everything, which I believe was what I enjoyed most about her character. She was extremely vulnerable and tried her hardest to fit in with Chris' "scene". She was a total puppy dog, following him around all of the time, that I just wanted to tell her to calm down and play it a bit cooler. Also, when she was with her best friend Penny she never really seemed to pay attention to anything and didn't give anybody else a chance. That was how she annoyed me.

Now for our male lead: Chris. At first I was all for Chris and playful nature. He reminded me a lot of a previous co-worker of mine in a similar situation. In fact, this whole story kind of reminds me of it, except for the fact that I wasn't in love or falling for the guy. Maybe just a personality crush, if that makes sense. But, anywho, I liked his character there in the beginning. However, after we start uncovering some new layers, I found myself seriously shaking my head at his character. He was kind about some things and then completely oblivious and nasty about others. For instance the Jeremy incident. If I were in Amelia's place I would've been more pissed than anything that I think my "crush" would have ended there. Just the way that he went about it was ridiculous and immature and was the point that I was fed up with him character-wise. While I did manage to find some aspects of his character to like and sympathize with, I couldn't find myself particularly caring for him. 

Finally, the ending. I didn't find it very satisfying, namely due to the fact that it just kind of happened out of nowhere. I feel that if we'd had a small mention of it before it actually happened then it might have read better. 

Overall, Love and Other Perishable Items was a cute, quick read. The characters, while at times unbearable, were realistic and entertaining. The setting was quaint and the overall story was honest. Buzo did a fine job in detailing the awkwardness of a first love, and I will definitely check out anything else that she'll put out.

☆☆☆/5

Recommend?: If you want a quick, cute Contemporary read.

If you've ever been in a similar love situation.

Other thoughts: 

* I'm only curious as to why the title was changed from Good Oil to this.