ARC Review: How to Love - Katie Cotugno

Title: How to Love
Author: Katie Cotugno
Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count: 389

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists…until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After: Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.

I'd like to thank HarperCollins and the Savvy Reader for sending me this amazing book and opportunity for review!

On the first page of the book (before the actual story starts), there's this note from the publisher. It's basically a note telling us about how wonderful this book is. I've never really seen this kind of note in many books, so I was like "okay, this is probably good or at least 3 stars." Let's just say I was far off by my rating.

If you've read and liked Pivot Point's (by Kasie West) way of telling the story, you will get along with what goes on in How to Love. How to Love is simply a love story between 2 people who fall in love... Twice. The idea is more like second chance at love, but it's told in a way where things seem somewhat timeless because we're experiencing past and present at the same time! Talk about awesome-sauce!

I initially thought it would be kind of hard to follow. I'm that person that usually sticks to one book when reading or I'll forget what the story is about. I can't say that it didn't leave me a bit confused at times because I'm not 150% focused all the time, but it was easier than I anticipated. 

How to Love starts with a girl named Reena (Serena) who is trying to care for her child. Did I mention Reena's like 18? Anyway, she finds this guy named Sawyer LeGrande, who happens to have an old history with her. He finally comes back and is trying to be a part of Reena and her kid's life. Did I mention that the father of Reena's kid is Sawyer? This is the "after" story that is paired with the "before".

The "before" story is about Reena as a 15 year old girl who's falling for Sawyer. It tells of how they first met and how Sawyer picked up and ditched at the very end. The "before" and the "after" are told at the same time in alternating chapters. 

I think what really gets to me is the fact that I wanted this to be more like something light and cute so while it wasn't, it still impressed me far beyond my expectations. It's also because I'm reading about Serena's past and at the same time, her present so it's like sifting through memories and then experiencing real life. 

This book is really unlike anything I've ever read before. Sure, there are cliché love stories about a guy that leaves a girl and then comes back, years later, begging for forgiveness. How to Love wasn't really like that. How to Love was about a girl learning to trust herself again and though it's got that cliché element, readers also get to experience the first love too and that's what makes this little debut novel shine. (I can bet that it will be a hit.)

Cotugno's writing style is beautiful and makes me smile so much! There is a lot of flow and amazing similes that this book can be compared to a piece of art in the way that it's written. We've also got Serena and while she's narrating, she's great, had a lot of character and spunk that bleeds off the page into my brain. Her writing also affected me in different ways so after reading, I was in a really dumb daze. This is because there were so many events that happen but also demonstrate real life situations that were believable and weren't too over-the-top. 

Let's move on to the MC? She's amazing, to put in bluntly. Though both times are focusing on her, Cotugno had outdone herself in an effortless seeming way to create a difference from 15 year old Reena to 18 year old Reena. One is much more mature (well duh, you've got a kid to raise), and the other is painfully unaware about so many things in life and she's so immature in the naive sense. This main character is one of the most real "characters" I have ever read about. She's got so many good qualities and flaws to match but she's an actual human and completely believable to fit the genre. I can't say I always loved Serena and her actions, but I felt for a lot of things that happened between her and Sawyer.

Ugh, Sawyer. Kill me, sue me, set my house on fire or whatever, but I HATE Sawyer (you know I really hate him because it's in present tense.) This is a guy who left Reena without even knowing that she was pregnant with HIS BABY! Oh, and right after coming back, he's like "'sup Reena, how's the weather?" If I left someone I loved for 2 STINKING years, I'd attack them with XO's. 

He's also this guy who pressured Reena into doing things she didn't want to do. She wanted to go to class because unlike him, she has a future planned out. He, on the other hand, decides to pressure her Ito missing a big test and skipping class to... Wait for it; Go to Denny's. It isn’t “romantic", it is sick and she should dumped his butt straight to the curb! He was this character who wasn't good for Reena most of the time. His "crowd" is getting drunk, having sex and late night parties while Reena's more about getting things done, being reliable and living on the safer side.

And I am talking about the Sawyer in the "before" section of the story. Like with Serena, Cotugno is amazing with showing contrast and growth in personality. I'm going to admit that the Sawyer in the "after" part is much more responsible, likable and less of a jerk face. He hasn't done a 180 or anything, but he's tolerable to the point where I think I can enjoy the novel.

The only thing I didn't like was how much emphasis was placed on some events. One thing that happened was Allie, Serena's best friend (and Sawyer's girlfriend at the time) died from alcohol and car reasons. Throughout the book, it's been some kind of taboo but even at the time of family in the hospital and her dying, it didn't seem urgent and that took away from the moment. I think if it was a bit longer and more descriptive, Cotugno would've had the power to make me cry like a baby.

I'm not usually that person that usually reads this genre, but I didn't regret it at all. You want to read it, no matter what your preference is and if you don't like it, oh well. I know that for me, it was AMAZING, but no novel is for everyone. 

 How to Love released Oct. 1st! Make sure you go pre-order it, you really won't regret it!!!! More info here!

Katie Cotugno went to Catholic school for thirteen years which makes her, as an adult, both extremely superstitious and prone to crushes on boys wearing blazers. She routinely finds herself talking about the romantic endeavors of characters on TV shows as if they actually exist in the world.

Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Apalachee Review, and Argestes, as well as on Nerve.com. Her first novel, HOW TO LOVE, is due out from Balzer + Bray on October 1st, 2013.

The great loves of Katie's life include child's pose, her little sister, and mozzarella and honey sandwiches. She lives in Boston (and in sin) with her boyfriend, Tom.