“You could love someone, you could pick the right person, you could give your life to them, and you could. Still. Get. Hurt.” –Leah Konen. The Romantics by Konen herself falls under the romance genre. In this story the author develops the claim of the hardships falling in love has, but the wonderful things that come of it as well. This book tells a story of a teenage boy, Gael, finding his path in love. Gael is relatively reserved considering the fact that his parents abruptly split, leaving him and his younger sister, Piper, with much confusion. Gael is left feeling extremely neglected and upset after the split. That is, however, until he meets a classmate and or band mate, Annika. Annika seems perfect t in Gaels eyes. She has the looks,
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The first chapter titles “Love’s notes” (Konen 1) and the first sentences specifically say, “No, not love notes. Love in the possessive.”(Konen 1) This opening topic lures the reader to continue on further to see just what Love, in the possessive, has to say. Following this intriguing intro, Konen goes on to describe the seven “Rules of Love,” (Konen 1-3) in which she deliberately evaluates what to do and what not to do when falling for someone. The author keeps the story completely riveting throughout the entire book, beginning each chapter with a captivating title that makes the book just that much harder to put down. For example, “Phase Two, Explained” (Konen 95) and “What would Wes Anderson do?” (Konen 190) The author also never fails to send chills down the reader’s spine and or warm their heart with the gut- wrenching explanation of how each character feels. Whether they were sad, happy, or simply in love, Konen found the perfect words to get her point across. She states, “But the thing that Gael forgot to remember was that, whether the author is Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, or whoever wrote Tristian and Isolde, all of those stories have one thing in common: They end badly.”(Konen 32) Just by this statement and the text to text comparison, the reader can feel the heart ache Gael is experiencing precisely in that …show more content…
Just about every stereotype of dating as a teenager was somehow brought to the table in this book. Your best friend betraying you for your girlfriend, the kisses in the rain, the awkward first date, it’s all there. The plotline was also extremely predictable. After Chapter 13, titled “love and art of relationship maintenance” (Konen 56), predicting the end of the book was easy. As depressing as it sounds, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if some of the problems brought up in the story were not solved, and how the characters would create alternatives to these upbringings. The word-choices were also extremely vague, the story could have demonstrated a more advanced
The first chapter titles “Love’s notes” (Konen 1) and the first sentences specifically say, “No, not love notes. Love in the possessive.”(Konen 1) This opening topic lures the reader to continue on further to see just what Love, in the possessive, has to say. Following this intriguing intro, Konen goes on to describe the seven “Rules of Love,” (Konen 1-3) in which she deliberately evaluates what to do and what not to do when falling for someone. The author keeps the story completely riveting throughout the entire book, beginning each chapter with a captivating title that makes the book just that much harder to put down. For example, “Phase Two, Explained” (Konen 95) and “What would Wes Anderson do?” (Konen 190) The author also never fails to send chills down the reader’s spine and or warm their heart with the gut- wrenching explanation of how each character feels. Whether they were sad, happy, or simply in love, Konen found the perfect words to get her point across. She states, “But the thing that Gael forgot to remember was that, whether the author is Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, or whoever wrote Tristian and Isolde, all of those stories have one thing in common: They end badly.”(Konen 32) Just by this statement and the text to text comparison, the reader can feel the heart ache Gael is experiencing precisely in that …show more content…
Just about every stereotype of dating as a teenager was somehow brought to the table in this book. Your best friend betraying you for your girlfriend, the kisses in the rain, the awkward first date, it’s all there. The plotline was also extremely predictable. After Chapter 13, titled “love and art of relationship maintenance” (Konen 56), predicting the end of the book was easy. As depressing as it sounds, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if some of the problems brought up in the story were not solved, and how the characters would create alternatives to these upbringings. The word-choices were also extremely vague, the story could have demonstrated a more advanced