What does it feel like to fall in love? This question constantly trespasses the thoughts of so many teenagers. The beauty of love feeds into all good emotions, but although modern culture glamorizes youthful love, oftentimes being in a romantic relationship has its difficulties. However, some would argue that obstacles help to build a lasting relationship. In the true beauty of literature, innumerable books provide answers to these questions.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Terminal cancer and infinity do not typically appear in the same sentence, with one being so painfully realistic and terrifying, and the other almost impossible to comprehend and unbelievably fantastical. However, true to his nature, John Green finds a way to form an inseparable bond between these two polar opposites. The product became The Fault in Our Stars, a book sure to touch the hearts of all ages despite its genre. In this story, Hazel Grace Lancaster has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and depression. She hates social events but loves her freedom. One day, at her odious cancer support group, she crosses paths with the charming, one-legged Gus Waters, a recovered cancer patient. Gus and Hazel explore first love, bonding over their favorite books and ideologies of life and oblivion. When Gus takes Hazel across the ocean with him to meet the author of their favorite book, their brief time together turns infinite as they find a way to overcome life’s challenges and still find the strength to care for one another.
Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz
Inspired by the hit musical Hamilton, this book revolves around Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler’s timeless love story. This novel does the time period justice and captures the essence of what it meant to fall in love during a time of common advantageous marriages and a revolution on the rise. Eliza Schuyler definitely feels out of place in her lavish life, preferring sewing jackets for soldiers to attending balls. Alexander Hamilton desperately wants to make a name for himself, and spends every waking minute using life to his advantage. When the two collide, their worlds begin to revolve around each other, and eventually, that keeps them apart. La Cruz utilizes small moments made out of big issues, and those times make the connection between her main characters worth reading about.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Time doesn’t mean anything in the face of love. Neither does distance. Natasha Kingsly, the daughter of an illegal immigrant from Jamaica, faces deportation once her father gets in trouble with the law. In a state of panic, Natasha desperately tries to stop this from happening, and in a one in a million chance, meets Korean-American Daniel Bae. Daniel, bound for college, bumps into Natasha on his way to an interview that he doesn't want to attend. Their whirlwind of a journey takes readers on a frantic expedition around New York City. The book changes perspectives, sometimes including the peculiar viewpoints of random passerby, waitresses, and even the universe itself. These points of view assist the author in developing the idea that even the smallest of encounters can change the course of someone’s life.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Sometimes words can’t reach a person. Sometimes a person feels pain so deeply and has so many walls up that they cannot possibly believe that they could love or be loved. Rowell introduces Eleanor, the oldest daughter of a dysfunctional family, with a passive mother, an abusive stepfather, and younger siblings that don’t know any better than the impoverished life they lead. New to Omaha, Nebraska, Eleanor sticks out like a sore thumb. Eleanor does not appear to be easily likable, as she constantly pushes people away and remains too distant for readers to fully understand what goes through her head. Enter Park, a half-Korean, half-white son of two parents that prefer his older brother. Park has been well trained in the art of being invisible until he meets Eleanor. The two grapple with their own invisible barriers throughout the story, eventually allowing the other a look inside their hearts. This book tackles poverty, abuse, and the overgeneralization of what it means to be lower class. With an ending that leaves a reader’s jaw on the floor, this book remains an eye-opening page turner.
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
Though death can be a difficult part of life, so can wealth. When Jessie Holmes’s mother dies of cancer, her world flips. When her father elopes with a rich woman he met online, it flips again. When he drags her to LA to live in a giant white mansion and sends her to a fancy prep school, Jessie gets caught between the life she used to live and the one she has now. Jessie desperately wants her old home back and debates whether or not to run back to Chicago when she receives an email. The sender calls themselves Somebody Nobody, and swears that they want to help Jessie out by pointing her in the right direction at her new school. New friendships, mourning, and the meaning of home all play co-stars in this wonderful book, promising the reader a relatable view of two strangers that fall for each other despite life’s challenges.
Some say that reading means dreaming with open eyes. Love could be described the same. There cannot be any way of telling when or how love will come around, but when it does, one must learn to set aside personal reservations and run towards it with open arms. Until then, read often, and dream even more so.
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