Love and Other Perishable Items in 2013 Hub Reading Challenge

Jul 29, 2013 Chelsea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

The author is incredibly in touch with the gut wrenching feelings of teenage girls. And somehow also manages to hit the nail on the head with the confusion and "what am I doing with my life" emotions felt by those in their early 20s. 15 year old Amelia is "in love with" her 21 year old co-worker Chris. The two work together at a grocery store in Sydney. While this simple premise doesn't seem captivating, the way the author is able to create characters with such relatable emotions, which many rea ...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Samantha Tai rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: morris-award, yalsa-2013-hub-reading-challenge, 2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am a sucker for these books. I love the cover and the title is so cutesy. Yes, I do judge a book by it's cover. And then I read the book and I'm so disappointed. I read two Morris Award Finalist titles back to back (The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Love and Other Perishable Items) and the two books couldn't be more different. That's not a bad thing; if every book we read was the same, we'd be bored. But when I go from reading something as wonderful as The Miseducation of Cameron Post to so I am a sucker for these books. I love the cover and the title is so cutesy. Yes, I do judge a book by it's cover. And then I read the book and I'm so disappointed. I read two Morris Award Finalist titles back to back (The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Love and Other Perishable Items) and the two books couldn't be more different. That's not a bad thing; if every book we read was the same, we'd be bored. But when I go from reading something as wonderful as The Miseducation of Cameron Post to something not as great (in my opinion-lots of people will disagree with me) as Love and Other Perishable Items, there is sure to be some disappointment.

Fifteen-year-old Amelia has a crush on her older coworker, 21-year-old Chris, a student at the local university. Both Amelia and Chris work as checkout clerks at Coles supermarket, or the Land of Dreams, as Chris has nicknamed the store. As the book progresses, Amelia and Chris become close friends and Amelia hopes he'll return her affections.

Love and Other Perishable Items is told in alternating points of view of Amelia and Chris with Amelia getting much more airtime than Chris. Chris's parts are written in diary format and at times isn't a very likable character. He's on the constant look out for the Perfect Woman and focuses much of his attention to his female co-workers. For the most part, Amelia is never on his radar and tries to set her up with their co-worker Ed, but there are times when he wishes she was a few years older. Other than finding the Perfect Woman, he is just trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life-he doesn't want to be a checkout clerk forever.

Laura Buzo writes Amelia as a very realistic 15-year-old (or at least realistic to me). She is shy, smart and naive (when Chris invites her to Ed's for a bowl, she doesn't know what he's talking about and has to ask her older sister Liza to explain what a bowl and a bong are). I don't know if I knew what a bong when I was 15. I also remember one of my first crushes on an older boy. I was a sophomore in high school, he was 20. You can feel Amelia's anguish that Chris doesn't return her feelings and I can remember those feelings like they were yesterday.

This was a very quick read and I think teen girls who like realistic fiction/romance will enjoy reading this. Originally published in 2010 in Australia under the title Good Oil, this book was published in the US in 2012. I do like her alternate title that I read. I don't know if I'd pick up a book called Good Oil, no matter how much I like the cover. I'm giving the book 2.5 stars and rounding up to 3.

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Feb 13, 2013 Emily rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, multiple-narrators, realistic, high-school

In the U.S., this is "Love and Other Perishable Items." ...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Marta Boksenbaum rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-lit, z2013yalsa-challenge

This may sound like a cop-out and I know it won an award, but Love and Other Perishible Items is typical. It seems to me that it is just like every other book about unrequited love. I'm not saying that books like this can't be good or original, I'm saying this book did very little to hold me. I read it and I've already forgotten it. ...more

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