Published: December 11, 2012
Pages: 256
Source: For Review from Random House
Rating: 4 Stars
Love is awkward, Amelia should know.
From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.
Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?
From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.
Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?
In short: Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo is an entertaining read that is refreshing in its simplicity.
Laura Buzo has created a vibrant cast of fun characters in Love and Other Perishable Items. I found Amelia to be incredibly endearing and quite sensible for her age. And it was not hard to see why she falls so hard for the charming Chris, who treats her as no guy has ever treated her before – but is interested in girls who are completely different from her. I could totally relate to Amelia’s frustrations that Chris only ever seems interested in girls who either have no substance or who don’t return his interest. But despite Chris’ sometimes douchey moments and despite their age difference, I still found that I was rooting for Amelia and Chris to work out some way to be together. Laura Buzo handles the situation expertly and I thought the ending was perfect in its realism.
Love and Other Perishable Items is told through a dual narrative – a sort of he-said she-said manner of storytelling in which Amelia gets her side of the story told and then we hear the same exact events again, but told through Chris’ journal entries this time. So not only does nothing remarkable ever happen in the plot, but we get to hear these unremarkable plot points told twice – and it was somehow still entertaining! I thought that was impressive. Laura Buzo has a sort of subtle humour in her writing that is fun to read and makes Love and Other Perishable Items compulsively readable.
Overall, though there was nothing particularly profound about Love and Other Perishable Items, that’s okay because there doesn’t need to be and it was still an enjoyable read anyway.
Other Reviews:
A Girl, Books and Other Things
Midnight Bloom Reads
Xpresso Reads
