Happy Friday, bibliophiles! I don’t know about you, but I am SO glad my week is over. It’s been the usual chaos, but now, I’m down to single digits until take off and I’m so ready to get away. If you’d like to keep up with me on my leisurely adventure, head over to the homepage and follow me on Instagram!
While I’m thrilled and anxious to get out of town for a bit, I’m also just slightly stressed. I have about seven days to get three more review requests read and posted. Let me tell you, getting sick last week for sure put a dent in my schedule. When I should have been reading, I was sleeping, being lazy, and drinking tea. I’m going to try to balance my time between now and leaving so that I can properly get things up on the site for you guys.
Anyway! I stayed up just a bit last night getting this latest read done. This shows you how much I slacked off when I was under the weather. I started this book last week and I just closed it late last night/early this morning. It’s another one of the requests I received and the first I’ve read by author Jacqueline Levering Sullivan, but let me tell you, I went on a hell of a ride. While I was instantly drawn into the blurb I had read about Lovesick, I still wasn’t quite sure what sort of story I’d encounter. a little less than halfway through, I had my answer.
Jeanmarie and Terry are the best of friends. In the early 50s, them, along with their girls Bernie, Mimi, and Jen are in the glory days of high school and all the drama that comes with growing up.
Then, there’s Chuck Neary. He’s the star football player, all around nice guy, Jeanmarie’s favorite guy she’s had a secret longing for as long as she can remember, and oh yeah, he’s Terry’s steady boyfriend.
For Jeanmarie, high school is full of ups and downs which is difficult enough. Throw in some extras, and she has to do everything she can to keep from going crazy. She’s learning how to drive, how to navigate not telling Terry that she’s in love with Chuck while somehow still hanging out with Chuck behind Terry’s back, and then her older sister, Iris, is accused of being a Communist. You know, just another day in America.
The sweet, stolen moments with Chuck seem to be where Jeanmarie finds solace from life’s insanity. The lines between them begin to blur and she feels like she’s on cloud nine, until Chuck gets sick. The two realize there’s no moment like the present and their time together becomes their most cherished memories.
She’s there for him through thick and thin while her life becomes an absolute tornado. Instead of being the good and faithful sister and friend who sits on the sidelines cheering for everyone else, Jeanmarie begins to mature and takes charge of her future.
I can’t say that I agreed wholeheartedly with how she approached certain situations with her friendships and her entanglement with Chuck, but I do appreciate watching the growth of a character from beginning to end of a story, and Jeanmarie did just that in Lovesick.
This story is not quite what I expected when it came to how I thought it might turn out. I could only make assumptions based on the synopsis that was given to me, and needless to say, I was way off in my predictions. I got a fair taste of love, betrayal, heartbreak, determination, conflict, and more. For a shorter, young adult novel, this book had a lot to offer and I’m glad I got to experience it, even if my heart still has mending to do!
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
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