Who Do You Love

Told in two POVs, Weiner follows a boy (Andy) and girl (Rachel) who meet when they are 8 years old. The book shows them through the years and then eventually when they meet back up again when they are 16. All in all we follow Andy and Rachel until they are in their late 30s I would guess and we get to see the ups and downs in both of their lives and how certain real life events (9/11) impacts some of the choices that they make. That said, I think the book ended rather abruptly. I was around the 84 percent mark and was surprised to get to the end and saw that the rest of the book was just discussion points/reading guide to the book, excerpt from another one of Weiner's books, and just a couple of pages devoted to her other books.

I show more really enjoyed the last Weiner book that I read "All Fall Down" so was willing to give this one a whirl.

I honestly think that Weiner did a great job with both Rachel and Andy's voices throughout the book. To take two characters from the age of 8 and show them developing/changing until their late 30s was a great idea. I was worried that one of the POV's would be lacking compared to the other one, but they were both given equal time/weight in the book.

Rachel is dealing with the fact that for most of her life until when she meets Andy, she has been sick. Born with a heart defect, her parents have worried that she is going to be taken from them. Due to her health issues this has caused her older brother at times to feel left out in the cold due to all of the attention she receives. Rachel happens to meet Andy in the hospital ER where she goes to get stories to tell to her friend who is also hospitalized. We learn enough about Andy in that little back and forth to know that he is the only son of a single mom and that he is biracial. Neither kid thinks they will see each other again until they do years later during a trip to Atlanta. From there, the book becomes about Andy and Rachel's relationship.

I really liked the writing and was happy that Weiner was able to bring two distinct voices when writing as Andy and as Rachel. I can't say that I enjoyed one more than the other honestly. We get to see Rachel mature after she re-meets Andy and then matures again. If anything, we get to see Rachel realizing that she is making mistakes in her life, but trying to course correct.

With Andy, we see a young man struggling to figure out where he fits in since he is seen as not white enough by white people and not black enough by black people. When he runs he feels truly free and uses that to keep himself out of trouble. However, the book shows that Andy starts to make some choices that is going to cause some trouble down the line.

I do wish that we had gotten more dialogue between Rachel and her mother. She is obsessed with her daughter and it was weird after a while that we would just kind of hear about this character after a while. Also I wish that Rachel had been shown having a conversation with her brother once in a while too. Once again we are just told about this character which I also found weird.

I loved all of the characters we get to meet via Andy in his POV (Mr. Silas, his mother, and his grandparents) and we follow up with them again and again.

I liked the writing in this one. I think the one book that I had a visceral negative reaction to was "Goodnight Nobody". I remember saying to myself that I could not make heads or tails about anything that was going on and had a hard time following who was speaking. Thank goodness this book is nothing like that.

As I said above the ending was rather abrupt. And honestly, I didn't find it realistic. I wish that Weiner had changed things up slightly. show less

Rachel grows up the beloved daughter of wealthy parents in Florida. They are extra attention as she is born with a heart problem and requires multiple surgeries as a child. At age eight, in the ER, she meets Andy, also age 8. Waiting alone in the ER, he has a broken arm, and Rachel calms him down with stories. While it's a short meeting, the two leave a clear impression on each other, even as children.

Obviously, the premise of the novel is that Rachel and Andy will meet again, so when they do so in high school it doesn't come as a big shock. In fact, one of things Weiner does so well with this story is weaving a compelling tale, despite the reader knowing that Rachel and Andy will run into each other, over and over. It's definitely show more rough in some spots and jumps around a bit, but it's an enjoyable read. Rachel is an interesting character, if not always a likable one, but she comes across as human and real. Andy is a little harder to get to know, but he too is an intriguing character. The book makes a big show comparing Rachel's wealthy upbringing and Andy's impoverished childhood in Philadelphia - sometimes it seems a bit forced, but it brings up some good points about the class system. Some of the plot is a little unrealistic and it wraps up rather predictably, but I still found this a fun read and more enjoyable than some of Weiner's last couple of books. show less

I love Jennifer Weiner. She could slap her name on a paper about astrophysics or something like that and I'd probably still read it. I enjoyed watching Rachel and Andy grow up and go on their journeys both alone and together. There were a few cringeworthy and heartbreaking moments in the book and a few that made me mad but those are signs of a good book to me. I stayed up late to finish it and anytime I'm that roller coastery during a book, it's a good thing. Can't wait for her next one.

Jennifer Weiner’s Who Do You Love is a comfortable, fairly predictable read following two young lovers over the course of three decades. Their chance meeting at a hospital sets them up for a lifetime of serendipitous encounters, only some of which seemed realistic. It’s really a story about first love.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, I feel the need to extol my love for Jennifer. She creates characters that make you feel, and her stories always suck me in with their casts of relatable — if occasionally frustrating — characters. She has a powerful ability to tap into the inner lives of women, and I greatly admire her ability to produce novels that really stick with you.

So why didn’t this one work for me?

It comes down to show more narrative voice. Rachel’s sections are told in first-person, allowing us to really get to know her, while Andy’s are third-person omniscient. While I could begin bonding with Rachel, I always felt removed from Andy . . . physically and mentally. His sections lacked soul. I felt as if we were going through the motions — all tell, no show — and couldn’t get excited about his victories nor mourn his failures. I wanted to, but there was just something . . . missing. The only time I really felt anything? When he’s interacting with Mr. Sills, a neighbor who takes Andy under his wing.

While I enjoyed seeing the interesting ways in which Rachel and Andy’s lives intersect, I found Rachel to be a pretty uninspiring heroine. We’re introduced to her as a young girl struggling to get out from under her parents’ anxious gazes, and I thought there was real potential there. Instead, Rachel spends much of the story projecting herself as a whiny sorority girl who doesn’t feel good enough for the Famous Andy Landis. And that got old.

Who Do You Love is not a bad story, but it’s not Weiner at her best. This was a different sort of novel for her: no elaborate cast of female characters; no exploration of friendships or sisterhood. We do get her trademark family dynamics, but it wasn’t enough to save the plot for me. I liked that she was trying something new, but I probably would have enjoyed this story more if it had been told exclusively from Rachel’s point of view. It lacked . . . sparkle. Pizzazz. Not heart, exactly, but warmth.

Will I come back to Jennifer? Absolutely. But if you’re new to her work, I would recommend Good In Bed or All Fall Down instead. show less

okay. This book reminded me of One Day, that book turned movie with what's her face with the big lips? thanks IMDB: Anne Hathaway - gawd how I hated that book....In this novel, similar vibe: the whole thing is going in one direction and it has a nice, happy ending. it's a "Hand over your brain here, and proceed" kind of book. Is that a beach read? maybe. I enjoyed having my brain disconnected, though. I needed the space. Writing my own book is wearing down the old grey matter. YES I will spell grey with an 'E' and spellchecker be damned...
It's about running too, and my brother did this kind of running in High School, it was weird how much I remember about the sport, over 40 yrs ago, and I was just listening to this stuff at the dinner show more table and Steve Prefontaine! I wondered if he was going to show up and there he was! show less

I read an interview with the author and she disclosed that after she and her first husband were divorced, she looked up a former boyfriend, contacted him and eventually married him. So she obviously feels strongly about reconnecting with old lovers or first loves. I can't help thinking that if she had chosen to write about her own experiences they would have been more engaging than this story. I never really felt that Andy and Rachel had the magical bond that Weiner kept telling me about, and the problems that kept them apart didn't seem resolved at the end so I didn't feel particularly hopeful that they would stay together. Individually, Andy's story was an interesting one while Rachel's was more stereotypical Jewish American princess show more (albeit one with a heart condition). Together they just didn't make sense. After several disappointing recent releases, I'm wondering if Weiner will ever reach the heights of her earlier novels such as Good in Bed and In Her Shoes again. show less

Jennifer Weiner does it again.

I've long been a fan of Weiner's because she offers up characters in all their foibles and flaws, their messy lives, with humor and compassion, and honesty. The book description uses the words "modern day fairy tale" and talks about how the lives of the main characters Rachel Blum and Andy Landis cross in "magical" ways.

They say magical, I say fate. ToMAYto, toMAHto, I suppose.

Rachel and Andy are living very different lives when they meet at age 8 in the emergency room of a Florida hospital: Rachel lives a life of privilege, well loved and a bit over-protected by her parents, thanks to a congenital heart defect, while Andy is a poor mixed-race kid from Philadelphia who is raised by a seemingly indifferent show more at times single mother.

When Rachel leaves the hospital, she never expects to see him again, but in the way of fate, their lives do cross, again and again. This is a story about love, the choices we make, second chances, race and privilege.

With Weiner, the characters are real and show their flaws, have triumphs and painful losses, and somehow, everything works out in the end without feeling heavily scripted.

For the full review, check out my blog post at http://www.mommaontherocks.com/5892/what-im-reading-wednesday-two-powerful-tales

An advanced reader copy was provided to me by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. show less