Before:
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.
After:
Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?
In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.
4.5 Drink Me Potions
Have you ever loved someone for so long that you feel it in your bones? Where it becomes such a huge part of you that it’s like a part of your chemical makeup, and you can’t remember a time when you didn’t love them? Loving someone also doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll always be happy, but that sometimes they can make you feel miserable too. That’s just how love is, in the realest sense. Love is never meant to be easy or simple. It gets complicated and messy, with the huge highs and the deep lows. Reena and Sawyer’s story has captured that aspect in so many ways and more. It wasn’t built on one giant, perfect moment, but on many little moments that accumulated and totaled into something great.
Thus, How to Love truly was a roller coaster ride for me. I was initially so angry at everyone, mad at Reena, mad at Sawyer, mad at Allie and mad at all their parents. They all did things that made me want to shake them into comprehension. But there were also those moments that touched me, that made me smile at the tenderness of their budding relationship, both in the past and in the present. That’s just how great of a story it was. I could be angry at the characters, but I was captivated by it all the same.
Both Reena and Sawyer were by far from perfect. And that is what’s so amazing about this story. If only Reena had expressed her feelings for Sawyer from since they were young, maybe it would’ve turned out differently. If Sawyer wasn’t so messed up at the time they were dating, maybe he would’ve done things differently. And although they could’ve done so many different things, their imperfections still knit together a story of falling in love, not once, but twice.
The only reason I couldn’t rate it a 5 stars was because I so, so, so wanted it to continue on. I wasn’t ready to leave them there. I wanted to know more, see what else was on the horizon for them. But I guess this leaves it up to the imagination, and if I were to imagine what would happen for Reena and Sawyer now, I’d like to think that they could get over any hurdle together after all that they’ve been through, that their love was stronger than all else and they’d finally come home.
‘Cause after all, maybe they really are like homing pigeons. And maybe they are each other’s home. Where they belong.
Overall Recommendation:
How to Love is one of those novels that has left me breathless, excited and sad that it’s come to a conclusion all at the same time. A complicated and messy love story of two people who thought they screwed up so badly, only to find that they still had it in themselves to love each other so strongly. This book makes you want to believe in a love like that, makes you want to find a love like that for yourself. I can honestly say that this book is not overhyped at all. It’s every bit as good as everyone says. Please, do yourself a favour and dive into this story.
